"Seas of dreams and nightmares"

The Great Lakes were the only taste of sea I ever got in my life. It didn't matter to me though, because it was life, and my dream, to be a seafaring captain. Since I first saw my great grandfather's bronze compass, I imagined my own adventures on the ocean, battling pirates, finding treasure, and claiming new lands for myself on the unknown map of Earth.

By now you've figured that out, but assuming that would be giving you too much credit. However, I'm afraid I must back track a bit, because what I've said could imply bad of you. To be honest, I don't know you well enough to care too much about you, but anyway my story is thoroughly wrapped up in the story of my father.

From day one, my father despised Chicago, although he absolutely loved baseball, the Cubs, and Wrigley Field with all of his heart, it was the streets of Chicago that made him despise the city so much. Not to blame him, Chicago aside from all of the glitz and glamour it produces, is a very dangerous, dark, and dirty place. In fact as a boy, my dad, the young Rodney Chance, watched his brother get shot in front of him.

Granted my uncle was a top gang leader, and thus prone to the dangers he created, it was still tragic that a close family member, of whom my father knew for so long, was killed before his very eyes. As I recall, back when my grandfather first told me this story, he had always theorized that it was that specific event that finally shattered my dad's hopeful view of the city.

By the time he met my mom, who had just immigrated to Chicago from Rwanda, it seemed that at least for a little while, he gave up on his Thanatophobic fears. But it was after he had married my mom, and they had me, that he would revert back to his old self. It was something about seeing me, that reminded him of his brother. Hence, he didn't choose to take any risks with me, everything would be done according to plan.

Even my future, it was to college, in order to work hard and become a successful history teacher. Despite my impudent protests, at 18, here I sit today. Not the most oceanic set of views, but the one my father has set for me.