The whale’s push against the planks sent the ship swaying. Halima held on, her captain’s bandana fluttering in the ocean breeze. Damn, land was still nowhere to be seen.

“Sulaiman, still nothing?” she asked. “If we don’t get to Muttrah soon, the crew will mutiny!”

“I’m trying, captain!” he squealed.

They had been at sea for weeks now, and water was scarce. Halima walked over and shouted at Sulaiman to search harder. However, days later the waves changed, signifying that they were too far South.

“Sulaiman, do you realize how precarious our position is?” she hissed at him in the cabin.

“They threatened to eat me yesterday,” he replied.

Alright, he probably knew how dangerous things were.

Halima paused suddenly as she noticed a strange shape on the map. “Sulaiman, have you been navigating like that?” she said. When he nodded and asked why, Halima reached out and took the map from his hands, then flipped it upside down. The shape became an أ.

His eyes widened. Lucky for him, he could run faster than she could aim and shoot her pistol.

Days later, Al Jilali fort loomed in the distance. They had arrived home. The crowd cheered, hailing Halima as a genius leader. She basked in her glory and laughed.

Sulaiman smiled weakly from where he dangled, up in the crow’s nest.

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