Amber

Amber

1705 April 15th. A young girl is standing on the edge of a cliff looking at the ocean. Her long brown hair is waving down her back every time the wind blows. Her sky blue eyes are filled with tears as the ship is pulling to the docks. She looks down at people rushing to meet their loved ones and coast control is about to have a closer look at the ship and the orders that it carries. This ship is supposed to bring wool and amber just like Jhons ship was supposed to.

She looks down and sees crying mothers, daughters, sisters and wives as they are hugging their loved sailors who have been out in the sea for months. They look so much different than they first left. All of their clothes are dirty and hanging on them as they dont fit their bodies that became just skin and bones from lack of food and medicine. Their faces look so tired but so happy at the same time because they know that they are safe for now. They hug their families and the smiles on their faces can hide the fact that they had a really hard time in the stormy seas. All of them had to face so much danger out there that most men don’t even talk about it. I remember when I was a little girl I used to go to the docks to meet my brother all the time and every time he came back from the sea a part of his soul disappeared.

I used to hug him and every single time I could feel his bones digging into my skin. But i was happy because i knew that he was safe now and i knew that all the visible bones will disappear as soon as our mother puts a plate of warm soup under his nose. and i knew that all the horrible things printed on this face during the journey will fade as our mum hugs him tight thanking the lord for his safe return

But no one talks about the sad part of ships returning, no-one talks about men carrying their friends dead bodies and no-one talks about the horrible sound their mother makes when they find out that their kids, their husband and their brothers lost their lives fighting the biggest and most cruel monster of them all. The sea.

Evelyn looks down and she is happy that their friends get to hug their loved ones but at the same time she hates everyone. She hates the laughter that winds carry from the docks, she hates seeing crying mothers hugging their sons, she hates that she sees a lonely figure on the edge of a bridge. she looks up at the sky. her mouth opens but words don’t come out and tears start rolling down her cheeks and drops on her dress. She's hugging herself because she knows that this ship doesn't have any news about John either.

It has been three years as he sailed the seas and never came back. He promised me that he will come back. I replayed the moment when he gave me this heart shaped amber and promised me to come back.

‘Evelyn’ he said as he whipped tears off my eyes ‘this is not a permanent goodbye, i'll be back i promise i'll be back.’ He hugged me tight and held me for a while in his arms. I still remember the way he smelled and I will never forget that. his smile and his face is fading every day but his smell is imprinted in my head forever.

‘Mummy!’ a soft voice travels through the air and reaches Evelyn's ears ‘’mummy can we go and see the people down at the dock?’

Evelyn brushes tears from her face and turns around to look at the precious little girl with curly brown hair and sparkly green eyes ‘mummy can we go please?’ Little Amber gets a bit inpatient but Evelyn smiles at her and calls her to come and sit with her by the edge of a cliff. ‘My dearest amber, I think it is time I tell you a story about a guy called John and his dream to sail the seas’.

‘Mummy is this the story about my daddy that got lost at sea and no one can find him?’ Evelyn looks at the sky and sees a cloud shaped in the form of a man and smiles because she knows that he's always watching them from above and he's always proud of how smart and beautiful amber is. ‘Yes my dear, this is a story how your mummy and your daddy met.’ a little amber sits next to her mum and puts her head on her lap, turns to the sea and whispers 'i'm ready mummy…’