Finally, they reached the shore of that unknown island. Tired of rowing for nine hours, Rowen and Komu pulled the boat from the front onto the sand between the stones and tied it tightly to a big rock.
They saw the rocks and huge blocks of quartz piled up by earthquakes. It was a mountain range covered with snow. Behind the horizon, under a bright blue, perfectly clear sky, was the still ocean, and the water there was as smooth as blue glass.
The swollen, and tired faces of the sailors, their hazy eyes red with fever. Due to heat and dehydration, their lips were cracked, and blood was seeping from the corners of their mouths.
Skipper Beno drank the water bottle from his special locker at night. Their ship, sailing with a load of iron ore from Montana to Swara, was caught in a storm fifty nautical miles from the coast. When they started, their water supply had been sufficient for several days of travel in their store but was now too low to last for the rest of the journey. The ship has now remained still in the sea for the last eleven days after crashing into a rock.
No matter how Benno, the skipper, reduced the water quota per sailor, it was not enough for the rest of the journey. It was a little easier at night, but with sunrise, all sixty of the sailors, including Komu, his assistant, could hardly get out of the water, holding on to the ropes in case of sharks. The thirst was so intense that everyone stopped eating and was suffering from fever.
It all happened due to Beno's fault. He was waiting for the evening. If a boat had been sent ashore in time to bring barrels of two hundred liters of freshwater, the crew would no longer be suffering so hopelessly. Rowen and Komu were the most determined to sail to the shore and fetch water. But Beno stopped them.
Komu and Rowen drank a few sips of their daily quota of water after sunset, to reduce the day’s suffering, during which they bathed at least half the time and quenched their thirst by doing so. The other sailors drank a portion of the water during the day, losing this moisture as soon as they drank it because the sun was too harsh.
Rowan and Komu could sleep well at night, while others suffered from insomnia because they felt thirsty. There was a pain in their eyes. By the evening of the tenth day, the team was full of despair. Old Thompson, the cook, barely moved as he was dying of dysentery, lying near the toilet. He rarely regained consciousness and pleaded with everyone to end his agony.
The two sailors, Rowen and Komu, lay helplessly on their berths in wet clothes so that at least some of the moisture got absorbed into their skin. A sailor drank seawater mixed with vinegar now, half-mad with unbelievable pain. He wished to commit suicide but dared not.
What an intense life-and-death story, @rayt2. I was really wondering why the skipper prevented the sailors from going ashore looking for fresh water!
I looked up ways to survive dehydration at sea. It's really interesting. I hadn't known that keeping clothes wet would allow your body to absorb moisture, for example. Things many of us never have to think about it, but in a world where fresh water is increasingly scarce, perhaps we all will.
My understanding of this story is to focus on the needs, not the luxury or wants, or else greed and selfishness might consume a person. Nicely written.
Our minds can sometimes be clouded by our desire for material things that it brainwashes us to choose what is less important over what is necessary.
@rayt2 Very good story depicted, it was frightening when they were craving for water, then after getting water their madness, beautiful and real writing, Komu learned that at the time of need of water, even gold has no value .
I really liked all the contours of the story.
Our need for worldly possessions may cause us to become disorganized in our thinking, to the point where we choose what is less important over what is more important.
What a terrible voyage for the sailors. You've provided some interesting facts about the effects on the body of dehydration throughout the story, @rayt2, along with palpable drama and despair. The story arc, ending with the men choosing to save the lives of their fellow sailors, vs. grabbing for gold, is well done.
Thank you for sharing your story in The Ink Well, and for engaging with other writers' work by reading and commenting on their stories!
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Nicely written @rayt2, Iliked the moral ending of your tale and the fact that you provided are very interesting. ❤️😊🤔
I kind of like your explanation of the process of how our body use to absorb water after a long period of dehydration.
It reminds me of how it used to take time for my body system to balance after not taking water for a while, then thought after a few cups of water will quench me in on spot.
yeah, definitely .
I kept wondering why they suffered from dehydration while at sea but then I thought about some dangerous water I had encountered and then you clarified that.
It's such an irony. Dying of dehydration while at sea.
Very good story, I liked how you described that feeling of thirst in your characters, water of course has more value than gold, Good message.
Greetings @rayt2 😃