The harbour

About the author and series.

This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks

Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.

This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2XTexmA

An uncomfortable foreword

It has been said that a series of short stories must emanate unexpectedness and a sense of chilling surprise. Such a collection of stories would require a character framework that is present throughout the whole book; from tale to tale, offering the reader a chance to relate to the individual characters — their pain, their horror, their paranoia. Such a collation would also contain an underlying subplot, so all of the stories connect and relate to one another, in a weblike manner, allowing each entry to follow on from the last with some continuity, while still retaining individuality.

I gave this some thought and decided to do the complete opposite. For me, each story should be read as an individual tale of terror, and certainly not as a collective.

Each of my short stories should evoke thought, emotion, and hopefully, leaves the reader wondering what the hell happens next. Let’s face it; not everyone looks for a happy ending in the stories they read. With this in mind, let your imaginations run wild, and enjoy the unpredictability; often an uncomfortable ride.

The harbour

It seemed that everyone had heard the rumours about what was happening on the other side of the island. They’d all seen the news footage and listened to the reports, but quite frankly, it all seemed a little unbelievable, primarily due to the sheer outstanding natural beauty of the surrounding ocean. Today was the same as any other day; the sun was shining brightly, and the temperature was just perfect, and with little wind, the ocean’s surface was calm and perfectly smooth.

The small fishing vessel, Queen Beatrix slowly sailed into the village harbour, after a couple of days away at sea. With a heavy load, they slowed down as they entered the harbour walls, slowly bringing the boat into the dock, in their usual spot. The trip had been surprisingly fruitful for this time of year, so there was an emphasis on getting the haul into the freezer as quickly as possible, so they could maximise their revenue with little spoil.

They reduced speed as their neared their morning, noticing that their friends and neighbours, The Silver Mermaid shrimping boat was out to sea, which for the time of day, seemed a little unusual. Ted stood at the bow, rope in hand, ready to secure the vessel once they had docked. But as they were only metres away, he shouted out.

“What’s that”? He said, pointing towards the main refrigeration buildings at the other end of the harbour. Everyone instinctively turned to look, noticing the smokestacks in the distance, somewhere behind the main harbour buildings. It caught their attention for a minute, but as it was some distance away, the crew chose to ignore it. The slow float towards the harbour wall continued, as the boat was guided to a stop, as usual. The team all had specific tasks, which prompted them all to jump into action as the Captain brought the boat to a halt. Immediately after securing the boat, they started to offload the numerous crates of fish, partly due to the bountiful catch which would take longer than usual to offload.

While the rest of the crew continued working, Ted removed himself from the boat’s cab, making his way up to an empty table on the dock. From experience, he knew that within minutes of landing, a few of the local woman would arrive, seeking the freshest caught fish in the harbour, exchanging their hard-earned cash for the best deals of the day. This side revenue had shown real relevance in the past, so Ted had already allocated a selection of the best fish they’d caught, making sure that his crates were on the top of the pile, ready for sale. The second-in-command, Jeff immediately left the vehicle and started to walk over to the community forklift, which had been left out nearby; he started the engine and drove over to pick up the first pallet of crates. Daryl and Adam, the ship’s hands stayed on-board, jet washing the deck and work areas, clearing away odds and ends. They were all relieved to be home; the last three days had been tough on them all.

As Jeff lifted up the pallet of crates and started slowly driving down the side of the harbour, down towards the refrigeration units at the bottom. As he went, he could see that on the other side of the harbour bay, three young men were having a full-on fistfight, which was not only unusual for such a quiet place but a sight he hadn’t seen anywhere for years. Not only was the port normally un-maned and a very tranquil place, but also the few people that did work there, were mostly old weathered fishermen characters or their wives’, who came down to either meet their husbands or to buy various types of seafood. Young children, teenagers, and rowdy young men were a very rare commodity, so to see three of them fighting, did strike home as a little unusual. Jeff momentarily slowed down and gazed across the water, watching them go hell for leather as he drove towards the buildings ahead. The men seemed to be really going for it, but Jeff had a job to do and slowing down in the hot sun wouldn’t help, so after a minute of being rather shocked, he continued on, giving the matter little or no more thought.

Ted was now at the table, already dissecting his catch, in anticipation of the shoppers. He had also had his attention drawn to the young men fighting, but from where he was, they were quite some distance away, so apart from a few fleeting glances, he also continued his preparation. Jeff’s wife, Margaret, then appeared out of nowhere, making her way up towards Jeff, walking along the water’s edge. As she walked, she looked for her husband, looking forward to seeing again, but even though she couldn’t see him, she knew that he’d be around somewhere or other. Upon her sight, Ted smiled to himself, knowing that whatever she brought it’d no doubt be Jeff’s supper that night.

“Afternoon, Ted. Got anything nice for me today?” she inquired, smiling at a very old friend.

“Hello. Good morning my dear, I’m afraid you’ve just missed Jeff, as he’s just this minute taken the catch down” He replied, offering a warm and friendly smile.

“Oh yes, I know, I saw him driving the forklift as I arrived” she added,

“Don’t you worry about that? Let’s have a look at what we’ve got for you today?” Ted offered.

“Oh yes Maggie, I’ve got something extraordinary for you today,” he said, offering a cheeky yet friendly glance,

“We managed to catch quite a large haul of Monkfish yesterday morning, and there are some real beauties in there?”

“Oh, how wonderful” Margaret replied, moving in a little closer to have a look. Ted lent down and shuffled about in a large plastic crate full of ice, before he pulled out an impressive specimen, holding it up high by the tail, showing it off to her.

“Oh my, that is a real beauty, isn’t it”? Margaret said, but just at that point, they were both interrupted by Jeff, who was running back towards the boat on foot, shouting something or other. They both instinctively turned to look; he was waving his arms around quite frantically, desperately seeking their audience.

“Is that Jeff over there, running towards us? What’s he shouting about?” Ted said, knowing full well that is was him.

“Yes, I think it is; he looks upset about something, doesn’t he”? Margaret added, sounding a little concerned. It was then that Daryl and Adam stopped working on the boat’s deck; Daryl slowly walked to the back of the boat, near to where Ted was standing on the dock. They all then collectively stopped and watched together. Jeff was seemingly running for his life, stumbling and panicking as he went. He continued to perpetually shout and wave his arms about, even though he was still too far away for them to hear. After just a few minutes of watching, Daryl pointed something out to his friends.

“What’s that behind him? Is that someone following him?” The three of them all stared avidly. The onlookers were then side-tracked, as out of one of the side buildings that Jeff had only just passed, another three of them appeared, joining Jeff in the running frantically towards the boat. Ted put his knife down, deeply concerned by what he was seeing. Putting two and two together, knowing that something wasn’t right; he suddenly turned to Daryl and ordered him to start the boat engines. With little hesitation, Daryl did as he instructed.

“Margaret,” Ted said,

“I think you need to get into the boat.” She felt it too, and as Ted came around the table, she went with him to the boat’s edge, as he helped her down onto the deck. Ted quickly manoeuvred himself to the front of the vessel, ready to undo the ropes. Jeff approached quickly.

“Get the hell out of here,” he shouted as the crew readied themselves.

The creature that followed him was now coming into view, and none of them could believe their eyes; a homeless man, looking very ill, walked raggedly towards him. His skin was old looking, like old brown leather, wrapped tightly around his bones, like an age-old mummy, from Egypt or somewhere. The creature’s face was all drawn in, with sunken eyes that glowed a flaming yellow colour, and disturbingly, underneath each eye, large amounts of yellow puss, or custard-like stuff seemed to leak out of each socket. The disgusting yellow stuff dripped down its cheeks and onto its clothes; it looked disgusting. The thing walked like it was dead, unable to run, but instead hobble, almost as if it had uneven legs. There was a desperation in the noises it made, almost as if it couldn’t wait to catch him. Whatever Jeff did, the creature made every effort to catch him; its quest was relentless. It was a picture of hell, which sent shivers down everyone’s spine. Jet black and completely evil-looking, hunched, with long wavering clawed arms and hands; it was as black as night. It moved slower than the others that had appeared, about half the speed of Jeff, but it kept on coming relentlessly. As Jeff reached the boat, he took a huge jump, launching himself from the harbour wall into the centre of the boat, just as Daryl moved it slowly away from the wall. Margaret quickly went to her husband, helping get up. The crew stopped and watched as they slowly drifted a few metres away. The boat drifted out into the middle of the harbour, as the creature’s approached. They lingered, dumbfounded, as their target was now out of reach.

A few seconds passed while both sides watched and studied each other, until a noise distracted everyone, coming from back at the harbour buildings. Everyone looked, but whatever it was, the creatures all turned and slowly began to walk off, leaving a trail of what looked like jet black paint behind. Margaret was now openly weeping, comforted by her husband; everyone was in shock, scared and quite clearly confused as to what on earth was happening. Daryl took the boat a little further out into the centre of the harbour

All eyes scoured across the harbour, but apart from someone being chased down by the buildings, it was still relatively quiet. The plume of smoke that they all saw earlier was still there, albeit a lot bigger. There was also a secondary fire now, coming from the refrigeration unit, where Jeff had taken the catch. It was all so confusing, with no one having a clue as to what was actually happening.

“What the hell do we do now”? Daryl said, clearly unsettled by everything.

“We can’t go back into the dock, not with that thing”? He added

“No, I agree, those creatures certainly weren’t human, by any means,” Ted said, also clearly shaken and still a little out of breath from running all that way.

“How about we go round the coast, back towards your place Ted; you live in a quiet, remote area, don’t you?” Daryl suggested, looking at him.

“Yeah, good idea, “Jeff said, turning back to Daryl. He paused for a moment before gently nodding in approval. The boat slowly moved, changing direction towards the open sea, as they headed towards the harbour mouth. As they went, Daryl turned on the radio, turning it up loud enough for everyone to hear; they all listened intently, as they heard the devastating news of what was now devouring the whole island they all called home. Shocked and in general state of disbelief, a very sombre mood swept across the vessel. The vessel exited the harbour mouth, as the crew sat in silence; more plumes of smoke rose up from seemingly everywhere now, scattered all over the island.

Off in the distance, on the western side of the island, they could see the outskirts of the capital; there was a lot of smoke billowing upwards, it looked like the whole city was on fire. As they watched, their attentions were broke by four fighter jets flying over the boat, heading towards the city at high speed. They could do nothing but watch, as the jets started firing missiles. There were also helicopter gunships, shooting at something within the city walls.

“Oh my god, what the hell is going on out there”? He spoke in a concerned voice, holding Margaret close to his side.

“It’s the end of the world, by the looks of it,” Jeff quietly added, muttering his words under his voice. They were louder than he wanted, and he drew everyone’s attention. With sorrowful looks of worry and fear, the ridiculous-sounding statement rang home to them all. Nothing had ever happened like this before, as this was normally most peoples version of paradise; a place of tranquillity and calm.

As the boat bobbed over the gentle waves, they travelled around the headland seeing many things that were simply foreign to such a small, idyllic, sleepy island. The further they went, the worse it seemed to get. A small exclusive community of privately beach-front properties that were gated away from the everyday riff-raff were all now ravished by fire. The further they went, moving away from the built-up areas made no difference. Houses with isolated locations, or difficult places to get to, were also in flames, with people running around screaming and panicking, as the shadow creatures seemed to move amongst them. Jeff stood at the helm of the boat,

“Change of plan” he announced, staring transfixed at the devastation which was seemingly everywhere.

“I don’t know what’s going on over there, but it doesn’t look like we can go back,” he shouted as he stroked his beard.

“Daryl, turn around, let’s go to Ferrat Island. We’ll hopefully be safe there; we can stay with Jill if she’s in” he said, turning to look at Margaret for some kind of approval.

“We can all go back tomorrow if all the chaos dies down,” he said. Margaret and Jeff both subtly nodded in approval. The radio went dead, and with nothing but white noise now blaring, Daryl reached down and turned it off. The sight of the fires and smoke billowing from all sides of the island created their doom. They all had family and friends back on the mainland, so it was only with great reluctance that they turned the boat away from everything they owned and loved.

Furrat Island was about ten miles away, in a northerly direction; Jeff and Margaret used to live there many years ago, and still had many good friends there, including Jill. They knew that she would take good care of them all. The boat changed direction and sped up, as everyone worried sick about their families. The hardened fishermen all now had tearful eyes, as they desperately tried to hold back their emotions, both anger and upset.

The journey was long; when they arrived and moored the boat, Jeff and Margaret’s friend Jill came down to the dock with her husband, knowing what had happened, worried sick about them all. They welcomed their unexpected guests with open arms, knowing that they were lucky to have survived. For now, they had found sanctuary, and for the next couple of hours or so, they had time to stop and assess the crazy situation. Jill and her husband were none the wiser to what was happening; all they knew was that their neighbouring island was descending into hell.

About the author and series.

This book is part of a series, written by IP Spall, consisting of 22 short stories in total. To find out more about this book series or any of IP Spall’s other publications, head to https://linktr.ee/ipspallbooks

Many of these short stories are free, and if you enjoy reading this book, you can even buy a total collection of all the short stories for a low price! Follow the link above to find out more.

This story can be found on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/2XTexmA