As the men on the deck scrubbed and toiled,
The water around us frothed and boiled.
A terrible tentacle rose from the ocean.
It swayed back and forth with a slithering motion.
The only light cast was that of its eyes.
The only sound heard was the cries of a bird,
and the flutter of sails
On the mast….

A head then followed, it rose from the sea.
Its fiery eye was fixed upon me.
And as it stared at me I thought,
“So this is what I’ve always sought.”
I knew what I had to do -
I drew my pistol and fired a shot.
One, reload, cock it, two,
into its amber eyes.

And it sank away with withering cries, leaving a trail of blood and goo
Never to be seen by me or you, or so I thought. But was it true?
NO!

The Kraken breached again on the side,
grabbed the stern and opened wide.
The bow was lifted towards the sky.
Chairs slid down, so did I.
Out a door, across a room,
away down the deck towards my imminent doom.

But not all was lost: the young first mate,
watching the big thing salivate,
had grabbed a railing and said to me,
“The rigging! The sails! Shoot them free!”

A one in a million shot! And how
did he expect me to get a shot like that now,
When I only had one bullet remaining?
But down its esophagus the Kraken was draining
the last crew members that were straining to keep a hold on their lives.
It was worth a try.

I aimed again, closed one eye.
Pulled the trigger, let the bullet fly.
Slashing the ropes as it flew towards the sky.

The only signs of our battle at sea
were bloody, floating chunks that could only be
pieces of its lifeless eyes.