Bob was terrified by what he saw. His mind was filled with thoughts of abject terror, and right there in front of him was the reason why he was terrified.
A large, maroon-colored, sinister looking sea serpent emerged from the crimson depths of the sea, then slid smoothly through the water toward the beach. The sea serpent was at least seventy-five feet long, and towered over the sailing ship as it approached. He was astonished by its size, and with its deadly fins and large menacing eyes, it looked like a monster that swam straight out of a nightmare. He wondered how many people onboard the ship would survive it.
Bob stood there in complete disbelief as he watched both fear and comprehension that his worst nightmares were being played out right before his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and though he knew it was real, he still had trouble grasping the sheer enormity of it.
His thoughts raced as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. He couldn't come to terms with it, and just stood there in a trance-like state as he stared wide-eyed at the sea serpent approaching the ship.
His office's large glass window looked out over the ocean, and he could see the approaching sea serpent clearly as it glided close to the waters of the open sea. He just stood there staring at the beast, totally enraptured by the sheer enormity and the audaciousness of its presence.
The sea serpent's jaw was wide open and Bob could see large fish that looked to be striped trout swimming down its throat. His mouth was as wide and open as the sea serpent's, and his eyes rolled back and forth across to the sides of his eyes, showing his complete fear.
Coming to the ship, it lumbered, repeatedly opening and closing its mouth and swallowing large fish. Bob could smell the stench of rotten fish, and then he saw the fish that were left uneaten floating on the surface of the water.
Other than the sea serpent, not a single living thing moved on the water. That was how still and calm it was. The sea serpent circled around the boat, several times; bobbing its front fins acrobatically and performing odd maneuvers, then glided off a safe distance from the boat. No other sea serpent came from the depths of the ocean to join it.
The sea serpent peered up from below the water, at the boat for several minutes in the exact same place. It was as though it were looking at them through the water. Its head emerged from the surface of the water, and Bob could see the staring eyes of something which looked to be half-man and half-beast. It looked at them for several minutes, then slipped back into the water, where it was quickly lost from view.
Bob finally came to his senses, and started screaming as loudly as he could as he ran toward the outside stairs that led below deck. Something was wrong and he instinctively knew that his life was in grave danger. He knew that they were in big trouble, and that they would have to look out for themselves if they were to survive a close encounter with the sea serpent -- if it returned for another look at them.
The first mate and deck crew were startled to hear Bob's screams, as he ran by them trying to get below deck. They yelled at him to stop and asked him what was wrong.
Without stopping, Bob yelled back, "It will take your boat, you've got to get away from here now."
As Bob was saying it, he ran straight for the bridge and the ship's controls. The first mate and the crew ran after him, telling Bob to stop. They were confused by what was happening, and didn't believe Bob when he said the ship was in danger. They thought it was a joke and could swear up and down that he was just joking. They started to laugh and wouldn't let him get to the controls.
Bob heard the laughter, and knew he couldn't get to the controls; but he also knew that the ship was in trouble and that he had to do something to get it away from the sea serpent. He knew what he had to do, and ran straight for the bow of the ship. He got to the bow and stared down at the blood that was smeared across the deck. He looked up and saw the sea serpent just a few feet away from the ship. It was looking up at the ship with its mouth wide open, as though it were smiling.
Bob scrambled down the steep and wide steps of the tall ship and dove head first into the water. The ship had a high freeboard and a nearly 25-degree angle of rake. His body slammed hard into the bottom of the ship's hull just as the sea serpent arrived on the water. We saw the crew on the bridge saying to each other, "What is he doing?" We all heard the splash as Bob plunged into the water, and the fish they had seen in its throat swam rapidly off, passed his head and disappeared. Bob's body reappeared above the surface of the water, his face and his hands covered in blood and slime.
The sea serpent swam toward the ship, and as it got close, it showed no fear as it slid effortlessly up onto the stern of the ship. The huge beast slid on top of the rig and rested on its belly across the wide, high stern of the ship.
It let out a bellowing growl and moved slowly toward Bob on the boat. Bob got to his feet and threw himself off the ship by leaping off the stern. The sea serpent was coming straight for him, and it stopped only a few feet away. I heard the seafarer crewman's heavy heart beat as he stood up and peered out over the railing of the stern to watch the sea serpent move toward Bob. Bob got to his feet and made his way to the transom gunnels surrounding the boat. They were large, sturdy and provided lots of room for them to move around and be safe in their boat.
I saw fight or flight written all over Bob's face, and I saw the look of understanding in his eyes. That was the look of an animal who knew that its life was in serious danger. Bob knew what he had to do to survive, and he had never woken each morning with the fear of his life. This was no game to him, and he was not afraid to die.
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