Sailing with the Prince: A Pacific Romance

There are some things in life that you just can't explain. You want to, you try to, but the words just don't come out. Your mind goes blank and you're left standing there with your mouth hanging open like a total idiot unable to utter a single word.

I had always dreamed of becoming a successful merchant. I knew my hometown wasn't going to have much future for me, so I wanted to see beyond this little island and make a difference somewhere else with my skills. I was good at sailing, I had even helped my father out on some of his longer trips. So when I saw an opportunity like this one, I pounced on it before anyone else had the chance to.

The ship was bigger than any I had ever seen in my life. Just looking at the massive piece of wood made my heart start beating faster, and not just because it was already starting to sway under the power of the waves. It was huge! A giant vessel that looked as if it could sail around the world all by itself! No, this wasn't something that we used on our little fishing trips back home. This was someone's pride and joy, their baby, their treasure!

I didn't know what kind of person owned this ship. The thought that maybe I was just getting myself into something illegal crossed my mind for a moment but then again, what did I have to lose? If they caught me, at least I would get to see more of the world than what my little town offered me. The sea air would do me good anyway. So here I was, hiding between some crates in the dark corners of the ship, waiting for us to leave port so that I could finally sneak out onto the deck and find where we were headed next.

"Riley?" Someone whispered behind me and suddenly put a hand over my mouth before I could scream with surprise. "Calm down," Cole said quietly before he removed his hand from over my mouth. He crouched down next to me and smiled warmly at me as if nothing had happened. "You're going to break your neck sneaking around like this."

"What are you doing here?" I asked him angrily after turning away from him and putting on a brave face. What did he think he was doing sneaking up on me like that? He should have known better than anyone how easily startled I am! He chuckled softly and shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing important at all before pointing towards the door ahead of us with his thumb and smiling again.

"Same as you apparently."

"You're stowaway too?"

He nodded happily and pointed towards himself with his thumb once more before he started poking around with his foot on one of the crates next to us while still grinnig happily at me while he did so. "Not quite," he said when he stopped moving around long enough for me to catch up with whatever he wanted me to know about him being here on board too since he certainly couldn't be called a stowaway now could he?

"No?"

He shook his head quickly and grinned again before patting himself down quickly as if searching for something in all the pockets of his clothing before grinning widely once more when he found whatever it was that he had been searching for seconds ago in one of those pockets or most likely under his clothes. He finally stood up straight again and turned towards me once more before holding out his hand towards me proudly as if showing off some rare item that only rich people were able to afford these days. In fact, it did look exactly like an expensive golden pocket watch or something else that only wealthy people enjoyed having nowadays but what surprised me even more than anything else was how heavy this thing was! What kind of rich guy carried around something so heavy? Did they not use wallets anymore either?

"What is that?"

Cole laughed softly again while still holding out his hand towards me proudly like any proud dragon who had finally managed to catch its prey would do without even thinking twice about it this time around either. His smile made him look almost innocent somehow which made no sense at all considering what kind of person dared sneak aboard someone's ship without asking first? But hey, maybe that's just how kids were these days nowadays right? Who knew? Still...what kind of rich guy carried around gold pocket watches like they were nothing special anymore...? Hmmm...

"It's a compass!" He said happily while nodding enthusiastically from side to side until finally placing it back into one of his pockets again after he noticed how long I kept staring at him instead of saying anything about it or answering his question for that matter either which must have been a pretty rude thing for him seeing as how nice he tried being so far but hey...I'm not used to kids sneaking up on me like that! Anyway...what's wrong with him carrying around a compass? Wasn't everyone using phones these days rather than maps or compasses these days? Not kids though...they never seem to change no matter how much modern technology advances every year these days...

 "A compass?" I repeated slowly while nodding thoughtfully from side to side as well now wondering why on earth he needed something like that aboard this ship if we weren't planning on sailing anywhere near land anytime soon either besides our final destination which is probably several weeks away yet judging by how fast this boat is already going these days which means we must be already far away from where we started outside port by now already...

 "Yep!" Cole said excitedly while taking out said compass from one of his pockets again before turning it around between his fingers until finally pointing towards one side with another big grin on his face proudly waving it in front of my face now showing off whatever it is supposed to point towards since there wasn't anything special about this object whatsoever other then its size maybe but otherwise nobody would ever believe such an old-fashioned thing still existed these days especially not aboard a brand new ship such as this one either...hmm....maybe because nothing has changed since those pirate movies decades ago back home?! Who knows...who cares really...it doesn't matter anyway..his own fault really if he doesn't keep an eye on all this stuff properly now does it?!  

"This is supposed to lead you towards land right?" He added excitedly still waving around whatever it was in front of my face happily smiling at how impressed he appeared to be with whatever it might mean for him being here aboard this boat too but obviously knowing very well how useless this thing must be aboard a boat such as this one...after all...he's been here longer than most people here already judging by how comfortable this boy seemed despite everything! Wow..amazing indeed....still...something tells me that there's more to Cole than meets the eye but what...? Who cares anyways....still can't believe those idiots let him sneak aboard unnoticed in the first place though..anyways..weirdo kids these days..."Guess so..."