Around the World
New Orleans,1935
The air smelled different. It wasn't like the salty air of the sea. At 19, she had seen more beautiful sights and been to more countries than any other kids her age would get to see in the near future.
Since the depression hit, work on the docks had become fewer and farther between. Luckily, there was work in cities abroad like Tokyo and the Philipines. Most of her fellow crewmen knew nothing of her true gender, only her closest friends did.
"Hey Jack!" a husky voice called from behind. It was Smitts, the first mate, he was a sexist brit who served in World War I and lost an eye when a granade blew up in his trench.
"You gonna 'elp us unload the cargo or you jus' gonna stand 'ere an' daydream like some whiny git?"
"Go to hell,Smitts." she said as she walked off the ship and set foot on land for the first time in a month. She picked up two large crates, way more than any crewman could carry alone. She was very strong for a girl; and a girl she was, even though she sometimes forgot she was.
She had masqueraded as a man ever since Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Her name isn't Jack either, it's Jaqueline, Jaqueline Harding the Vampire Slayer.
She had a love for the sea ever since she was little and grew up on the California coast with her parents and older sister, Lydia. Those days came to a close some seven years ago when her family was attacked one night while walking home from the theater. They were the victims of an armed backalley purse snatcher. Somehow, Lydia survived the attack and had a complete mental breakdown soon after. She is currently living in an asylum in Sacremento.
On her own since the age of twelve, Jaqueline had made her way around by stowing away on cargo trains and trampsteamers. She worked at least six odd jobs and earned low wages over the years. Then about two years ago, when she was living in a makeshift shack in New York City, a strange man entered her life, one who was strangely following her on her travels from California. His name was Chandler Green. He took her off the streets, cleaned her up, and got her the job as a sailor, and this is the reason she began living as a man; well, one of the many reasons.
More to Come...
