Tall Tales and Lasting Contrition, The Wild Wind, by Will of the crew. A New Years Resolution.

[The story you are about to read is based on real events, though the publisher (AKA dad) assures you that there are exaggerations, and that no children were hurt in the making of this tale.   However, as it surfaced many months after as a class writing project, the dad is overwhelmed by a strange brew of pride and shame.  He realizes that we do, in fact, put our children at risk in the pursuit of sharing with them the things we love.  The risk of physical and emotional injury is real out there.  I was humbled by reading this, and asked for forgiveness and promised to do better next time. ]

The Wild Wind, by Will

"Will!" my dad screamed, shattering by beautiful dream of great food in the morning looking out at the Swiss Alps.

"Ugh," I murmured with a tone of annoyance.

"I need you up here now!"  At that moment I remembered that I was on my Dad's boat.  I immediately snapped into first mate mode.  I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my knife, and sprinted out to the cabin to the cockpit.

I go out and the wind was howling at about twenty miles per hour.  I slowly turned my head toward the front of the boat.  i see the bright red spinnaker sail thrashing in the air.  My dad tried to hold it down but the autopilot did not work in the high wind and huge waves.  My dad ca;me back to the cockpit and said to m,"Go up front and sit on the sail until the wind dies."  I couldn't understand why he asked me to do that.  "Will! he screamed, "It's getting in the water!"  I sprinted up to a huge mess of red sail.  I gathered my wits, and the sail, and sat there.

While I was up there the waves started to spray onto the deck and covered by glasses.  I tried to reach for something to hold on to, but the bow only had two thin lines to keep you on.  More waves splash up and onto me.  Then out of nowhere, thoughts of falling off the boat into the cold water started to go through my head.  I felt my eyes starting to tear up, and then I started to cry.  I felt the tears roll down my face and fall on to my life jacket.  Then the sail started to whip around me.  It kept going left to right snapping painfully against my face and my chest.  The ears started to roll down my face faster and faster.  I thought to myself that the wind will never stop.  i felt a huge gust of wind knock me over.  Still crying I gathered up some courage, I stuffed the sail in a nook and ran to the cabin.  I grabbed a sail tie and a sail cover and ran as fast as I could to the front.  I struggled to the tie the knot, but in about thirty seconds of barely seeing anything I managed to tie it.  I took a huge breath of relief.  I could take my time to put the cover on.  As I snapped together the last button on the sail cover, I felt relief all over my body.  For just a second my face didn't hurt and my heart rate was slow.  For that second I forgot about everything and just relaxed.  I could taste the salt water on my lips.  I walked into the cabin and crawled into my bed and fell asleep instantly.