Note: I got inspired to make this for some reason. Don't ask me where the idea came from. XD
"Take the Helm"
Jonathan leaned against the railing of the ship, sucking in a deep breath and enjoying the smell of the sea on the wind.
Currently, everybody was off duty, and that gave Jonathan time to think to himself, which was all he really enjoyed doing in his free time. Jonathan was a pirate, and so was his father. They both served aboard a ship called The Bold Serpent.
"Take the helm, son," Jonathan's father always told him, "take the helm and life will reward you greatly for it; let no one tell you otherwise."
Jonathan always allowed his father a quiet smile when he said that. His father was really an alright fellow...for a pirate. Jonathan, in fact, remembered nothing of a life outside of piracy. Spending the better portion of his early childhood years on a ship, he felt completely at home on the sea and decided that's where he would like to remain for the remainder of his life.
One day, events took a turn for the worse. The ship tumbled upon a storm and the pirates were having a difficult time maintaining the course through the rain and the lightening and crash of thunder. But further into the storm, one of the pirates spotted a monstrous tentacle dip out of the water and back into it. It all happened so fast, but all of a sudden the ship was being smashed and battered by numerous huge, slimy tentacles.
Everyone was in a panic. The captain did his best to maintain authority in the midst of the confusion, Jonathan ran to and fro looking for his father, who was nowhere to be found, and crewmen were screaming, fighting to stay alive and away from the darting tentacles.
Eventually, the giant sea monster receded back into the depths of the ocean, leaving the ship in ruins. Jonathan sat stunned against the sinking helm. He vaguely took note of the two other men who had lived; they were no better off than he was.
As if things couldn't get any worse, a gurgling splashing sound came forth from nearby, and Jonathan instantly froze upon seeing strange creatures emerging from the water. They were humanoid, but something wasn't right about them. Well, everything wasn't right; they were like aquatic pirates with all sorts of atrocities clinging to their skin.
After a few minutes of inspecting everything, a particular fellow of the sea-creature pirates came foreword and made a proposition for Jonathan to join their strange crew forever.
The ship was sinking fast. Jonathan's hands closed tightly around the helm, and for a moment his father's words found their way into his head. 'Take the helm, son.'
"I accept," he said.
The pirates immediately buzzed with excitement, and almost without warning they grabbed Jonathan by the back forcefully shoved him into the helm, a bloody mess. When Jonathan became conscious again, he was no longer a living person, but a ghastly member of the sea pirates crew.
'Take the helm.'
He noticed an odd sensation in his back and felt with his hand, realizing that the helm from the ship was still attached. Indeed, Jonathan would spend the remainder of his life at sea.
Maybe he had lived up to his father's words, maybe he didn't, but he would always have the reminder wedged into his back for an eternity.
Note: Ok, kinda dull (and short) I know, but I was inspired! o