The Navigator’s Duty

Thunder streaks across the black-blue sky, and the first raindrops sound like bullets on the ship’s wood and metal. A cold wind makes you shiver, but the Sea remains calm for now. The Demeter is on course, and so you arrest the rudder and flee below.

Into the cabin.

You at first watch the ship’s needle move over the Mirror Map, razor-straight and undaunted by waves. It is dark inside and the flickering light of the lamp reveals her books, her sheets and her wardrobe, still full with her clothes. A framed painting smirks at you, challenging you, and you prick a finger on a letter-opener she has left in the cupboard under the desk.

You, sucking blood from the tip, decide to go bellow deck and check on the Crew.