Stories for a Lifetime

Waves crash in a foreign sea as Sinbad the sailor tries to keep his ship from being swallowed up by the formidable kraken of the deep. Its tentacles thrash around the ship, breaking the masts and ripping the sails. Lightning splits the sky in the distance and rain comes pouring down. CRACK! Goes the thunder. Sinbad’s sailors are being tossed about the ship, some of them scooped up by the tentacles of the monster. Sinbad wields his sword and hacks away at the monsters tentacles. The Kraken’s head emerges from the sea and its beak gnashes at Sinbad and his sailors. “AHHH!” one sailor screams as he is gobbled up by the hulking beast.

“Steady men! Follow me! Cut the tentacles!” shouted Sinbad, bravely cutting through an entire tentacle with one massive, overhead thrust of his sword. The sailors begin doing the same, finding their bearings and dodging the tentacles. THUNK! There goes another tentacle. CRUNCH! Another sailor eaten. Finally, the Kraken had had his fill of the sailors and the pain of the chopping, and receded back into the sea. Sinbad and his sailors were once again victorious!

The ship washed up on a nearby island. Sinbad waited out the storm under a nearby tree. When the rain began to slow down, he talked to his second in command. “I want you and the men to start repairing the sails. I will travel through the island to see if I can find food and drink.”

“Aye-aye captain!” the sailor said, rushing down to the beach to tell the others the plan. Sinbad and a few of his best fighters follow a large path through the forest. The trees and brush are trampled, like elephants had tromped their way through the woods.

“Whatever did this was a very large beast,” Sinbad whispered to his comrades. They smelled burning wood and roasting meat up ahead of them. “Men, we are not alone on this island. Be ready,” said Sinbad, as he drew his sword. They came upon a rocky place, where rocks jutted to the sky. There was smoke and the glow of a fire coming from a cave in the rock formation. Sinbad and his men slowly crept forward. Sitting on a massive rock was a gigantic creature, larger than any man. It was bigger than Sinbad’s ship, and was covered in dark, bumpy skin. It had one large eye and boars tusks sticking out of his camel shaped lips. All of a sudden, one of the sailors trips on a rock, causing it to tumble and roll towards the beast.

Its massive head darted in the sailors’ direction, and as the men tried to escape, they were caught up in a net. A trap the giant had set. Its massive body rose, dragging its club behind it as it ambled towards the men. It began to speak, its reeking breath filling the air. “Ah, at last,” it said, holding up the net and sniffing Sinbad. “Dinner!”

“Alright, it’s time for bed,” dad said, leaving my sisters and I wanting to know more about Sinbad and the sailors’ fate.

“But what happens to Sinbad?” I whine, not wanting the story to end.

“You will have to wait ‘til next time. Now go to sleep, you have school tomorrow,” Dad say in his gruff, bass voice.

As a child, my dad always told us the best bedtime stories. He always recited them from memory, making a few dramatic changes here and there. Sinbad and the Seven Seas was one of my favorites. My Dad is a really great storyteller, who now enjoys entertaining his grandchildren. He would make sound effects for all our stories, by banging the bedroom door for crashes of thunder and whistling for eerie winds. He always told us his favorites. It wasn’t every night that he told us stories, but when he did, it was always a treat. Sinbad and the Seven Seas, Turok: Son of Stone, and Beast Master. He also made his own stories to tell us; especially spooky ones. He has an intimidating low voice, and gruff nature. He is a Marine vet and terrifies most people with his “rough around the edges” nature. But we know him as our strong, adventurous Dad.

I grew up as a tomboy and loved Batman, Ninja Turtles, Gargoyles, Clash of the Titans, and Power Rangers. I also loved dinosaurs, Godzilla and art. We would draw big, scary monsters holding ripped off screaming heads, exes for eyes. We would sculpt dinosaurs and monsters out of clay. I remember one Christmas, we took my T-Rex toy and made it eat Barbie dolls, like the people in the Jurassic Park movie. Even popping off a dolls head or two. Needless to say, my sisters and Mom were not amused.

My Dad and I had so much in common. We would play with my action figures, go on walks through the woods, and go camping, hunting and fishing. He watched Batman with me every day when he came home from work, just as enthusiastic as I was about the characters and story. He meant the world to me and I saw him as my hero. I am so grateful for all my Dads creativity and story-telling. He has inspired me to be an artist, musician, writer, and lover of nature. Little did he know, he was fostering a creative spirit within me my entire childhood, with which I have soared into my adult life.