The Great Buckey
by
Gabriel Blake (age 14)
Water rippled behind the Great Buckey, disturbing the still waters of the salt water lagoon. At the helm Captain Ludwig could see the moon’s reflection almost perfectly off the black water, as if it was a mirror. He had searched late into the night to find this near perfect lagoon. It was almost fully surrounded by mangroves, thus it was an ideal place for a cargo ship to lay anchor. Ludwig slammed into the helm as they hit bottom! The captain quickly assessed the situation, “All right men,” he said, Ludwig looking at his startled crew. “The keel of our vessel is ten feet underwater. We are going to tie some ores together in hopes that we can push ourselves back into deeper water. The tide is ebbing, so we must move swiftly.”
The men, worn after a long day of sailing, were a bit more sluggish than normal.
Ludwig strained every muscle in his body, but to no avail. Even with the might of twenty men, the large ship wouldn’t budge. “Well” said Ludwig, exhausted, “We might as well wait till it is high tide once again. I suggest we all get a nice long rest.”
The crew murmured in agreement.
Just as the sun cracked over the horizon, the crew woke up. Meanwhile, the chef was preparing the morning meal on a large raft, the purpose of which was to have a fire off the boat. “Hey Bill!” called the captain, “ would you cook some eggs this fine morning. I think everyone could use something besides porridge today.”
The crew agreed enthusiastically.
“I would love to. Just so you know this is the last six dozen eggs.” answered the chef.
“Just cook’em already!” shouted the crew.
“Okay! You guys scared the cheese out of me.”
After they had eaten breakfast, the sun was about a quarter of the way across the sky, Ludwig and the several crew members got ready to further address the problem. Ludwig put on some light shorts with tears and holes from years of abuse. He peered into the water and concluded that it was deep enough to dive in. He dove in and bumped his head into the coral covered lagoon floor. At that moment he realized that he had been duped by the lagoon.
Ludwig rubbed his head on his short ascent to the surface. Once he got his bearings back, he situated his hands in such a way that he could lock air around his eye. For some strange reason, he could see much clearer when he did that rather than simply peer into the salt water.
Taking a deep breath he dove. He swam like that of a dolphin with his hands clasped around his eyes. Ludwig loved looking at all of the small organisms and fish that weaved in and out of the coral that covered the lagoon floor. It appeared that the bow of their ship had crashed through the stern of an old shipwreck, forcing the Great Buckey to sit at a slight angle.
“That explains it!” thought Ludwig “We were pushing in the wrong direction. That's why it didn’t budge. I ought to search that ship for valuables.” He pushed his feet off some coral and launched himself to the surface.
Two hours later, the sun was getting close to its peak; Ludwig reminded himself to calm down and preserve his oxygen. Ludwig dove down for the twentieth time to search the shipwreck. He swam to where he now believed to be the captain's quarters. It was hard to tell with all the fan-coral everywhere. Swimming through the entrance he saw a wooden chest with a sword lying next to it. He shoved the sword into a small crack in the lid. He put his feet on the ceiling, so he could push down on the sword. He pushed with all his might and it began to budge a little bit. Becoming increasingly aware of the need for air, he pushed again. The lid opened and revealed a chest full of shiny gold! Feeling quite out of breath, he rushed back to the surface.
It took many trips to bring all the treasure aboard the Great Buckey.
By now it was almost high tide, and the work wasn’t done yet. They first moved the gold and the heavier cargo to the chef's raft in order to lighten the boat. Once they had finished moving the heaviest things, they got ready to push the boat free. Every man pushed and… nothing.
As people began to worry Bill got an idea “Everyone, the wind is going in just right direction. We might need to do a little change up the rigging, but we could do it.”
“That could work.” Ludwig replied excitedly.
With the wind on their side they pushed with all their might, and then they felt a movement. Before they knew it they were free.
After they were well on their way, Ludwig took the responsibility to count their treasure. As he counted he soon realized this was more than enough for all of them to retire early. He rushed out from his quarter and onto the main deck.
“Men! We have stumbled upon a blessing from God. We’re all going to be… filthy rich.”
The crew exploded with joy.
THE END
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