Second-place Story for 2006

Sailors of the 14th Century

By Kelsey J.,Rancho Romero School, Alamo

Dear Family,

How have you been? I am fine. Here on ship I have many responsibilities. They are swabbing the splintery, barf-stained decks and taking lookout of any other ships about to bomb our board.

Many of the sailors on board have died of scurvy which is a disease causing gums to blow up like balloons and body weakness which makes people rock back and forth like they are in a rocking chair while on ship. Some people have lost many of their teeth, too. Not me. I used to sneak fruit like lemons and oranges from barrels aboard ship and hide them under my pillow until the captain found out, and I was whipped thirty-five times.

While being whipped my brain went blank. I couldn’t think of anything as the whip smacked past my skin and broke into my flesh. Now I have seven whip marks on my back. The doctor came right away as he heard a whip flinging through the air. All I remember seeing were blood strains on my shirt and that red color steaming down my back like a waterfall.

I still sneak fruit, but now I have a better hiding place for it. (That is in my leather pack that is always with me on board). The fruits I eat are sometimes very soiled but I still gobble them down because they are healthy.

Warmth is a tough thing to keep on board. At night we sleep with no blankets. I sleep in cramped sleeping quarters with about fifty men. My clothes are made of leftover canvas from the sails, and when I wear them it feels like I’m in the snow but bare-naked.

At dinner we always have to choke down hardtacks, which are rotten biscuits that have beetles living in them. To eat these pastries we have to pull the bugs out. It’s disgusting and I hate doing it. When I pull a bug out it is always squirming in my hand and wiggling its miniscule feet thinking that it is still walking.

There is a “rumor” going around that Magellan’s crew had so little food that they had to eat leather riggings and rats to survive. I know that this is true because Father was on Magellan’s ship. Oh how I miss him so; may he Rest in Peace.

Well enough about me. How are you all doing? Mother, is the spice shop doing well? I bet business is splendid. Have the carpenters come to fix the cabinet yet or is the black wood still rotting from the bugs living inside and tunneling through the wood just to make your life harder? Has Peter gone to Spain to have his dreams come true about being a printer, or is he still the little farm boy he used to be?

There are so many questions to ask, but I know you can’t answer them all. Oh how I miss you and hope to come home soon. Hope all is in order.

Love,
Diego

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