Mermaids and Siren Tails

The ship was crewed with nearly thirty men. Alex was a new recruit, though nothing was particularly new about the setting. Alex grew up around ships her entire life. It was always one of her ambitions to serve under the mast and now with her parents dead she was free to roam. Her only other option was to join the mass of unemployed women who kept room board and food for free. Though out on the streets one learned early on that nothing is ever truly free.

The ship was a beauty in her eyes, it had a double mast with twice the sail. It was a deep cut ship which dug firmly into the ocean wake. A vessel for noble transport, it wasn't what she could call a rarity, but it was a fine boat for sure. Her father used to tell her stories of his sailing days when he would return from a long voyage. It was so hard to imagine what it would be like with the blue saltwater on all sides as far as you could see with only the stars to protect you and keep you on course. The thought nearly took her breath away when she tried.

She spent hours pestering her father for every detail about the ship he sailed under, it was a noble ship, and he was a good father. He told her about shipments and boarding, and ports with business men in hopes she would abandon her unladylike infatuation with setting sail for the sea. Regardless how he mentioned his adventures everything fascinated her. She would ask about the business transactions, even the color ties the men wore. It was if she were memorizing every detail. She memorized the sections of all the ships. It became more than a hobby, her mother and father were quite perplexed.

Alex sat against the side of the boat, her hair had been cut short in the back to match a boys, but longer in the front to shield her face which was hidden under a grey cap. It was her fascination with ships which started her on this journey, and most likely rescued her from becoming a common whore in the streets.

The water swirled under her feet as she peered through a small hole in the docks planking. It was extraordinary she thought to herself. Alex was a peculiar girl to say the least. Quiet and shy at times, but smart, almost scarily so.

"Hey you!" Barked a man in tattered old clothes and a beard much too long, he looked unstable on his feet and by the way he smelled she could tell he had been drinking.

"Yessir!" She said smartly with her irish accent which always seemed to slither off her tongue.

"Go get the cap'n we're leavin' port!" His speech was slurred. It was obvious to her he was in no state to man the ship, much less give orders, but she went on her way regardless.

"Yessir." She said quickly again. She could see the look in his eyes. It would do no good for her to refuse a man who could not be reasoned with.

She found the captain in his quarters with a long quil pen and a heavy leather ledger. It looked to be the ships manifest, though she couldn't be quite sure as when she entered the room the book was closed fast. Alex introduced herself and passed on the message that a crewman had told her to make ready to cast off from port. And more importantly to report to the captain himself.

The Captain all the while had a strange bemused look upon his face, it was one which neither encouraged doubt or outrage, just the feeling of unease. He seemed to be a strange man, but many sailors were just that, prefering the sea to their own kind they wander. That's how her father had described it to her the first time she asked why he had to go. She was four at the time. She never stopped asking questions like that though, even when she didn't want the answer all the time, she knew he would give it to her. 

Her father was a strange man too. It was not that he was away too long that disqualified him from being a proper father, it was his honesty which faulted him that priviledge. Though Alex would never hold it against him, she knew no other way to have a father than one that would be honest. A father who would never lie for her protection, only tell the absolute truth. It was one of the reasons she had a hard time understanding people. It was difficult to explain to them what she meant, not like it was for her father.