Page 93 of Hidden Depths

The Pacific remained calm.

But everyone who truly understood the sea...

Knew calm water could hide the deepest dangers.

17

STORM

Grandpa used to say there were two kinds of storms.

The ones you could see.

And the ones already sailing beside you.

"The second kind," he'd tell me, "are the dangerous ones."

Because they wait until you're looking somewhere else.

The Pacific shimmered beneath another cloudless morning.

If someone had looked only at the water...

They would've called it perfect.

I knew better.

Perfect seas had fooled better captains than me.

I stepped onto the bridge before sunrise.

The brass bell hung motionless.

The chart table was exactly as I'd left it.

Grandpa's logbook rested beside the compass.

I ran my hand across the worn leather cover.

"We're still listening."

The words disappeared into the quiet.

But somehow...

I didn't feel alone.

A soft knock came from the open bridge door.

Ward.

He held two steaming mugs.

"I guessed coffee."

I smiled.

"You guessed right."