Ship of Dreams

Grandfather Thomas stepped foot on the deck of the ship. It was a ship that had been in his dreams almost his whole life. Thomas's four grandsons had begun to build it exactly one year ago. They used the details that were, written by their grandfather's own hand in a black leather-bound book that he always had on his bedstand.

When Thomas fell asleep by the light of the crescent moon each month he knew by morning there would be more specifics for building the ship. The chicken scratch of his handwriting was accompanied by minute' detail of every nook and cranny of the ship.

And now it was finished. Thomas stepped his other foot on the deck. His aged hands touching the railing that ran from stem to stern. He knew that this was important. Over the last week, his heart had grown more and more anxious for the ship to be completed. Deep in his soul, he knew that this would be the most important voyage of his life.

When he had announced at the first national Thanksgiving holiday declared by President Lincoln that his grandsons would build a ship the whole family gathered there gasped. The grandsons were strong young men who knew their grandfather hated ships. And that he was not a rich man.

To convince his family of his seriousness he showed them his black leather book that had every detail on how to build the ship. The four cousins looked through it seeing that it was all in their grandfather's handwriting. They were dumbfounded to see that their grandfather who had never built a ship had every detail from the rigging to the keel written down on each and every page. The instructions were so clear that they knew they could build it even though none of them had ever built a ship or even a house. The grandsons were always up for an adventure so they all agreed to do this one thing that their beloved grandfather had asked of them. The instructions included even where to go to get the materials and how to prepare them for building the ship.

Every afternoon after the four grandsons finished their work they got together and worked on the ship, with their grandfather Thomas acting as manager of the build. As the months flew by, the ship took shape. The young men could envision the ship almost as clearly as their grandfather.

As they worked Thomas told them stories of when he was young. How he had been abducted by pirates and forced to work aboard the ship. He had told these stories to them a thousand times before but they loved hearing the stories over and over. When he got to the part where he was locked into an empty treasure chest with his hands and feet tied he would stop. His mind clouded over. There was a feeling of some kind of light that made him feel calm but he just couldn't bring it back to his memory. He did remember ending up on an island where he was reunited with his father. He remembered every detail of seeing his father and running to his arms after the pirate ship left him there. He knew there was more to the story but no matter how hard he tried he could not remember. He felt in his bones that when they sailed aboard the ship he would learn what the missing piece to his memory was.

Thomas remembered giving this ship a name. It was simply "Mia." When his grandsons asked him why "Mia" he couldn't tell them why. It just felt right to him. He felt compelled to get off the boat and touch the name painted on the side. As he touched the name something came back to his memory. It was a tiny voice whispering in his ear. "Get a sack of flour and dump it on the deck". Then it was gone. He almost had it! The light, the tiny voice in his ear, why couldn't he remember?

They set sail the very next morning after they loaded enough food and supplies for a week. Thomas somehow knew how long they would be gone. Thomas didn't tell his grandsons how much pain he was in. As they boarded the boat Thomas could feel all of his joints hurting. He didn't know if it was just getting old or the wetness of the sea air that got to his bones. He knew that he had to try to hold on until he could find what this was all about. He knew it was important, but that cloud over his memory kept him from knowing what it all meant.

Thomas didn't know where they were going but it was like the wind was showing him the way. Even though he hurt he was calm. He knew they were going the right way somehow. When the night came and the grandsons were about to drop the anchor Thomas told them to leave the boat to go where it wanted. They all went to sleep with Grandfather Thomas sitting at the helm watching the ship follow a path that sometimes went with the wind and sometimes would go against the wind. All the while knowing that the ship would go wherever it was supposed to go. In the morning when the four grandsons came up on deck they could see something in the distance, something low on the horizon It was hard to guess distance in the ocean since there was nothing to compare it to.

It took them the entire day to get close enough to see what it was. Thomas grew more and more excited as they approached. This is home he kept saying in a voice that frightened the grandsons because of how weak he sounded. It was such a tiny island, not even as big as the boat.

Then as they got close enough to drop anchor and take the small boat out, grandfather Thomas stood up. She is there! She is there! he shouted," his voice regaining its strength. I can feel her light in my heart. Please hurry! She is there!

Grandfather climbed into the small boat not waiting for his grandsons. He rowed to the island with all the vigor of his youth. When he arrived, a flood of memories came gushing forth as the cloud that covered his memories disappeared with each step onto the tiny island. There she was! Her wings fluttering in the wind. Thomas fell to his knees reaching his hand out. The tiny fairy walked onto his hand as if they had never parted. Tears running down their cheeks.

"I knew you would come, brother!" she said whispering in his ear.

"I don't know how I ever forgot you!" You rescued me from that box." You and I worked together to trick the pirates into leaving us on that island. This island is where you lived after my baby sister laughed you into being. You are my family." Oh, I am so happy to see you again! he wept.

She touched his wrinkled brow with her tiny warm hand "I put that cloud over your memories so you would forget me and lead a happy life." she said gently. "You are tired as I am. To be separated from you has pulled at my heart since we had to be apart from each other. Now, my brother, you and I can be together. Thomas looked down at himself. He was young again with Mia fairy on his shoulder. He didn't see the old body lying there on the island. He turned and the light from the north wrapped them both in warmth and love as Thomas and Mia stepped into it.

..............

The four grandsons became worried when the small boat came back without their grandfather. They rowed the boat to the small island and found their grandfather lying on the sand so still. They knew he wanted to be buried there. When they dug into the ground they struck something hard. All four young men dropped the shovels and dug with their hands. Not far down was a treasure chest. It was full of pirate treasure, 25,000 doubloons they would find out later. They knew that grandfather had kept his promise of rewarding them richly for their help. But they knew that the real treasure had been their grandfather himself and his stories of adventure.