Ghost ships
Even though it was early afternoon, the sky was midnight dark. Jagged
bolts of white lightning flashed through the blackness. A roaring,
rushing wind churned the water into great waves.
The helmsman of the merchant ship stood with his feet braced against the
deck, his hands tight on the wheel. He wasn’t particularly worried, for
he had sailed through many a fierce storm. He glanced out at the wild
sea, thinking that at any moment a torrent of rain would fall.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, another ship appeared. It moved past
swiftly, but so close the helmsman could make out every detail. It was
an old-fashioned ship, such as he had seen only in pictures. The
crewmen, dressed in odd, old-fashioned clothes, moved slowly and
stiffly. Their faces were white and expressionless. Then the ship swept
past, vanishing into the black of the gathering storm.
The helmsman’s mouth was open in shocked surprise. \”Heaven protect me!”
he whispered to himself. \”I’ve seen the ghost ship! I’ve seen the
Flying Dutchman!”
According to legend, the Flying Dutchman must sail the seas forever,
manned by a crew of ghosts. It was cursed because of its captain. One
story has it that he swore a terrible curse that he would sail round the
Cape of Good Hope, in spite of storms, if it took till his dying day.
According to another tale, he is being punished for having killed a man
on his ship.
The Flying Dutchman is the most famous ghost ship, but it isn’t the
only one. There are others in many parts of the world. Like the Flying
Dutchman, most ghost ships are supposedly seen only during storms.
