Another Chance
written by nilvisk - inspired by an original artwork from Akala Alieas
-Akala Alieas-
I woke up abruptly, drenched in sweat. Dripping. Panting. It was that dream again, that nightmare. The first time the dream plagued me, I was twelve years old.
~
"You dance like you have two left feet, Stan."
"Oh yeah? You're one to talk." Stan spat back with a teasing smile, before surging forwards and grabbing his best friend's hands, clumsily waltzing him across the crooked wooden deck. Their dirty bare feet twisted and turned around each other, and some of the other crew members cackled at their antics. Cackles quickly escalated to roars of laughter as they eventually tripped and fell over each others feet.
The laughing abruptly stopped when Stan toppled backwards on to the plank. Kyle watched, horrified, as Stan tumbled down to the ocean in slow motion.
~
I answered the door, and Kyle stood there with a book under his arms. This was nothing out of the ordinary, as he often liked to read strange books, fictional or non-fictional, and share them with me when he was done. I glanced down at the cover and saw a glimpse of what looked to be a white skull and crossbones on a plain black background, and frowned. This was definitely out of the ordinary, he usually read science books or deep philosophical books, never anything about myths and legends, especially not about pirates. Without question, I took him up to my room.
"It's about pirates." He said.
"Yeah?"
"Well, some of it is about regular ships but it all ties in with piracy somehow. The librarian suggested it." He added, thumping it down on my computer desk and opening it to a page that he had bookmarked. "I read it all, it's like a collection of all the strange things that have happened at sea, some real and some clearly not real... Or at least, some have logical explanations and some I really can't understand." Kyle scratched his head and frowned to emphasize his point. He then turned to me with a grin. "But that's why I love it! This one is weird though, Stan, listen to this."
"Alright!" I nodded, sitting down with a small smile on my face, I really liked it when he read things to me.
~
The Sea Park
The Sea Park set sail on her maiden voyage from Cuba to Bermuda, delivering various goods, on the morning of March 18th, 1714. It began successfully, everything went off without a hitch and she was soon sailing the Atlantic with the promise of a wonderful future for both the ship and her crew. On board the Sea Park were two twelve year old cabin boys, names unknown, but who were reported to have been very close friends. Much like the Sea Park, this was their first trip out to sea, a voyage in to the future, but not a future anyone would ever dream of.
About two weeks later, the Sea Park arrived in Bermuda unscathed, completely unchanged except from two missing cabin boys. All of the crew who had last seen them reported them dancing at the ships impromptu celebrations, all except for one Kenny McCormick, who was convinced until the day he died that he had seen something drag his friends down in to the depths of the ocean. He would not tell anyone their names, nor what he saw that day, but the air of mystery and intrigue that surrounded the story remained and it soon became the subject of much speculation.
Many tried to explain the incident as a failed attempt at piracy, and that their mysterious disappearance was a cover up story for kidnap, the captain probably not wanting his reputation tarnished. The explanation seems likely, but the fact that Kenny insisted, even on his deathbed, that there was something much darker at play has kept generations wondering and guessing as to what really happened that day to the young cabin boys in the Bermuda Triangle.
~
Kyle stayed silent for a few moments, just looking down at the page before replacing his bookmark and slowly raising his head to look back at me.
"Whoa, dude." I said.
"I know!"
"Kenny McCormick?"
"Yep."
"Have you told him about it?"
"Not yet, I wanted you to hear the story first! Dude, what if it's real, what if it really is Kenny, what if we're the cabin boys?"
"I dunno, it's probably just a coincidence," I started, jumping off my bed and grabbing my coat. "But Kenny at least has to hear it!"
~
"Oh man..."
"I know, it's weird. It's your name."
"Stan, it's more than just my name, it's me."
"I knew it!" Kyle exclaimed, slamming the book shut again. "Let me guess, me and Stan are the cabin boys."
"Umm... Yeah."
"Holy shit, dude." Some weird shit happens in this town, so this isn't really shocking, but really, really interesting. I can see why Kyle was so excited about it, now. "Now that I think about it, it reminds me of these nightmares I keep having..."
"What nightmares?" Kenny asked, frowning.
"Well, I can never remember all of it, but I remember lots of alcohol, lots of dancing. And then suddenly I'm drowning, and then I wake up. I've been getting the exact same nightmare since I was twelve."
"Me too!"
"That makes sense, because the cabin boys, I mean, you, you were both twelve when you uhm, died."
"Ugh this is so weird."
"You know, if you want to stop these nightmares, I know how you can stop them!" Kenny stood up and walked over to his damaged bookshelf, stretching up to the very top and pulling down a thick, dusty book. "I stole this from Henrietta a few years ago." He explained with a snigger as he opened up what looked like a spell book. "Here it is, 'dreams and nightmares from a past life'."
Me and Kyle shared a glance.
"Many people of all ages find themselves plagued with dreams and nightmares of their past lives, affecting their current lives. It can either be a blessing or a curse, but if you're reading this right now I'm guessing it's a burden to you... Bla bla bla, to stop these dreams, you need to draw this diagram on the floor," Kenny looked up and turned the book towards us briefly, pointing out the illustration before continuing to read. "Hum the opening theme to Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Kenny snorted with contained laughter. "And then go to sleep."
And so, that night, with much awkward laughter, that's exactly what we did. We decided to perform this ritual at my house and not Kyle's (and not Kenny's because apparently it would make his nightmares come back) because nobody ever comes in to my room without knocking, due to my dad walking in on me doing, uhm... Well, back to the story.
It took us a few tries to hum the entire Buffy theme without laughing, but eventually we managed it, and all that was left for us to do was sleep.
~
"You dance like you have two left feet, Stan."
"Oh yeah? You're one to talk." Stan spat back with a teasing smile, before surging forwards and grabbing his best friend's hands, clumsily waltzing him across the crooked wooden deck. Their dirty bare feet twisted and turned around each other, and some of the other crew members cackled at their antics. Cackles quickly escalated to roars of laughter as they eventually tripped and fell over each others feet.
Fifteen year old present day Stan and Kyle watched in horror as a gruesome, slimy black arm reached out from the depths of the ocean and grabbed Stan's past self, pulling him down to a watery grave. Past Kyle then ran after him, jumping in to the ocean without a second thought. Stan was shocked to find none of their ship mates had even noticed, except for a scruffy blond boy in the corner.
Stan and Kyle suddenly found themselves in the water, quite deep down by now, judging by the fact that they could barely make out the bottom of the boat way up above them. Luckily, in their dream state, they could breath. Although the same couldn't be said for their past selves.
They both watched Stan as he was pulled down further, Kyle desperately swimming to save him. After a few minutes of this struggle, time slowed right down. The mysterious black arm disappeared, and Stan was left suspended in the water, almost completely motionless. His eyes were blank. Kyle finally caught up to him and held him tight, his eyes squeezed shut. It wasn't long before no more bubbles of air came from Kyle's mouth, and he too became motionless as their bodies slowly sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
Present day Stan and Kyle looked at each other sadly, the memory of what had happened playing clearly in their minds as though they had just relived the memory, and not just watched it in their dreams.
~
I woke up abruptly, and so did Kyle. Neither of us drenched in sweat, neither of us panting.
"Dude..." Kyle mumbled, reaching out and holding on to my arm.
"I'm here." I answered him sleepily as I also took hold of his arm, knowing exactly what he was feeling because I felt it too. I felt like it had happened all over again. But it hadn't, and we had another chance.
The End
If you enjoyed this story, remember to check out the original artwork that inspired it!
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