dyxnestrs

[dyxnestrs]

Yellow Submarine

This is a short story I wrote a year or two ago, very loosely inspired by the song Yellow Submarine. I don't know how submarines work so that part is obviously not accurate. But... creative license, right?

Warning: this story is about a cult, and includes su!c!de

The old thing in the water was the color of the sun in mid-afternoon. It bobbed up and down, sending the little people inside tumbling into the cold metal sides. The waves tilted it to and fro, but people kept climbing in.

Dale Aron, the longshoreman, watched as the line of people shrunk and the number inside the submarine grew. As far as he could tell, they were smiling. He didn’t know why. It was a piece of junk.

“Dale! Quit staring and get yerself over here,” his supervisor shouted from a few ships down.

Dale nodded and blinked away the yellow.

As Dale unloaded a crate, the twenty-eighth person stepped off the dock and into the sub. It was 2:47 pm, the waves were calm, and everything was going according to plan for Earl Baldwin, the captain of the submarine.

“Well, people, we’ve finally done it. We’ve built this beautiful creature with our bare hands and sweat, and she’s gonna take us out to sea. This is everything we’ve ever wanted.”

Murmurs of approval circulated around the passengers, and Earl paced back and forth through the submarine with his hands behind his back. It had a quite peculiar interior, really. There were no beds, no seats, no tables or compartments. Each person sat against the sides, leaning into the dull grey steel. The controls were unmanned.

“Is everyone ready to set sail?” Earl asked.

The passengers nodded in unison and clasped hands with the people next to them. All but Ron Harrison, who stood up alone.

Ron Harrison was the only one who knew how to control what he called the “Yellow Beast.” He knew the buttons and knobs and wheels by heart, as he’d built them. The passengers on the sub looked up to Ron, perhaps more than they looked up to Captain Earl. They knew him, he was one of them. Earl was a god in their eyes. But Ronnie? Ronnie was their friend. He was their brother, their comrade, their teacher. They loved him like he was family.

And Earl… Earl had to treat Ron like family; Ron was the only one who knew how to steer the ship.

“Ronnie,” Daisy Bluth, age 22, began, “How long will it take to get there?”

“Couple hours, maybe more,” Ron smiled in her direction.

Daisy blushed and smoothed down her long white skirt.

“Daisy, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to get to our destination. Because once we do, our dreams will be realized, and our attainments and sins in the Earthly world won’t matter anymore. We will be happy,” Earl said.

Daisy let a grin push her cheekbones up. She liked when the captain said we.

There was a whirring and clanking, Earl closed the grey hatch and flicked on the lights, and the submarine descended into the depths.

Daisy gripped the hand of the boy next to her.

The boy next to Daisy was named Gabriel Adame, and he was starting to get sweaty palms. Daisy was the prettiest girl he’d ever held hands with.

“Do you think we’ll be able to see any cute fish?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” he said under his breath. “I think there might be sharks.”

Daisy’s hand clenched his harder.

Gabriel felt his heart thump a little faster. He didn’t like sharks.

“It’s okay. I’ll protect you.”

But he didn’t speak loud enough, and Daisy was looking at Ronnie anyway.

“Okay, people. Listen up. We’re really getting there now. Ron’s about to take us to our destination, and we’re not going any deeper.” Earl looked pointedly at the passengers looking around nervously. From inside the sub, one could see out through the thick circular windows around the sides. Gabriel anxiously searched for sharks.

Mary-Ann Greene was looking out the windows too, but not for sharks. She was searching for the beauty that her father saw in the sea. She couldn’t find it; she only saw blue and green and fish as far as she could see. She didn’t particularly like blue. She much preferred yellow. And the only time she enjoyed seeing fish was when it was dead and cooked on a plate. There wasn’t anything worth noticing in the sea, she decided. Mary-Ann sat next to her sister, Jude. Jude was a little older, 27. Jude had said once that she thought the ocean was majestic. Mary-Ann flicked a piece of dirt off her skirt, turning away from the window. The submarine began to rumble and she noticed Jakey Albertson draw his knees into his chest.

Jakey Albertson was beginning to regret his decision. He missed his mom and his brother- he wouldn’t even mind seeing his father’s constant scowl again. His mother used to make him cornbread whenever he was sad; flour would spatter the skin on her face. Their apartment was small, but every so often Jakey would be grateful for that; the smell of his mother baking in the kitchen would waft throughout every room. He wished his brother were here to talk him out of his fear. He leaned further into his knees and pretended it was his brother’s hand he was holding. Then the rumbling ceased suddenly and his head snapped up to see Captain Earl grinning toothily a few feet away from his face.

Earl was ready: he had never been more ready in his life. He was ready to exit the Earthly plane and rise into the heaven above, he was ready to be cleansed of his wrongdoings. But most of all, he was ready to be rid of Ron. Because he knew Ron was not worthy of heaven.

“Bring it to the surface, Ron.”

And Ron did as he was told, pulling levers and holding down ominous red buttons. Earl was ready. He was ready. The sub surfaced and the hatch creaked open, flooding the grey interior with sunlight.

Ron looked nervously at the black lever. He couldn’t tell if it was begging him to pull it or to leave it; it was anyone’s guess. His hand trembled, his eyesight blurred. One sentence played on repeat in his head: this is a bad idea. But he peered over his shoulder and saw Daisy staring at him with bright eyes. He couldn’t let her down. He just couldn’t. He yanked the lever towards his chest.

Saltwater. That was all there was. Emotion, ambition, possessions, they all dissolved in the sea, which was rapidly entering the submarine. The blood drained from Earl’s face; Gabriel released his grip on Daisy’s hand; Jakey screamed with every ounce of air he had left; Daisy looked at the sky one final time, eyes pleading for some deity to save her. Ronnie knew he had to atone. He’d committed a deadly sin; he’d allowed the death of the girl he loved just so she would continue to love him, too.

He leaped for her as water poured over their heads, grabbed her wrist as if it were the only thing keeping him from death. He pulled and pulled as she struggled, unaware that her flailing only brought her further from life. Ronnie dragged her to the surface, he pushed past the thick saltwater. With each stroke, the liquid felt more and more like clay. He felt Daisy writhe and turned back for only a moment to look at her; bubbles erupting from her mouth. The image only encouraged him- he swam past Earl as he tried to grab Ron’s arm and pushed his way through the open hatch. He exploded up to the surface, whipping Daisy up to let her breathe. She sputtered and shivered and clung to him as he desperately kicked his feet in an attempt to stay above the waves. Deep below him, as the Yellow Beast sank into the depths, Mary-Ann let go of the last bit of air in her lungs and saw beauty in the sea.