A Brief Interlude

The ships are staggered in a disheveled line. They are transitory boats from some unknown realm. A few haggard sailors, scattered across unkempt decks, cautiously assess their situation. The vessels sit and sway, empty hulls moored on the edge of unfamiliar harbors, and mired in uncertainties. We have all stowed our valuables in innocuous bolt-holes. We’ve become smugglers of the few things we hold dear, all of us afraid that some interloping marauder will swagger aboard and ghost away our precious cargos. We run up familiar flags and reach out to wave with fingers that tremble, as if they’re expecting the next well-fed bite.

We see the dark clouds stirring on the horizon and the way they agitate the tranquil seas. We know that a storm is coming, but our meteorological aptitude is sophomoric at best. None of us can say when the sky will bruise before the inevitable breaking. We only know that it will come. Perhaps out of fear, perhaps out of loneliness, or perhaps out of a bit of both, we toss lines to the closest ships. These tentative bonds are not quite ethereal but are still far less than palpable. We’ve inexplicably tied ourselves together with gossamer strands of wavering trust. Surely these loose tethers will not weather the oncoming tempest. But are we brave enough to strengthen our connections?

From what hesitant womb are these qualms born? What is the source of this disquiet that bays like a swaddled baby in the moonlight? From what wretched beginnings have we been cast away and left to drift, rudderless in these uncertain seas? I only know that we are orphaned in our unease and that I yearn for a phantom fleet that offers comfort and familiarity.

I look for my captain, though I can’t remember his face. I have questions to beg of him. When will we decide if we should strengthen our bonds or row ashore? Which one of us will cast the die and gamble our fates, such petty treasures that they are? Are any of us bold or terrified enough to make the toss? Or, in trepidation, will we simply raise our anchors and sail once more into the tremulous waters, lonely vessels in search of more inviting harbors?

Note: eh, I thought I'd try something different.