Daddy Chill

Damon worked every ship at the port, crabbing for weeks at a time. He struggled to keep jobs due to his wild temper. It was because of his short fuse that he went to work on northern waters. Freezing cold air and long hours would keep him from exploding, he thought. That wasn’t the case. He was kicked off of ship after ship for his outbursts and volatile nature.

His last shot was a ship called the Crab ‘N Go. Silas Stone, a grumpy old captain, took Damon in on a small, two man ship and was careful not to ignite his temper. While hauling in cages, Silas would recount his younger years on the water and all the adventures he had. He would always round off his stories with his greatest regret.

“Mr. Cole, can you guess what my biggest failure in life was?”

“Family…” Damon replied quietly while pulling crab claws off his arm.

“That’s right. Now, I may have told you this before, but there’s no reason I can’t repeat myself.

I wasted so many years living for myself that now, as my life comes to an end, I have nothing to live for.” Silas grew quiet and Damon peered at him curiously. “You have time, Damon. You’re still young.”

“If I knew I could be a good husband, or a good father, I’d already be those things, sir. Some people don’t deserve those things.”

“Hmm.” the captain grunted and walked back to steer.

The Crab ‘N Go began to tip back and forth from a large wave. Damon held tight onto the cage he had unloaded. Silas fell onto the deck and slid to the end of the ship. As Damon moved to help, the entire boat flipped into the ice cold water. 

As his racing heart was slowed by the freezing depths, Damon opened his eyes to see through schools of fish and connect to a pair of glowing eyes in the distance. An enormous creature swam away within an instant, but Damon would never forget that moment. He lost consciousness and felt his body give way to the cold.

After a while, a cage dropped down below Damon and then scooped him up to a crabbing vessel he once worked upon. Silas was gone. Damon saw death and was brought back to life. Doctors told him he should have died, that all of his organs would have shut down for the amount of time he was in the water.

Within days, Damon moved back to Big City, where he grew up. He returned to his neighborhood and married his high school crush. Over the next few years, he settled down completely, having three boys and two girls. 

One day, as they walked on the busy street, Damon saw a man bump his daughter. He turned to face the man and started shouting. “HEY!”

The man turned around and Damon had an aura of cold around him. He noticed this and began to weaponize it, focusing on moving it toward the man. His kids all tugged on his shirt, never having seen his temper before. They pleaded, “Daddy, chill!”

Damon dropped the confrontation and smiled at his kids. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

The End

Later that night, when the family was asleep, Damon’s eyes wouldn’t shut. He saw the face of the man on the street, Silas’ face and the eyes of the sea. He couldn’t silence this awakening of his rage.

As quietly as he could, Damon snuck out of the house and walked the streets, looking for a problem. He walked into a gym that was still open and asked one of the boxers if he could spar.

“You’re a little small, but sure, this’ll be fun… for me.” the boxer chuckled.

Damon froze gloves over his hands and took a first swing. The man stood back calmly and removed his gloves.

“Ahh. You don’t want to spar. You want to hurt somebody. This isn’t the place. Here.”

Damon read a note the boxer passed him and went to the location scribbled on it. On the edge of Big City in an old building, stairs led down to a massive arena. All forms of fighter stood around watching while two battled in the center.

“You want next?” an old man asked Damon.

“Yeah. I want next.”

When it was his turn, Damon stepped into the ring with no idea who he’d be facing. From the crowd stepped out a large man in shorts. He was grunting to himself as he walked forward, “Er, agh, uhh, BOO-”

Damon froze the enemy’s entire body just before he struck. A large block of ice surrounded him. But it began to crack as Damon started to walk away.

“-YAH!” finished the enemy.

Damon felt the air tremble. This was power. The opponent approached, grunting. Damon stopped him.

“Fight’s over. I gotta go cut off some crusts.”