The Alternatives

Once in a Life Time Opportunity

The town was awakening. A little boy sat on a large grey rock on a beach, and watched the sea toss and turn onto the textured sand. The sky was painted pink and gold as the sun rose from its slumber. Seagulls cried out as they knocked into each other in greeting. The boy's gentle azure eyes smiled, but his lips made no movement. He reached out to a lonesome pink cloud above him with his petite hand, and tried to grab it.

He couldn't.

His hand dropped onto his lap. He clutched onto his wrinkle rag-like pants and glared at them. A random gull swooped down on him and waddled beside him. It squawked as if to say, 'go away you're taking my spot!' the boy didn't understand gull language, so he stayed seated on the rock.

There was a crunch from behind of gravelled sand. He turned around and blinked innocently at a young girl around his age. Her name was Lidia and she had the brightest pair of green eyes ever known to man.

"Denise," she greeted with a broad smile on her tanned face, "Your mummy is looking for you."

He nodded silently and jumped of his rock. Lidia grabbed his hand and pulled him along towards his house.

They jogged past small, cosy houses that were made of limestone and plated rooves. All of them had a small flower garden placed in front of their curtained windows. The ground was cemented and tough on Denise's small feet. He winced as the ground scratched at him and gnawed at his heels. He watched longingly at Lidia's polished black shoes that tapped musically against the ground.

Soon enough, his house was in front of them. It was a rundown hut. The roof was thatched together and the walls were layers of lime stone and mixture of sandstone glued by a variety of sticky substances, like honey. They didn't have a flower garden, and they didn't have curtained windows. Actually, there wasn't glass to protect them from the forces of nature anyway. Many people believed they lived in a medieval house and that it was haunted. Not that Denise knew what all that meant.

Lidia left, leaving a soft kiss on his cheek. Her shoes tapped and vanished around the corner. Denise turned around and made his way up to his home. He knocked on the door, only to get a knuckle full of white paint. His father must have repainted the door again.

Someone run up to the door in response and gently clicked the door open. Denise stared up at the gentle face of his mother. She smiled at him and led him back inside, her broom trailing on behind her.

He searched for his father, who wasn't there. The walls were wooden and planked vertically, a small wooden table was placed by the glassless window, and large blankets were huddled together o the other side of the room. There were no other rooms, so it was a simple home. The kitchen was placed to the left where the table and window was. Denise's mother was preparing breakfast.

"Now Denise, what would my big boy want to breakfast this morning?" she asked, walking up to the rusty stove.

His mother's name was Guinevere, but she preferred to be called Gwen. She was an average woman. She had tanned skin and large black eyes and hair. Her hair was curled, some in small ringlets and some in waves. Denise noticed she was wearing her light brown dress that reached to her feet. She wore no shoes.

"Can I have sweet porridge?" he asked, "Please?"

Her eyes glazed over with sadness, "I'm sorry sweetie, but we can't afford sugar."

"But why mummy?"

"Well, because, your daddy is trying very hard to earn money since… Your grandpapa passed away…" she tried to explain in a soft tone.

His grandfather, Uther Pendragon, had died suddenly a few months ago. Denise's father mourned over his death and had tried to be dutiful and made as much money as possible by opening a store called Treasure Chest.Unfortunately, they never made enough money because next door was a meat store where all the customer's loved to buy fresh beef. And besides, who would waste their money on antiques?

Denise stared at Gwen; he had never seen a reflection of himself. All the other kids called him weird. Apparently, according to the other parents, he had been a charcoal kid with straw hair. He had noticed that people were afraid to look into his eyes. Gwen had told him his eyes were beautiful and was god's gift. He remembered accurately that his eyes were brown with blue specks around the edges. Kind of like the ripples of murky water.

He thought again, "Can I have milk, please," he whispered.

Gwen nodded and went to fetch some milk.

The milk man was a nice man. He knew the family since Denise was born (which was ten years) and gave them extra milk despite the risk of losing his job. He had always said to Denise, 'Cuppa milk each day and you'll be a strong fella believe me'. He had said I with such a large honest smile that the boy just couldn't help but take the milk man's advice.

He sat on the stool by the table and stared out the window. His home was so far away from the rest of the town. They lived near the cliff and the beach while everybody else lived further inland. His mother returned with a wooden cup of milk and placed it in front of him.

"Remember what the milk man said?" she cheerfully said.

"One cup of milk will make me a strong boy!" he piped up, his fist whacked his huffed up chest and he smiled proudly. He never stopped drinking milk.

"That's right!"

He gulped down every last ounce of milk from the cup and hiccupped at the end. His mother chuckled like a bird and took his cup. He watched Gwen's retreating figure and made his way to the door.

"Oh by the way, Denise, you forgot..." Gwen turned around to find her son already out the door and towards his father's store

"Oh damn it!"

Denise's father was bent over, picking up shards of sharp glass. He had broken what it seemed to be a glass doll. Denise peered through the door hoping to be unnoticed, but the bell dinged as he opened it. His father turned around with hope in his large blue eyes. But it faded when they landed on his son.

"Denise, what are you doing here?" he spoke softly but demandingly all at the same time.

Denise's father was blond with pale white skin. He was muscular and had a short chopped beard that framed his facial features. The boy admired his father and had always wanted to be just like him. He clutched onto the door knob and said nothing.

"Oh what the hell, come inside already," he ordered in a light tone as he scooped up the last shard, "What does my little boy want today?"

He realised that his parents always asked what he wanted. And he always knew that he would never get what he wanted anyway, so he answered with a shake of his head.

Another ding was heard and his father's eyes really did light up this time. An elderly woman feebly staggered in, struggling to open the door fully. Denise ran up to her and opened the door. She smiled at him, her crow's feet like branches connected from her eyes and her rubbery skin wrinkled around the corners of her thin lips.

"Aren't you a good boy," she complimented, "Here, a treat for good boys like you."

She pulled out a wrapped up lolly from her woolly coat and placed in his hands. Denise beamed like a star in the night and smiled so broadly that his face hurt. His father grinned and guided the lady inside.

"Beautiful day isn't it Martha?" he started.

"Yes, yes… Never seem quite a day," she agreed contently as she ran her stick hands across the ancient antiques, "You always have the most fascinating ornaments."

Martha was like a grandmother to Denise and a true friend to his father. She had visited Treasure Chest for years now. Apparently the previous owner also owned the store as an antique shop. Martha stubbornly believed that Arthur's family had the most intriguing antiques ever found in the world.

"You flatter us Martha!"

"No, no, Arthur, your family is the nicest and most hospitable family here," she mused, holding onto a little treasure chest made of china, "I can't believe you don't sell better than that hostile butcher, Roger!"

Roger was the butcher next door (the one that was taking all their customers). Arthur never liked Roger, he always thought of the man as an irritating, arrogant twit that enjoyed bullying his son and his wife. Arthur loved his family; there was nothing that could describe his devotion to his loved ones.

He spied Denise sitting on the wooden floor near the shelves full of antique-like toys. Most of them were second hand, and many people in the town treated the shop like a dump. They'd dump whatever crap they didn't need and leave. Arthur hated it, but he had no choice but to go along with it. He needed all that crap to make money. He hadn't showered for a week and Gwen had complained about the lack of food for the family.

"How's Maxie?"

Martha laughed, "Oh he did the silliest thing the other day!"

If Arthur could remember correctly, Maxie was Martha's dog, "What happened?"

"Well, he was chasing Casper in the lounge room and poor Maxie toppled over and into Casper and Casper slashed at him!" Martha said animatedly.

"Casper?" Arthur and Denise both asked in unison.

"Oh, that's right, you two haven't met Casper yet have you?" she smiled, "He's our kitten. Odette found him on the street two days ago. Oh, she loves Casper so much."

Denise piped up, "Kitten?" he chimed.

Martha nodded in his direction, "Why yes, would you like to see him today?" she offered, turning to Arthur, "If that is alright with you of course."

Arthur grinned, "Of course he can."

Jumping up, Denise charged at his father and hugged so tightly whilst whispering, "love you" and ran out the door. Martha chuckled as she tried to keep up with the toddle/youth. Arthur shook his head and smiled. He ought to buy Denise a pet for his birthday since the boy had no friends.

Before she left, Martha announced, "By the way, I heard there is a job offer for a ship crew. I heard it has good pay, look into it if you wish."

With that, the bell dinged and Martha and Denise were gone.

Arthur leaned against the counter and stared at his store. Should he apply for the job or shouldn't he? If he worked there it would solve all his issues with finance. Denise would get what he deserved and darling Gwen, she could take a vacation from housework! But that would also mean he wouldn't be able to see his family for months. He wouldn't be able to check on Denise and defend him when he was getting bullied and most of all his wife would be taunted by Roger.

Roger fancied Gwen, and Arthur knew that. The butcher hated him for stealing Gwen away from him. So much that he once trashed Arthur's home with Gwen and Denise in it. Arthur was so mad that he slammed Roger's face onto a wall and suffocated him with a piece of steak for a few minutes. From then on, they never got along.

A newspaper was lying on the edge of the counter. Arthur slid it across the smooth surface and read through the articles. The first thing he saw was a large, confronting, advertisement for a job offer:

Ever wanted to travel over the world? Well, this is a once in a life time opportunity to take a trip around the world! All we need is a crew and mechanics, we pay hundreds of dollars for all those who join and make it in!

Arthur gazed at the picture of a large merchant ship. Its masts huge and its statue of a mermaid were majestic. It appeared that they were searching for a crew and some mechanics. The advertisement seemed poorly written, but it promised hundreds of dollars. Again, Arthur's mind wandered. Should he or shouldn't he?

He kept staring at the advertisement. Finally, he dumped the newspaper down, slipped on his coat, locked the door to the shop, and made his way to the docks.

Arthur thanked the heavens for locating his home on the part of the beach away from the docks. The area was filled with ships, wharfs, fishermen and merchants. It stunk of fish and rats. The ships were giants and they stared down at everyone. Gulls pestered him as he walked by; fishermen eyed him like an eagle and carried on with their work. Arthur felt stupid because he didn't even know where the ship was.

"You lookin' for Claudine?" a thin, old fisherman said bluntly, a piece of straw hung between his yellow, decayed teeth.

Arthur blinked, "Claudine? No, no, I'm looking for a merchant ship."

"Pompous idiot," the old man muttered, "That's her name, the ship's name!"

"Oh," Arthur mumbled in realisation, "Yes, then I am looking for… Claudine…"

"It's the one with the mermaid yeah?"

"Yes, that's the one."

The fisherman pointed forwards, "Down there by Stacey. Stacey's the one with the lizard thing. Oh and make sure you take this with ya."

He tossed Arthur a knife. Arthur stared at him in confusion and remorse.

"Why would I need this?" he questioned slowly, holding the weapon like it was a disease.

"You ain't goin' to survive on tha ship if you can't even defend yourself!" he exclaimed, "It's to ward off pirates."

"So there are pirates on that ship?"

"NO! For bloody sakes, you're gonna be tested on ya defensive skills yeah?"

"And you know this how?" Arthur wasn't buying any of this.

"My son is recruiting there as well," he finally replied calmly.

Arthur merely nodded and thanked the man for giving him directions. It wasn't long before he came face to face with the magnificent Claudine. The ship wasn't huge but it was rather large. There were males of all ages hopping onboard and off, some tattered and bruised while others were triumphant and were cheering on the decks.

He stared at the mermaid sculpture stuck at the front. The mermaid's hair was whipped back like the wind had rushed past, her long fish tail curled up to the right and her mouth parted as if she was singing. Her arms were apart. The rest of Claudine was wooden and there were oysters and other shells on the sides of the ship.

Arthur gripped onto the knife in his cloak pocket and went on the deck. People were everywhere. He wouldn't be surprised if half the town was here on this ship.

"Hey you!" a bearded man strolled up to him like a lizard, "You new?"

Arthur nodded cautiously. The young bearded man had orange red hair and beard and a wiry beard that reached his chest. He wore white tights and a blue formal captain clothing. His boots were polished clean, Arthur felt embarrassed as he was wearing no shoes. The man noticed this and smirked.

"You poor man?" he asked mercilessly, "Don't worry, you got a good beard! A nice beard shows power!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow, "Right…"

He smiled a crooked smile and held out his callous, square hand, "Captain Scanlon, welcome to Claudine."

"Arthur," he smiled and shook hands with Captain Scanlon.

"Arthur…?" Scanlon let out a croaked laugh, "Is that all, no last name?"

"Pendragon, Arthur Pendragon sir," Arthur joked at the end.

Scanlon nodded in approval, "A powerful surname Arthur Pendragon, I approve!"

Arthur liked this man already and it didn't even take a few minutes. Scanlon ushered him further in the ship and sat him down on a barrel next to a couple of other recruits. They all stared at him as the captain strolled away to check out the fighting. Arthur's ears were filled with sounds of knives and swords clashing and panting and groaning. A couple of people were laid on the floor unmoving. He clutched on the knife inside his pocket again and tried to keep calm.

'Think of Gwen, think of Denise…'

I actually didn't think I would post this idea. But it was there and it was nagging me. Arthur and Gwen are really OOC so I'm really sorry about that. Hope you liked the first chapter :).