P for Passionate

"C'mon, boys! All hands on deck! Quickly, now, before the storm gets worse, eh?" shouted Aaron Quinn, very slightly struggling to keep his balance on the slippery, rocking surface he was standing on.

A group of approximately ten men came running onto the deck of the large lifeboat, wearing bright yellow plastic coats which stood out in the dreary, grey background.

"What's up,Mr.Quinn, sir? Is something wrong or what?" said Peter Ashford, one of the few teenagers  on the island who actually wanted to do something about the people needing help at sea. "Have you found something, then?"

"Listen, Ashford. I've been doing this almost my whole life and guess what? I have never just found something without looking for it," the ship's captain replied crisply,"I want to get this done fast. I've put my second-in-command at the ship's controls but he can't manage for long so I need to say some stuff. Important stuff."

Here he paused and looked around at the earnest faces around him. He smiled in pride, observing their strong and determined posture. These men were good men and they would most probably change the world and make it better, starting from rescuing people at sea.

"All of you lot have come here and chosen to be part of the island's rescue team because you've got passion! Every single one of you is passionate about helping people, I bet! As a matter o'fact, I bet it's one of your most favorite things in the world, innit?! Now come on, we're gonna save those people and we're gonna save them today!"

All of the team cheered, many of them patting the people standing next to them on the back. The next moment, a huge wave hit the boat, causing all of them to lurch sideways.

"Oi, enough of the sentimental catch-up! Brace yourselves!" Aaron shouted, alarmed at the size of the wave. "This storm's only gonna get worse-"

Another wave slammed the boat, the force of it so strong that it caused him to slip and fall onto the deck, putting most of the force on his hands and jarring them. A pair of strong hands pulled him up again and he turned around to find Peter. He nodded at him and wordlessly gestured at the wheelhouse, where the binoculars were.

Both of them began running towards the wheelhouse. Fear made them run faster and in around thirty seconds, they were wrenching the door open. Looking through the binoculars, Aaron ran a hand through his grey hair and groaned.

"I'm seeing something orange out there, Ashford. Tell me it's not a dinghy, please," he said softly, his voice cracking.

Peter picked up the binoculars and looked through them. Then he turned towards Aaron, his face grey.

"It is a dinghy, sir. And it's got four people on it. It's got kids on it!" Peter replied, looking like his life had just become twice as difficult, which it probably had as a matter of fact.

Aaron shook his head, but deciding to try rescuing them anyway, he ran to the back of the wheelhouse and picked up a rope and a few flashlights. He tossed Peter a rope and a flashlight as well and ran back outside.

"Listen up, y'all! Keep the boat under control, alright? We've spotted the missing family out there and we're gonna get them into the boat!" Aaron yelled as loudly as he could and walked to the edge of the deck, trying to keep his balance, and peered over the railing.

"Sir!? Please get us outa here quick! We can't hang onto the boat much longer!" one of the children, a teenage boy with dark hair, shouted to him.

The dinghy was just below the lifeboat now and it would have been fairly easy to maneuver them into the boat with the help of two ropes; if not for the weather. Peter unravelled the rope and let it down along the side of the boat. The youngest of the family, a small girl who couldn't had been more than seven, desperately clutched at the rope. She screamed as the dinghy rocked violently but managed to hang onto the rope and get a good grip on it.

Peter gradually pulled her up until she could clutch the railing of the boat and Aaron helped her onto the deck and shouted for one of the crew to get her below deck. They repeated this procedure for the rest of the family, with a little difficulty, and managed to get them all onto the boat. 

Aaron looked at Peter, dropped the rope onto the floor, and roughly tackled him into a hug.

"Life can't get any more difficult, mate," he said jovially into his neck.