Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Yurei Maru (Ghost Ship)

In my previous post, there was an article about debris, from the tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, approaching Canada. Included was a ship, empty, badly rundown, to the point where no one was interested even in it for scrap salvage.

I thought there may be a ballad in the story - an adventure, beauty and tragedy, told from the POV of the ship. Bigbadbaldbastard in a comment suggested a monster story could be created from the situation. I'm maybe trying to split the difference, and see if I have anything here to pursue.

Any ideas? Thoughts, suggestions, scathing rebuttals?

Yurei Maru - One

He wandered across the topdeck, his now constant internal commentary climbing and descending it's usual staircase. Why was he still here - the rest of the crew having abandoned him in the night. Though only 10 days prior, his memory of the following morning was a blur, a vaguely remembered progression from confusion to panicked running, looking for the captain, the engineers, his friend and partner in mending the nets Kobiyami.

Why had they left him here - he had not an enemy that he knew of. Why had they left at all - the fishing had not been as successful as some runs, but they had yet to make way for the rich fishing beds of the Coral Sea, as planned, as they had provisioned for.

He felt he had adapted as well as he could have to the situation. He kept himself fed, and busy. He knew nothing of the controls, or navigation, but was confident that with a certain amount of luck he would come across another ship - they had been in well-worked fishing grounds when the crew had left him, and not far off of the usual shipping lanes.

He worked hard to keep his wits about him. Initially, he had rushed to investigate the voices and steps as he heard them, but had eventually resigned himself to the knowledge that they were a figment of hope, and sounds of the sea, and accepted that he was alone. The streaks of greasy fluorescence on the rails, ladders, and bulkheads he attributed to moisture and lack of polish. He had no reason to pay attention to such maintenance tasks prior to his current situation.

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