Meeting Neptune’s Court
We have been away for a week but it feels longer. In a record time we have a crew that functions like a supportive group. People sing songs together, cheer each other on, make jokes and have fun. It is hard to describe what gives it away, but this group is a good one. The atmosphere is great.
The atmosphere is so good, that when we locked them up in the deckhouse yesterday, so we could set up the equation crossing ceremony in peace, the atmosphere didn’t change. They kept on singing, joking around – as if they were not remotely worried about what was waiting for them outside…
It also didn’t help that the spooky music list on my phone, suddenly changed to Taylor Swift. Of course, this was only a brief interlude in the symphony of fear as the pollywogs prepared to face the Court of King Neptune. And they were worried. We have been preparing for days, gave them some information about what was to come – but not enough to really give anything away. And so, for days they we could hear them mumbling in the corridors. What are they going to do? What is going to happen?
Case puts on a question each day, always starting with ‘would you rather…’. Fittingly, one day before he wrote “Would you rather have no eyebrows or no hair?”. For some, stress greatly increased after this. And we, the shellbacks, didn’t even have to lift a finger.
Unfortunately, I can not tell you what really happened. Shellback code. All I can say, is that memories have been made and we will land in the Azores with a ship full of shellbacks and short in pollywogs. If you are waiting for your loved ones, I can not promise you will recognize them. I can however promise you they are all the better for it.