At the End of the World: Chapter Six

July 11

    We should have been at our current location weeks ago, but the captain’s insistence on making us competent sailors has cost us speed and time. A few of us have wondered, out loud, how we’ll get back home when we’re supposed to. He just looks at the mounting swells beyond the bow and, after a few moments, recites the same tired explanation, “We’ll worry about that when Tierra del Fuego is behind us.”

    Which is really no explanation at all. Which everyone else noticed, as well.

    We’ve also noticed that he doesn’t hang on to the radio the way he used to. Now, he keeps it off. And it’s been almost a week since we’ve seen another ship, even though the Chilean coast is just beyond the eastern horizon.

    A month ago, when I first noticed that the captain was starting to say some dire stuff, everyone else thought I was nuts, that there was no need to talk about how he might be acting a little hinky.

    Now, they don’t talk about anything else.