A Treacherous Vacation At Sea

By Mahit Verma

IT was a bright and sunny afternoon in SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA. A

wealthy local family, the Lonian family, were preparing to sail at sea

(they had a private yacht) and were busy stowing away their

luggage. A member of that family Luka Lonian, was exploding with

pleasure as it was his first time at sea. By that time the family had

finished their necessities. Luka’s mother, Esther Lonian, was calling

Luka to come aboard the ship otherwise they would leave without

him. He hurried up the staircase as the captain raised the anchors

and blared his horn. Within 2-3 hours the port had become a vague

figure on the horizon. “Huzzah” Luka shouted as the boat cheerfully

chugged along, “We’re off!”. He was so joyous that out of nowhere

he burst into a lyric: “Who knows where we’re going

We’ll just keep on

rowing.

To places far and

near,

Some filled with

fun

Some filled with

fear.

We might find a

manticore

With frozen feet,

Or a cow with Mad

Cow disease.

Maybe we’ll find a

centaur with wings

Pressing a

doorbell that never rings!

Who knows where

we’re going,

We’ll just keep on

rowing !!”

His parents were so perplexed at their son’s talent that they gave

him a huge round of applause and hearty “hip hip hooray”. Luka

bowed and took of an imaginary hat and put it on back again at this

cheer. Suddenly, the ship shook violently. Luka, so startled, was

nearly swept of his feet. Barely after a few minutes the ship

shuddered and stopped moving. Gemini Lonian, Luka’s father, was

so thunderstruck at the ships poor performance that he strode down

to the controls cabin where the yacht’s captain held court. Gemini

swung open the door to find himself in a maze of smoke. Just as he

shouted the captain’s name(which was John Edderlon) a figure with

a mask on his face appeared from the left side of the former cabin.

It was none other than John! John pulled Gemini out of the smog

and said “Sir the ships power supply, the engines and the backup

engine, all have shut down!”. Gemini said “How in the world of

chickens did that HAPPEN!!? ”. The captain stammered “ My liege ,

I tried my best to fix this situation but I fear an unknown magnetic

force is interfering with our systems. I suspect it has something to

do with us being so close to the Bermuda Triangle.” Gemini so

alarmed at this horrendous news that he marched out of the cabin

in silence .But he was secretly quaking with fear in his shoes at the

thought of this fearsome problem. Esther Lonian heard all this news

as she had very sharp ears understood it was not meant for 10 year

old poor luka who was already looking as he would faint any

moment. Luka asked “M-Mommy w-w-what happened-d?”. Esther

replied “Nothing sweetie, some minor ship problem I suppose”. Just

as Gemini started to calm down the foolish captain chose that very

moment to come bursting out of his once- fine- room and shout, “

WE’RE BEING PULLED TOWARDS THE MASSIVE WHIRLPOOL

OF BERMUDA TRIANGLE!!!!”. Just as John finished screaming

those lines, Luka started bawling. Esther shrieked “REALLY JOHN ,

YOU HAD TO SAY THAT RIGHT NOW!?. Poor John, who had just

wanted to help, spluttered out, “ I’m sorry milady , I’m so sorry” and

with those lines he raced back to his cabin. The massive whirlpool

was rapidly closing in until it was only a few kilometers away. The

Lonian family started humming hyms and chanting prayers to all the

gods they knew “ Odin, Zeus , Osiris or Allah whoever is their

please have mercy on us and spare us.” Luka so grief-stricken that

his almost certain demise was so near that he fainted at the spot.

Meanwhile, back in the control room the captain was pushing

buttons and pulling levers but nothing seemed to be working. The

horrid maelstrom approached them at rapid speed. Finally it came

down to the distance of 800meters! Then 750,700,650…. . But,

just as it seemed all hope was lost, the ship gave a sudden jolt and

as though the Fates had smiled upon the Lonian family, the ship

started dragging itself away from the gigantic eddy. The captain, so

happy yet puzzled at how the ship was moving, this time away from

that undercurrent, peered over the edge of the crunched-up boat

only to find that an anchor had impaled itself on the starboard side

of the ship’s hull. It was the Australian Army! They had been

patrolling the nearby waters and when they saw this once-

magnificent ship and these brave and noble soldiers had decided to

take immediate action.

Within hours the Lonian family yacht had been safely docked at the

port. Both Gemini and Esther Lonian were immensely grateful for

this daring and heroic rescue by Army. Luka had been woken by

then by the Army paramedic and was busy shaking hands and

taking selfie’s with the officers. Suddenly, a cabin door swung open

and Luka’s sleepy uncle Fred came out. With a wild look in his

eyes, he said “What happened!!?” and everyone exploded into

peals of laughter.

By Mahit Verma