1 The Sea Monster

It was one of my good days, so I remember it well, or as well as one can remember something that happened 200 years ago. I had just finished breakfast (porridge with a hint of sea salt plus a small goblet of rum) and I was watching the wide, vast, brilliantly blue sea. No more howling wind pierced my ears, everything was calm. Suddenly, a whisper of colour caught my eye. There was something rising out of the water, something that looked like a giant squid. Although I was pretty sure that wasn't it.

Pink tentacles jerked out of the water, squirming around, spraying the beautiful boat's upper deck with icy sea water. At first, I foolishly imagined that there was no more to the fearsome, magical, mystical creature. I was wrong. Floating just under the surface of the water was a massive murky emerald green basilisk like beast, shimmering with the sunlight sparkling on its shiny scales. It must have been longer than at least 10 of our ships, and that was only the section I could see!

As it drifted gently alongside me, small waves caressed our vessel, shaking it slightly. Slowly, I peered towards the colossal animal, trying to figure out if it was about to attack. I had a huge decision to make: kill the demon now or let it live and hope it doesn't destroy our ship and everyone on it. Obviously I didn't want to murder an innocent living being, but if it attacked, I may not have a choice…

Luckily, my puzzling thoughts were brought to a sudden conclusion when the splendid creature slowly roamed away from our boat and dived down deep into the dark depths of the enigmatic ocean. The captain of our ship ascended onto the upper deck where I was still gazing into the inky ocean and they, along with the rest of the crew, were none the wiser to what amazing thing I had just experienced.