The exercise:
Today we write around the theme of: under the sea.
Little Mermaid references not mandatory, but unofficially encouraged.
Lots of running around today. Included in there was a delivery to a customer who owns the local fish shop, which we always appreciate since we usually end up just trading our produce for fish.
If you squint and maybe shake your head around a bit, it's just like we grow fish in our garden.
Mine:
The captain watched the storm's approach, one hand resting on a suddenly unresponsive ignition. As dark clouds marched toward her and her craft she felt no concern.
Her boat had survived some of the most vile tempests that Mother Nature had ever concocted. Twenty-five years had passed since their last missed day at sea and that was due to her weak-kneed doctor's unwillingness to deliver her daughter offshore.
The captain's daughter was married now, to some lout who didn't even know how to swim. That had been a difficult pill to swallow, but the captain hadn't interfered. Her daughter, unfathomably, was happy. The moment that changed, however...
Wind lashing against the cabin windows brought her back to the present with a small start. The boat began rocking erratically, but the captain remained calm.
The storm would come. The storm would pass. The captain and her boat would carry on, fish filling her holds. A dead motor would be dealt with, one way or another.
No, there was nothing worth getting stressed about, really.
At least, not until the kraken appeared from beneath the waves.
Powerful captain Greg. Its always great when a Kraken comes into a story.
ReplyDeleteUnder The Sea
Alanka pulled her face wrap tighter around her head and squinted her eyes into the fierce winds of the dust storm. The horizon had disappeared hours ago and now the camp was only small mounds underneath a heavy layer of sand. “Lan pull that door shut,” her husband growled at her. “The whole fucking tent is filling with grime and I’m choking already.”
Alanka took one more quick look around and shrugged the fabric back into place. “I give it another half hour before she’ll blow out,” she said.
Jack coughed into his elbow before lying back down onto the mat. “It wouldn’t bother me if it blew all the night away,” he said. He patted the space beside him. “Come on lay back down here you need more rest than anyone else here.”
Alanka looked at the pile of books she still needed to go through then over at her husband, it was tempting but it was getting to be more and more important for her to find the clues they needed in order to slip into Endarrow. “You sleep Jack I’ll take this opportunity to read a little more.” This storm will have grounded everyone, even the Seekers, so she could read without having to keep half her ears attuned to the sounds of aircraft.
Jack snorted but didn’t say another word, he knew as well as she did that they were running out of time. So he wrapped himself in his cloak and turned onto his side and was asleep before Alanka picked up the first book. She flipped the cover open on the gilded Sea Clans guide and started reading from her last marker.
“What good is that?” Devon’s soft voice said in her ear. “Clan Whale Song is a powerful Sea Clan but if you hadn’t noticed we have been trekking across this desert for almost ten seven day.”
Alanka could feel her anger almost immediately Devon was always the first to criticize but he never gave any helpful suggestions. She scrubbed her forehead with her palms and felt the grit sanding her skin. “I remember seeing something about Endarrow in one of these books when I was a child,” she said through her teeth. “If you don’t have anything better to do perhaps you could sit and help me go through some of these,” she said indicating the pile of books with a sweep of her hand.
The half smile on Devon’s face disappeared and he ducked his head. “I need to go mend my scabbard,” he said before scuttling away.
Alanka watched his tall, lithe form vanish behind the back screen before turning her attention back to the book. She knew full well that Devon couldn’t read one word but was too proud to tell her, so it was easy to send him running when she couldn’t deal with him. Under the sea lies the answer to every sea clan’s needs, read the first passage. The kelp grows spars, the sands flow like water, and the fish grow large. Bountiful is the Advisor who trawls in its waters. Alanka snorted, and what exactly happens to the Advisor who leads her clan into the heart of the desert, she thought. She pictured a fish lying on the bottom of the boat its mouth working silently as it lay dying.
It had taken Carly their entire week at the beach to get up the nerve to enter the Atlantic in water deeper than her knees.
ReplyDelete“All you have to do,” Tina instructed, “is get beyond the breaking surf. Once you get beyond it, it’s peaceful. You can float and bob and enjoy it. It’s beautiful out there,” she promised.
Carly decided she would try. “I’m a good swimmer,” she reminded herself, although truth be told, she hadn’t done more than lap swimming in an indoor pool in decades.
They waded in.
“Stay with me,” Carly asked her friend, tightly gripping the boogie board that was between them.
The water was warmer than she expected, and the sun was glorious. The lifeguard unintentionally added to the dreaminess of it by playing arias on his portable radio up in his chair. Young children laughed and played in the water nearby.
Just as Carly was getting comfortable with the scenario, a huge wave headed towards them, and Tina called out to Carly, “Here comes a big wave. Get ready to ride it!”
Not understanding the instructions to ride it, Carly asked, “What do you mean ri . . . ? just as the wave crashed and hurtled her backwards. She saw a swirl of tumbling and frothy water crashing above her head. She somersaulted towards the beach, end over end, sand in her bathing suit, a mouth full of salt water. Her midriff scraped along the sandy bottom, yet before she knew it, she was picking herself up out of the sea’s edge. Alive and laughing.
Iron Bess - I'm Marc, Greg is the one who comments on (nearly) every post :P
ReplyDeleteFascinating scene and characters you've introduced us to here. I'd love to see it continued, as I'm extremely curious to know what happens next!
Penelope - love that final line. Definitely a terrifying experience, but when it's all over with the only response that feels right is to yell out 'Again!'
Well, the only one that feels right to me at least :)
Sorry Marc, I guess I was just wondering where Greg was, he is always the first to submit a story. He must be on vacation.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I was wondering where he'd gone off to myself :)
ReplyDeletebetter late than never...
ReplyDeleteUnder the Sea (dwp)
She’d been preparing this for weeks and now it would finally pay off. The whale shaped cake was made, little blue cup cakes with lolly fish appeared, even hand made potato chips were crafted into fish shapes. The party table looked gorgeous.
Toys were scattered in the living room. A big inflatable whale sat beside a pool filled with masses of coloured balls and soft toys looking like creatures from under the sea.
Mother dressed up as a mermaid and baby wore his shark T-shirt with blue board shorts and a shark hat she’d knitted just for the occasion.
The guests arrived and gave her son ocean themed gifts to add to the ambience. Candles were lit, cake was eaten and cuddles for the one year old were shared. It was a great day.
The fascination with water and all things oceanic continued for several months with visits to the beach and shell collecting. This time was notably punctuated one evening when the circus came to town. After the clown acts and juggling, an aerialist dressed as a fish did her performance under the big top using a net as her prop. The little fellow was mesmerised.
He did not know fish could also fly in the air!
Writebite - absolutely! :)
ReplyDeleteAw, that's a sweet little story. Brings to mind some of our ornamental squash (they really look like they'd fit in just fine under the sea, so I could easily picture them finding a home at this party).