A Summer Of Missing Princesses

“Excuse me, captain!” I call out when I approach the dock.

The sailboat just happens to be on break and the captain is lounging on the deck. He hears me call and removes his sunglasses.

“Need something?” the captain asks.

“Yes, I have a specific favor to ask of you,” I say.

“Okay, hang on a moment,” the captain says.

He gets off the boat and comes to stand near me.

“So, uh...what is this favor you wanted to ask?” the captain says.

“I need to go west,” I say.

The captain freaks out right away and runs back onto his boat.

“Nope! Too dangerous!” he calls back.

“Oh, come on! Please! I am pretty sure my next destination is out there!” I plead.

“If you wish to die, yes! There is nothing but death out west,” the captain argues.

“Fine. If you won’t help me, I’ll just build my own boat with the princesses,” I say.

The captain sees I have both Princess Sìneag and Princess Aleena and falls silent.

“Come on, we don’t need that silly ol’ captain...we’ll build a better boat,” I say.

I hear the captain sigh loudly. Then, when I get to work breaking down a tree for wood, I hear him groan.

“You’ll never make it in such an unprofessional boat,” the captain says.

“Yes, but at least we’ll go further. You won’t even try to take us,” I argue.

“Fine! I give in! Stop building your flimsy boat and come aboard mine. You’re lucky I have no other customers currently,” the captain says.

Satisfied, I leave the mangled tree behind and lead the princesses aboard the boat. I probably could have built a decent boat if I took enough time, but it’s a good thing the captain finally allowed us passage to the west.

“Alrighty, crew! We’re heading west!” the captain says.

The crew gasps in horror.

“That’s righ, and we’re taking two princesses with us!” the captain says.

Even more gasps are heard.

“Draw the anchors; the quicker we prove nothing is out there, the quicker we can get back to work,” the captain says.

The crew hurries about, making last minute preparations and then, when all is checked, they draw the anchor out of the water.

“Anchors aweigh!” one man calls.

“Sailor, turn the ship,” the captain calls.

“Aye, sir!” the sailor replies.

The ship turns slowly at the port until the bow is pointing northwest. The sails are unfurled and catch the wind.

“We’re off, captain!” the sailor states.

The boat begins to glide across the water rather smoothly as we leave Mycono Kingdom. We pass a time warp as we leave the perimeter.

“Did you copy that?” the captain asks.

“Seems we’ve just made a big jump ahead in time! We’re looking at the year 1965!” a record keeper announces.

“By golly! 15 years!” the captain cries out in astonishment.

“Wait, what?!” I ask, hoping they were just kidding.

They were serious alright! No one on the boat aged, but the sea and sky seem to look slightly different. Looking back at the island we just came from, it appears they have a few new buildings that weren’t there while we stood on that land! Being that I’m from Fairwood, this is incredibly abnormal for me.

“Why do you look so surprised? Has nobody ever told you of the Myconian time warps?” Princess Sìneag asks.

“Never heard of it until just now,” I state.

“Don’t worry too much about it. Those who wind up in the wrong time period usually make their way back to the correct one,” Princess Sìneag says and punches Princess Aleena in the face.

You know what? I think you guys know well enough that the princesses are Aleena and Sìneag, I don’t think I really need to write out their full titles every time.

“Sìneag! Quit beating Aleena up!” I scold.

“But, I want to!” Sìneag whines.

Aleena is trying really hard not to cry, but I can see by the way she is quivering that tears are just about to come out.

“Even if you two were commoners, it still would not be okay to fight,” I say.

“Our daddies fought!” Sìneag whines.

“And it was horrible. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past,” I say.

“Fine. Aleena, let’s be allies. We might never see each other again after this, anyhow,” Sìneag proposes.

Aleena brightens up and takes Sìneag’s hand which has been extended for her.

“Aw...” says the scrubby, scrubbing a relatively clean section of deck.

After that, the two little girls became like best friends. They played many of the same games that us commoners play such as tag and hide-and-go-seek.

“I bet you can’t find me!” a little voice calls out one time.

Aleena looks around frantically, but to no avail.

“Hee hee hee!” Sìneag laughs teasingly.

“Where are you?!” Aleena asks.

“The point of the game is to find me. If I told you, that’d ruin the fun!” Sìneag answers back.

Aleena searches pretty much the whole ship, passing me multiple times, but still no sign of Sìneag. She eventually stops calling out hints as well, causing Aleena distress.

“Where is she?! I looked everywhere!” Aleena wails.

“Aye! Do you happen to be looking for a blondie?” a voice calls from the crow’s nest.

Aleena looks up and sees a guy standing up at the top. Next to him is Sìneag who has fallen asleep from waiting.

“Oh! There she is!” Aleena squeals. “How did she get way up there?!”

“The same way I got up here. There is a ladder,” the man explains.

“So, she climbed the ladder with a dress on?! That’s incredible!” Aleena cries out.

Aleena runs for the post that the crow’s nest is attached to and tries to climb the ladder. From what I can see, she doesn’t get very far up the ladder because her dress gets in the way. Sìneag wakes up and looks right at Aleena before bursting out into laughter. Both girls start laughing. After that, neither princess hides up there again.

About five days into the voyage, we encounter Tellis, but that is not where we are headed.

“Aleena, Sìneag! Look before we pass it! There is Tellis! I was born there!” I call out.

The two princesses rush to the side of the boat I am standing on and stare out at the land mass.

“Wow! That’s huge!” Aleena squeals.

“Meh, it’s not that big! Mycono is bigger!” Sìneag says.

The girls frown at each other for a moment, but soon, they are laughing and happy again. Looking at Tellis again after all these years, it’s kind of funny that it is considered a single island. There are two large rivers crossing through it cutting it into four large chunks.

“Smells nice,” Aleena comments.

The wind blows gently, bringing with it the sweet smell of farmland. While there isn’t that much farmland in Fairwood, Tellis is mostly farmland.

“You sure you don’t want to just get off here?” a crew member asks.

“I’m positive. My destiny calls me further for now,” I say.

“Alrighty, then...” he says and goes about his own business.

There was a day of peace. We left Tellis behind us and kept sailing west. The ocean was empty and barren of life. No whales or dolphins greeted us here.

“There’s nothing to see in the west! Nothing but doom and distress! Heading back home would be best! But with two princesses we cannot expect less!” one of the crew members sang out.

This made me feel uncomfortable, but at the same time, I held onto the tiny seed of hope that Fraizer planted within me. My destiny calls me to the west! If I am not to live, why don’t I just die now? Perhaps I have spoken too soon...

I was with Aleena and Sìneag on the 25th hour of our voyage from Tellis. We were sharing some fruit that had been stored below deck in an ice chest. (The ice chest had begun to melt and all the produce needed to be consumed or tossed overboard.)

“Aye! We must get a new ice chest when we can! I have heard some nasty stories of sailors who didn’t take ice and produce with them!” the captain announces.

“Hey, captain!” it is the Barrelman calling from his perch.

“What is it now?! Have you spotted land?!” the captain asks, I can hear a mocking tone in his voice.

“No, captain, sir! There is a huge storm heading straight for us and it will be here any moment!” the Barrelman cries out.

“Aye! It’s the curse of the west, I tell ya!” the captain cries out and stomps his foot angrily.

“Captain, will we be alright?” I ask.

“Of course not! The storm will either kill us here or thrash us upon some sharp rocks!” the captain yells.

He had been so patient, but now, fear and anger consumes him.

“If only there was some way to save ourselves!” the captain wails.

“How far do you think we are from land?” Aleena asks, curiously. She stares at the captain with huge brown eyes of fear.

“Dear princess! We are mighty far! If there is land out west, it has to be a day’s trip away!” the captain exclaims.

He then stoops to Aleena’s height.

“It would have been better to not come out here... I am so sorry,” the captain says.

Sìneag scowls and crosses her arms.

The storm rolls in just as bad as the crew predicted. The waves become harsh and the water starts getting onto the deck. At the same time as the ocean is trying to consume us from below, the rain from above showers down like a flood to wash us away. The masts flail helplessly in the wind. At the first roar of thunder, the Barrelman evacuates his crow’s nest and joins us on the deck.

“Dear God, please save us!” Aleena wails.

“We have to turn back! We cannot go any further!” the captain proclaims.

“No! We must reach the western land!” I object.

“Then go on your own!” the captain cries.

“Are we really going to jump overboard? In the middle of a storm?” Sìneag asks.

“Yes,” I say.

“I’m scared! What if the lightning hits us?!” Aleena asks.

“I don’t know...” I whisper.

I cannot even hear myself as the storm has become so loud. I take a deep breath and grab a hand from each of the little girls.

“Do not be afraid...our God is with us,” I say.

As the waves tilt the boat and the wind tears the sails, I launch myself off the boat with both princesses in hand. Over the roaring, I can faintly hear the captain say something. The waves thrash and carry us further and further from the ship.

I do not recall much of what occurred beyond that point... I saw the ship turn in the storm, but it was soon out of sight buried in the storm. Funny thing is, there is a western land. When I opened my eyes again, I found some children staring at me. They weren’t just any kind of children, but children that reminded me of my friend Timber Wolf. Each kid had a set of wolf ears as well as a wolf tail.

“Urgh...where- where are they?” I ask.

“Right here, ma’am,” one says, waving her hands at a couch.

The two princesses are piled together on a couch. They both are breathing, so that’s a good sign.

“This is the western land?” I ask.

“What do you mean? Isn’t this the only land?” the child asks.

“The Forgotten World...Fraizer was right! And here I am!” I say.

The wolf-kids stare in wonder.