Jim woke to the strident sound of thunder and the incessant groaning of the mast. Wind howled on the deck and raindrops beat down so hard that they sounded like an avalanche on the side of the ship. Jim slowly got dressed and strolled out onto the deck. To his dismay, the main mast had cracked, and several large waves had flooded the deck. Gale force winds slammed the ship as crew members desperately tried to bail out the ship. Lightning illuminated the darkened sky, and moments later thunder shook the ship to its core. The Monster of the South China Sea seemed to release all its fury on the westerners. Jim’s five years of training at London's premier sailing school didn’t prepare him for the the maelstrom occurring before his eyes. Then the unthinkable happened. The main mast buckled and collapsed in a shower of splinters and metal fragments. Jim, frozen in the carnage, immediately rushed to the captain for orders.

“Lower the sails and ...” said the captain,
But before he could finish, a gargantuan wave battered the port side of the ship and sent the captain, still clutching at the wheel, tumbling overboard. Jim knew what he had to do. Putting on his dad’s battered blue hat, he grabbed the wheel of destiny by its wildly spinning arms. It was then that a monstrous wave the size of a blue whale loomed ahead. An unnatural calm fell over the ship, as Jim steered the ship into the gaping maw of death.

“Jimmy!” screamed an insistent voice.

A young boy stepped out of the bathtub and reluctantly dried himself off, leaving a capsized plastic frigate floating in the tumultuous ripples of the tub.