Arequipa

Written Sometime 2013ish

It was a strange day indeed. The seas were thick with froth and foam. The rain came down in capricious downpours, yet the sun stayed constantly bright even during the rain. The fleet was preparing for the engagement that would decide the fate of their fair city Arequipa. With grim faces and beating hearts the sailors set about their work of rigging the ships for war. The cannons were set out and loaded. The muskets were clean and ready. The long spears were placed where they could be had at a moments notice. At last, everything was ready and all that remained to be done was to sit and wait for the approach of the enemy. The water was glassy calm, and through the fog they could see but little. It was eerily quiet. Everybody knew there would no warning when they struck, and so each moment passed filled with the anxiety of all four hundred men.

Now while our brave men are waiting for the approaching storm, let me take a moment to describe the nature of the enemy. You see, the reason nobody knew when they would strike was because the enemy would be coming from underneath them, coming from the depths of the ocean. Our men will be fighting sea monsters. For centuries the city of Arequipa had been defending themselves from the sea monsters, and once again they were attacking. They come exactly three times a year: on the 14th of April, the 14th of August, and the 14th of December. Why are they so punctual? No one knows, but what we do know is that the navy must be ready on those days, or else the sea monsters would make it to the beach, turn into dragons, and destroy the city. Only once had any sea monsters made it to the beach. Just two had made it, and they had destroyed a third of the city before the army had stopped them. If a dozen ever made it through, that would be the end of Arequipa. That is why the fleet  is so important, for it is much easier to stop them in the water. And now to describe the sea monsters. There are many different types and species, but I will only tell you about the most common of them. First of all there are Gulpers, who have huge mouths. They suck up lots of water, and then spit it out on your ship to try to fill it with water and sink it.Then there are three different types of Drivers: Whackers, Pokers, and Cutters, who try to destroy the hull of the ship by making holes in it. Drivers, unlike Gulpers, are fast, slender, and easy to take out, but there are three times as many Drivers as Gulpers. One of the most dangerous sea monsters though are the Tectonics, named so because they resemble the tectonic plates under the earth's crust. They are very large and flat sea monsters who hit the bottom of your boat with so much force that often times will immediately sink the vessel. To meet all these threats, the Arequipians had designed their boats as strongly as possible, and they had found that the best design was that of a circle. There was no longer the weakness of having a broadside, and during a Tectonic attack the ship could be tossed in any direction without fear of sinking. They also had two large bilge pumps on-board that could pump an impressive amount of water during a Gulper attack. All in all it was a hard to sink ship.

And now back to our men who are waiting on the ships. Nothing was happening until all of a sudden twelve Drivers darted up and began beating on the ships. Muskets sounded, and several Drivers sank down. Then two Gulpers jumped out of the water and half filled two ships with water. It happened so fast the men didn't have time to grab their spears. All of a sudden the water became really choppy and waves began to form.
"Tectonics!!" the admiral roared. "Brace yourselves and ready the cannons!"
As soon as Admiral Johnson saw the dark form of the Tectonics rising up he yelled, "FIRE!"
With a deafening bang the cannons went off, and one Tectonic was shattered into a thousand pieces. The others kept coming and began knocking the ships around. Cracks began to form on two of the boats, and one ship was sunk altogether. There was no time to mourn the loss, as twenty Drivers joined the Tectonics in the fray. Another volley from the cannons, and two more Tectonics were sent to the depths. The Drivers concentrated their attack on the two ships with cracks, while the men fired their muskets at them. Unfortunately many holes were made in the two ships and water came in faster than they could pump it out. Thankfully their friends in the other ships saw this and sailed over. Then the men from the sinking ships climbed aboard and were saved from drowning. However, the fight was not yet over. Four Gulpers jumped up to dump water. One was successful and sunk one of the half-filled ships. The other three were speared, but one of them fell down dead inside the ship! The men, with much pushing, heaving, and grunting, finally managed to shove it overboard, but not before some Drivers had managed to make a hole. With pumps going full speed though, they kept up with the water. The fight raged on. Half an hour later two more ships had been sunk and twenty-three more sea monsters sent to the depths. It was a close fight. Half the fleet had been destroyed, and of the remaining four, only one didn't need their pump to stay afloat. But they had done it. They stopped the sea monster invasion. Arequipa was safe once again.

With that done, the little boy dried his hands, drained the water, and before switching the light off looked upon his work. "A job well done." he said to himself. And with that he left the kitchen.