A Thumbnail Tale

By

Bruce

It was a dark and stormy night. The waves were relentless as they crashed over the sail of the super-submarine Seaview. The accompanying thunder and lightning brought the scene to life with frightening intensity.

Water poured in the open deck hatch and cascaded down to flood the space below. Lee Crane stumbled into the control room: "What the blazes is going on here? Why aren't we below all this?" he bellowed.

Commander Chip Morton, his trusty XO, struggled gamely beneath the torrent and tried to speak, but succeeded only in getting a mouth full of water. Coughing and sputtering, he could only gesture up toward the open hatch.

The captain struggled against the tossing of the boat to reach the ladder. With water streaming in his face, he crawled up, rung by torturous rung. Finally he reached the upper deck and grabbed on to the railing to steady himself. He looked forward and saw exactly what he expected.

"Riley! I don't care if you do need extra credit for your "Science Through History" class! Get that kite down and close the hatch, NOW!"