Sometimes Our Minds Work Against Us...

No One is Aboard, No One Has in a Very Long Time

Stepping onto the ship you wouldn’t have thought that once it had been the home of seven teenagers. The quietness of the bronze engine room is eerie; you notice the small wad of blankets and pillows in one corner. Stepping out you walk to the room next door, everything is so untouched that the entire place is covered with a thin vale of dust. A black as night sword lays next to the far wall beside a desk with nothing on it. The bed is made and unused; you wouldn’t have thought someone had ever even stepped inside.

Stepping across the hall a messy bed with an almost nest like quality sits with a bowl of water by the foot of the bed. The wall behind the desk has pictures of a young girl and a boy both in purple SPQR shirts on. They are laughing and it seems like they are so happy. On the other wall there is a bow and quiver filled with arrows. Again the room is untouched for what seems like a very long time.

Stepping out you walk to the next room. Similar photos line the walls with intricate drawings of horses and seven teens standing by a dragon are tapped on the wall with these photos also. The bed is neatly made, and the room has a comforting sense to it. A sword hangs on the wall with a basket of gems and gold beside it.

You step out and look to the first open door; it’s blue with fish and bronze sea horses hanging from the ceiling. There are photos of many different kids, most with orange t-shirts that say Camp Half-Blood but some have purple SPQR shirts. There is even one with the black haired boy, who is in every photo, standing with two olive skin kids a girl and boy. The boy has the biggest grin and the girl is holding him with her head on his, her green hat almost covering her brown eyes. The bed spread is blue and green with a small stuffed clown fish tucked in. On the desk are two maps and a blue ball point pen. You step out because you feel the sadness radiating from this room, even though the boy in the pictures is always smiling you can feel his sadness.

Next door is a room with gray owls on the walls and gray sheets to match. The walls are lined with books and scrolls you would have thought it was a library. A dagger lies on the desk and you can feel the death coming off it. It has killed many things, and someone important. The desk has papers strewn across it in what looks like a hurricane ran over a once neat pile. On the wall two pictures are the only things obstructing the owls, a picture of the black haired boy, the one who was in the room next door, and a blond girl with intense gray eyes. The other has three people, the blond girl when she was younger, a black haired girl with electric blue eyes and a blond haired boy who has a mischievous grin on his face. You leave suddenly feeling like your intruding.

The next room you enter has a cornucopia on the back of the door, and a dagger hanging off the headboard. The soft yellows and blues in the room feel relaxing and calm you from the other rooms. There are pictures on the walls but one stands out a boy with a scar on his upper lip and short blond hair is smiling and looks like he is trying to grab the camera. He has an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt but then you can see a SPQR tattoo on his forearm too. You turn to leave and you manage to bump into a box onto the ground. Out spring’s feathers of different colors and sizes along with a photo, you pick it up and see a handsome man with light brown skin and kind brown eyes. His black hair is messy and he holds a little girl with kaleidoscope eyes in a pretty yellow dress that compliments her skin tone. Smiling you put it back in the box along with the feathers and place it back on the shelf.

The room next door is strewn with tools and scraps of bronze. The bed is pushed off to the corner with no blankets or pillows. You remember the engine room with all its blankets in pillows in the corner and concur that this was the engineer of the ship's room. Roaming around you find only tools and small gadgets. Not even one thing that has the person’s existence on it. Tools and gadgets, that’s all that’s in this room, you’re about to leave when you see it. A small leather tool belt hanging off the far bed post. Picking it up it’s as light as the feathers from the room next door. You open the pocket and only one thing is inside, a photo. Its edges are burnt and the paper it’s printed on is fragile but it’s there. The small piece of paper depicts a Latino woman in overalls with a bandana holding her dark curly hair out of her face. She is smiling down at the small Latino boy with matching hair and soft brown eyes. His smile is full of joy as it looks like the woman is tickling him, his ears are lightly red at the pointy tips, and like his mom’s overalls, his cloths are covered in oil and smudged with grease. Gently you place the picture back because like earlier you feel like you’re intruding.

The last room is purple with lightning bolts drawn on the ceiling. A purple t-shirt sits neatly folded in the corner of the bed and an orange one sits tossed on the floor like it had just been taken off. The room is cold and severe. The desk is neat with only a gold coin tossed onto the middle of it. The wall behind the desk, however, is covered with photos. Most are of kids in purple SPQR shirts holding up weapons ready to fight, some are of a camp and one sticks out it’s of a girl with brown hair cut like with safety scissors, some are braided and at the ends there are feathers. She is trying to cover her face but she looks to be laughing to hard. Her kaleidoscope eyes are caught in a spot where the sun is hitting them just right that it looks like a rainbow. The other photos have orange or purple shirted kids all with big grins or cheering screams frozen in time.

Stepping back onto the deck you look at your crew. They look from their ship ready to attack any monsters coming at you but you shake your head.

“No one is aboard, no one has in a very long time.”