The Waterfall - 8

The waterfall was the bridge, the only way between the lives of everyone I knew and the facility where I was left like a stray cat.
_{The Waterfall - 1 by @wakeupkitty}

Aku hanya punya 100$ hasil kerja paksa selama tinggal di sanatorium, itupun setelah dipotong pajak.
Bagaimana caranya uang tersebut bisa menjadi 10.000$ dalam sekejap.
_{The Waterfall - 2 by @fadthalib}

Fraud was the only way to make 10 thousand or more out of that pathetic 100$. I knew the old man was a gambler, a gambler, and a drunk. I would make him join the lottery, the one I set up for him.
_{The Waterfall -3 by @wakeupkitty}

It's a snake gemstone, whoever wears it will be immune to snake venom. I got it from my grandfather, Wongsodikromo, a Javanese man.
_{The Waterfall - 4 by @fadthalib}

Katty,... Girl you must be hungry. With an exhausted Freckle on my lap, I sat at the old familiar table on which two old cards lay covered by a glass plate. I studied them. What did they mean?
_{The Waterfall - 5 by @wakeupkitty}

He was a nasty man, she said, it's what he deserved. If you want to go to Java then leave tomorrow before nightfall... No soul will find you in the peatlands besides you are a wanted dangerous idiot.
_{The Waterfall - 6 by @wakeupkitty}

Freckle tiba-tiba sangat ketakutan, sepertinya ada sesuatu yang aku tidak tau. Apakah ada petunjuk mengenai kapal yang dijanjikan?. Atau ombak ganas laut hitam yang menghancurkannya. Aku hanya bisa terdiam tanpa tau harus berbuat apa.
_{The Waterfall - 7 by @fadthalib}

Saturday - midnight - 1734
Long awaited and yet arrived. I followed him through the dark night. Freckle had stopped barking and I shivered with cold in the clothes he had given me. You will be the cabin boy, he said, everything is arranged.
Freckle?
He nodded, you can take the dog but I can't guarantee anything.

Monday - noon
On board the VOC it was a hive of activity. I had not yet put down my luggage when I already had a blow to my ears. Freckle had hidden himself and wisely kept his mouth shut. I spun on my legs but no sound came over my lips.
Worthless orphan, I paid 2 florins for you! Go ahead and get to work, you must be in the galley. The higher gentlemen who live behind the mast still have nothing to eat!

Saturday - early in the morning
Life on board the Proostwijk is hard, but there is no other way to sail the seas than to dress as a boy because girls have a really rotten life. I worked like a horse and with my hair cut off I looked like a boy not even 12 years old. Young boys don't have to shave and I peed standing up when no one was looking. Like everyone else, I had been given a package when I left to help me cross. Pipes, gingerbread, spirits, a means of defecating, ink, pen, paper, socks, mittens, combs, half a dozen knives, and a pistol. I didn't need a hammock because I slept on the floor next to Freckle in the galley.

Although the drinking water was spoiled I was warned not to drink the gin. So from the beginning, I diluted my beer with water when the water was still drinkable. I kept the spirits to barter with men who were only too happy to exchange it for something else.

Friday - two weeks later
The food on board was salty and far too fatty and my bowels protested. Fortunately, I was used to eating little and my digestion was set up for that. Because I shared most of my meals with others, my life on board was much easier in comparison with others. The ship's cook was also pleased and occasionally treated me to some fruit, rice with currants, an herbal tea, or one of the other delicacies that the rich enjoyed while living behind the mast.
I also shared parts of my meal with Freckle who, like me, was able to sleep in the galley. I also gave him the stockfish that we were all treated to on Fridays and Saturdays. That fish always got stuck in my throat and was also indigestible.

1735 - hours before dawn
The ship is creaking at its seams. It is a storm. The growling of empty stomachs can no longer be denied and one by one our teeth fall out. My situation is not a little better than that of the rest and Freckle is still alive. He has grown. The days on board feel endless on the one hand and at the same time a day passes quickly.
A storm is coming and I lie on my side listening to the sounds of the ship while the vermin crawls through the cracks in the wood. The bites hurt but we have not complained for a long time. Those who live behind the mast have celebrated a wedding and like us they had to give three corpses a seaman's grave. They still have food to eat, sharing is not an option. The most important thing is that the rich merchant survives only I do not know who will sail the ship if we all die of scurvy.

Tuesday - night - 1735
The captain was in good spirits. I have no idea what the reason is but we made music. I still keep to myself and keep the knives under my clothes. At night I stab the vermin with them and they try to eat the flesh from my bones.

6 months later
The image of my father is clear in my mind. I do not intend to breathe my last breath on this ship. Even though I am no longer a pauper because of my grandfather, I still have a score to settle with my father. My father... the man who sold me to an institution in the Netherlands because his gambling addiction was more important than his child.

1 month later - 1935
The ship's surgeon has died, the cook has been promoted to assistant physician to the Bavarian butcher present and I have been promoted to cook. The galley is almost empty, as is the supply in the hold and even those who live behind the mast have nothing left to drink and fall asleep when their stomachs rumble.


I roll up the paper on which I have written down my life tightly and tuck it under my keel at the back of my trousers.
To the sound of drums and the sailors' singing, I fall asleep until I hear a voice calling "Land in sight!" And when I struggle to get up a loud cheer breaks out. A smile appears on my face as I say to Freckle: It is high time to leave this haunted cruise ship. I believe I can even smell the coffee.

Header: Canva
Prompt: haunted cruise ship - @freewritehouse
Historical information Zeeuws Archief
29.8.24