Leary-

It’s always growly outside. Like the town has a dog it forgot to feed.

It’s been that way here in Stormy, Hawaii since I was a baby.

Everyone jokes and says that the thunderstorms are what get us all, in the end. Not the volcano, not the snakes, but the constant, endless, barrage of stormy weather.

Indeed, the thunder took my father. And my cousin. And my uncle. And my grandma.

But it'll never get me.

Buttoning up my captain’s jacket I feel a bit like my favorite book character, Alice, as she sails on her first voyage despite all that holds her back.

My mother smiles at me proudly, “Just like your father.” she says, beaming.

I skip out the door, feeling a lightness in my steps.

Cory is waiting for me on the docks. He salutes me as I approach, “Captain!” he bellows and I laugh, pulling him into a spontaneous kiss. He pretends to squirm as if he wants to get away, but at the same time, rests his hand on my back comfortably.

When I finally let him go he lets out a long whistle and grins at me. Happiness floods my chest and I know that in this moment I am so utterly in paradise. Looking back at my mother and my boyfriend, I make a solemn vow that I will not let the storms take this happiness away from me.

I board my ship and prepare for the hell that awaits me.

The storms batter us as soon as we leave the harbor. We’re sitting up cold in the wind, freezing almost as much as we would be if even a drop of the water beneath us touched our skin. I stay up with the crew most nights, telling them stories of me and my father’s adventures.After all, that is who we are going to save.

Yes, my father is dead.

Like I said before, the storms took him.

But now, I want him back.

His body.

Lost at sea.

Needs to be back in it’s home.

Then one night I hear screaming from on deck.

I rush out to see what’s going on but the arms of the storm sweep me away as if I was a feather and it was a charging herd of horses in less time that I could say “Cory.”

Cory-

She never came back.

Her body.

Lost at sea.

But now, I want her back.

I board my ship and prepare for the hell that awaits me.