Lights
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Registered: 06-2003
Location: Anyplace on Water
Posts: 1780
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To Be an Officer
To Be An Officer
Chief Officer Henry Wilde smiled as James Moody, Titanic�s Sixth Officer, handed him a cup of tea. He heard the clock chime eight times as he took a sip of the hot liquid. Eight bells. Four o�clock. One of his favourite times of day. In a couple of hours it would begin to get light: first the deep blue-grey of false dawn, then a lighter shade of same, only to be replaced by the pinks, corals and rose shades of sunrise, throwing that glorious light onto the forecastle ahead of him.
He was a widower, having lost his wife and the twin boys she had recently given birth to on Christmas Eve of 1910. Going to sea as he always had over the years had proven to be his salvation; as much as he loved his other four children, they were a reminder of what he had lost. Being at sea gave him a sense of peace which he had found nowhere else, try as he might.
Upon their return to Southampton, he would assume command of little Cymric. A very lovely little Lady in her own right, she would be Wilde�s first command.
His first command! This was the goal towards which every newly-hired officer worked: command of a vessel, especially one sailing the crack North Atlantic route! In time, God willing, other ships would follow, each larger, faster, and more luxurious than the last.
Soon, he would celebrate twenty-six years at sea, a good fifteen of those years spent as an officer. Oh, God, yes, that was what he�d been born for: to help sail, and ultimately command, great ships like the one upon shoes bridge he now served. All of his early years at sea�first in sail, then in steam, leading up to his attaining his Masters, then Extra Master�s, certificates, the latter required for any man who wished to be an senior officer for one of the pre-eminent ship lines, such as White Star. Not only the Extra Master�s certificate was required, however; one must also be a member of the Royal Naval Reserve. All the years serving as apprentice, studying for the Mate�s exam as time permitted, then the exams themselves�long taxing exams with both written and oral sections. Then the years as junior, and finally senior, officer, all the while honing his skills in navigation and shiphandling, learning to make decisions whish might one day be a matter of life and death.
Yet, he would not have chosen another career for anything in the world. To be an officer was a world unto itself, a world of which he was proud to be a part, proud to be the latest link in a chain stretching back hundred, if not thousands, of years. He was proud to be able to sail forth, each time taking on the sea on her own terms�and winning.
He now smiled at Moody as the young officer walked back onto the Captain�s Bridge. As far as Wilde was concerned, Moody had picked the best life possible�life as an officer of the British merchant marine.
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"What I remember about that night- what I will remember as long as I live- is the people crying out to each other as the stern began to plunge down. I heard people crying, 'I love you.'"
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Jun/23/2003, 8:21 pm
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MurdochsAid
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Re: To Be an Officer
This one's a major "WOWEE!!!" too!!! Keep up your great work, Lights. 
---
"Whatever obstacles control, go on true heart, thou'lt reach the goal." ~ John Henry Mackay, "Writer of Anachist"
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Jun/23/2003, 11:00 pm
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Thomas Dyer
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 Re: To Be an Officer
Thank you for posting this i think it is very good too!!!!
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(Translation of part of the Welsh National Anthem)
The land of my fathers, the land of my choice,
The land in which poets and minstrels rejoice;
The land whose stern warriors were true to the core,
While bleeding for freedom of yore.
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Jun/24/2003, 6:56 am
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MayRose
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Re: To Be an Officer
A sweet episode, so full of hope and promise, and ultimately so sad in light of what the future held.
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"Come my lord and in our flight tell me how it came this night that I, sleeping here, was found...with these mortals on the ground."
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Jun/27/2003, 6:14 pm
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albyau
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Registered: 06-2003
Location: Australia
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Re: To Be an Officer
Hi Lights
I really enjoy reading your work.
alby
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Dial up is the pits, now on ADSL broadband.
Visiting San Francisco in Sept. '05
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Jun/27/2003, 7:13 pm
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Thomas Dyer
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Re: To Be an Officer
Lights,
Have you ever published any of your Titanic poetry in a book.
If you hav'nt you should.
--- PLEASE BECOME A MEMBER OF MY COMMUNITY (IT TAKES ABOUT 2 MINS TO JOIN)
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Jul/20/2003, 3:59 pm
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murdochsaid1
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Registered: 12-2003
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Re: To Be an Officer
quote:
THOMAS DYER wrote:
Lights,
Have you ever published any of your Titanic poetry in a book.
If you hav'nt you should.
I agree 100% with Tom there, Lights. You really should have both your poetry & stories published.
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Feb/14/2004, 3:33 pm
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Lights
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Re: To Be an Officer
Thanks everyone. I am tyring to get FINAL CROSSING finikshed and then find a publisher for it. Hopefuly...
---
"What I remember about that night- what I will remember as long as I live- is the people crying out to each other as the stern began to plunge down. I heard people crying, 'I love you.'"
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Feb/15/2004, 2:16 pm
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