Katharina Seigm

No ships were sailing today. The thick slabs of sea mist ominously hung over the horizon, blotting out the thinning sun and contorting the shapes of seabirds into fantastical creatures. No ships were sailing today; but Olivia could see something on the horizon. A broken shadow wondering through the choking haze.
Olivia knew full well she shouldn’t be out today. The sea front of Mairin-De-Barra was no place for the mayor’s daughter, even at the best of times. But the silky siren song of the bay held a power over her she had no will or desire to break. Carefully, she crept closer to the growling waves, worried because she did not recognise the great schooner headed towards her. Could it be a pirate ship come to sack her serene little town?
Slowly, the great carcass heaved herself up through the greying waters that fearfully parted before her. Her black-painted belly had split open and her rotten bones had ripped through the blunt hull. Tattered flags strained to free themselves from the bent and battered poles-despite the absence of skittering, stirring breezes. Great patches on her deck had fallen through and the roof on her cabin had collapsed-yet her outline was unmistakable.
She was closer now. Despite the fact that the sea had stripped her of her elegance and dignity, and that her only gown now was one of decay and damp-Great letters emblazoned on her side still proclaimed her name with pride. Olivia quivered as she read those cursed letters.
Katharina Seigm…The name bought a rush of images into Olivia’s cloudy head. The ship of lost souls, the rambling sailors had so imaginatively christened her. She had slipped gracefully out of Mairin on a day (no, it couldn’t be) much like today had been…Very few had seen her since and lived to speak of it in hushed voices around the warmth and comfort of the blazing fires…. Well, Olivia had seen her now.
The fog had struggled valiantly to conceal her, but she was clearly in view. With a hideous groan, the ancient hulk lurched forwards, forcing herself up the slope into the harbour. In a last desperate dash the waves tried to grab her back; but she was stuck in the maritime mud. She teetered and murmured contentedly. Awestruck, Olivia gazed helplessly at the beached creature, and tentatively took a few small steps towards her, and tenderly laid her hand on the festering planks.
After years of haunting the mysterious oceans, after years with a crew of bones and sea-salt-spray, after all these years- ‘Katharina Seigm’ was coming home.