Because I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats when it comes to my writing projects, here are some quick updates.
My fantasy novel Broken Gods has been read through the Cooper Book Club, and I have a few pages of notes and many updates to make. Some deal with smaller things, some deal with bigger parts of the story. This by far the longest and most ambitious book I've written, so it doesn't surprise me that there are more things to consider and edits to make. That is what I will be working on for a little while, editing until I feel happy enough with it to send out a round of query letters for it to literary agents. One of my worries is the word count, which was already higher than it maybe should be at 124,000 words; after a bit of editing, it's now at 128,000. We'll see if I try to cut it down before sending out queries.
I have three potential ideas as my next project, which will be my seventh novel. Each of them is at least somewhat science fiction, with at least two of them having some fantasy as well.
The first involves two completely separate but connected realms, where one realm uses the other as a sort of gladiatorial arena. Working title: The Timeless Shrine.
The second involves a militarist, global government who accidentally turns some of its own subjects into some sort of superhero (magic system still in development). Working title: Emmers.
The third is more straight-up science fiction, and involves humans landing on a planet inhabited by the aliens that randomly show up in my earlier book, Spaceman Steve and the Quest for the Awesome Artifact. One neat twist here (I think) is that one of the main point-of-view characters will be one of the aliens. Working title: Lutis.
Still deciding which to move forward with at this point, but I hope to do something with all of these in time.
Tuesday, October 02, 2018
Thursday, March 08, 2018
Moving Along
My most recent novel, Broken Gods, has had its first reader, my lovely wife. It was received mostly positively, with some (constructive) criticism on a few things dealing with the end of the book. I am now in the middle of a fairly big round of edits, reworking a few different things, and am fairly happy with how things are coming. Once the edits are done, the wife will likely read it again before it gets sent to the exclusive Cooper Book Club.
The version my wife read was at 106,000 words, and after a bit of editing, the current manuscript is at nearly 116,000 words, and I still have a whole extra chapter to write for it. With that chapter (putting the book at 48 total) and extra edits, I would guess I would end up around 120,000 words. Much more than that and it starts getting to be considered too long for first time authors, and I'll have to look into cutting it down a little. I'd likely cap it around 124,000. So we'll see.
Other than that, life is not too exciting. We are going on a road trip with my brother Erik and their family in June, travelling from the Grand Canyon up to Yellowstone, ending up in Colorado for a cousins get together. It should be good fun. The wife and I will quite possibly also be taking a trip somewhere else later in the year, possibly to San Diego. There are also plans to go back to Europe in 2019, going up into Scotland, as our first trip there didn't get us any farther than Edinburgh. We may visit London again as well. But that's a while away.
The version my wife read was at 106,000 words, and after a bit of editing, the current manuscript is at nearly 116,000 words, and I still have a whole extra chapter to write for it. With that chapter (putting the book at 48 total) and extra edits, I would guess I would end up around 120,000 words. Much more than that and it starts getting to be considered too long for first time authors, and I'll have to look into cutting it down a little. I'd likely cap it around 124,000. So we'll see.
Other than that, life is not too exciting. We are going on a road trip with my brother Erik and their family in June, travelling from the Grand Canyon up to Yellowstone, ending up in Colorado for a cousins get together. It should be good fun. The wife and I will quite possibly also be taking a trip somewhere else later in the year, possibly to San Diego. There are also plans to go back to Europe in 2019, going up into Scotland, as our first trip there didn't get us any farther than Edinburgh. We may visit London again as well. But that's a while away.
Monday, February 05, 2018
Broken Gods
I have been working quite a bit on my latest novel, Broken Gods, book one of the series The Path of Souls. It is about to the point where my wife will read it and let me know what she thinks. After editing based on her feedback, it will go to the esteemed Cooper Book Club. In its current state, it is approximately 106,000 words, which is right in my initial goal range of 100,000 to 110,000.
This is certainly my most ambitious and complex book, but we shall see what people think of it when they read it. It is epic fantasy with wizards and what I think and hope is a fairly original magic system. It is written in third person past tense, which is a return to the style I used in my first couple books before doing three books in first person, mostly in present tense. I have five point of view characters, and all thirty-eight of the chapters are from their points of view, with a few additional separate chapters (prologue, interludes, epilogue) that are from other points of view.
I'm really quite excited to see how this one is received. I undoubtedly have quite a bit more work on it before it gets submitted to literary agents.
I already have notes on the book I will likely start writing after this one, with a very preliminary working title of Dice of the Divine, which would be an interesting mix of science fiction and fantasy. But I won't start that one until Broken Gods gets submitted to agents.
In other writing news, I did have a small publisher respond to my query letter for Spaceman Steve and the Quest for the Awesome Artifact with a request for the full manuscript, which is actually the first time I've had that happen. So that's exciting, no matter what comes from it. They are currently reviewing the manuscript and will let me know within a couple months if they're going to do anything with it. It's not overly likely, but I can hope. :)
This is certainly my most ambitious and complex book, but we shall see what people think of it when they read it. It is epic fantasy with wizards and what I think and hope is a fairly original magic system. It is written in third person past tense, which is a return to the style I used in my first couple books before doing three books in first person, mostly in present tense. I have five point of view characters, and all thirty-eight of the chapters are from their points of view, with a few additional separate chapters (prologue, interludes, epilogue) that are from other points of view.
I'm really quite excited to see how this one is received. I undoubtedly have quite a bit more work on it before it gets submitted to literary agents.
I already have notes on the book I will likely start writing after this one, with a very preliminary working title of Dice of the Divine, which would be an interesting mix of science fiction and fantasy. But I won't start that one until Broken Gods gets submitted to agents.
In other writing news, I did have a small publisher respond to my query letter for Spaceman Steve and the Quest for the Awesome Artifact with a request for the full manuscript, which is actually the first time I've had that happen. So that's exciting, no matter what comes from it. They are currently reviewing the manuscript and will let me know within a couple months if they're going to do anything with it. It's not overly likely, but I can hope. :)
Monday, December 11, 2017
The Path of Souls
Today has been a productive writing year. Early in the year, I finished up work on Praeteran, my fourth novel. That fantasy book is actually book one of a longer series that also includes my first novel, The Second Shadow. I did not submit Praeteran to any literary agents, however, as I feel the entire series needs some more work. I hope to get back to it some day.
In May, I started work my fifth book, which is the silliest thing I've ever written, which is a fantasy comedy novel called Spaceman Steve and the Quest for the Awesome Artifact. It was the most fun I've had writing a book. My little reading group (my wife and the Cooper Book Club) enjoyed it quite a bit. I have submitted it to literary agents, but haven't gotten any further with it yet. So we shall see.
I have now started work on my sixth novel, which I believe is my most ambitious. It started with a short story called The Screams, and has since expanded. Before starting to actually write any more chapters, I spent quite a bit of time with world building, coming up with (what I think is) a somewhat unique magic system, and creating a storyline for a trilogy with both overarching plots that cover the whole trilogy, and smaller plots for each book. By the end of my planning phase, I had seventeen pages of notes in Word, an Excel workbook with thirteen different worksheets, and a detailed map created in Photoshop (a fragment of which is shown here). I then started writing, and am thus far on chapter 15 out of the outlined 53 chapters. This book, currently titled Broken Gods (and part of the series titled The Path of Souls), is epic fantasy, and I hope to end up with book 1 being between 100,000 and 110,000 words, which would by far be the longest thing I've written. I am trying to take things slower to allow more time for character and world development. We'll see how the finishe
d product comes out. Maybe it will get to the Cooper Book Club sometime in the spring.
In May, I started work my fifth book, which is the silliest thing I've ever written, which is a fantasy comedy novel called Spaceman Steve and the Quest for the Awesome Artifact. It was the most fun I've had writing a book. My little reading group (my wife and the Cooper Book Club) enjoyed it quite a bit. I have submitted it to literary agents, but haven't gotten any further with it yet. So we shall see.
I have now started work on my sixth novel, which I believe is my most ambitious. It started with a short story called The Screams, and has since expanded. Before starting to actually write any more chapters, I spent quite a bit of time with world building, coming up with (what I think is) a somewhat unique magic system, and creating a storyline for a trilogy with both overarching plots that cover the whole trilogy, and smaller plots for each book. By the end of my planning phase, I had seventeen pages of notes in Word, an Excel workbook with thirteen different worksheets, and a detailed map created in Photoshop (a fragment of which is shown here). I then started writing, and am thus far on chapter 15 out of the outlined 53 chapters. This book, currently titled Broken Gods (and part of the series titled The Path of Souls), is epic fantasy, and I hope to end up with book 1 being between 100,000 and 110,000 words, which would by far be the longest thing I've written. I am trying to take things slower to allow more time for character and world development. We'll see how the finishe
d product comes out. Maybe it will get to the Cooper Book Club sometime in the spring.
Friday, September 08, 2017
One Busy Demon
Here is my third attempt at the five word writing challenge. Just like in the past, I requested on Facebook that five friends each give me a word, and then I would use those five words in a piece of flash fiction (usually less than 1500 words). This one is a bit different from the first two, and may be a little dumb, but I'm hoping it's at least somewhat amusing in the process. And thus, I present to you One Busy Demon.
Words:
Platypus
Transmitter
Malevolent
Fraudulent
Homogeneous
Words:
Platypus
Transmitter
Malevolent
Fraudulent
Homogeneous
One
Busy Demon
“Good morning, oh malevolent one.”
“Shut up, Phil.”
“Okay, boss.”
It was another warm day in Hell,
making it two hundred forty-three thousand two hundred forty-two consecutive
days where Phil documented that it was warm in Hell. As the chief scribe of the devil himself,
this was part of his responsibilities, among many others. He was one busy demon, as he was also the
pitcher and manager of one of the realm’s best slow-pitch softball teams, the
Angels. He had gotten very good at
ignoring the people who complained that the name was culturally insensitive.
The lord of the underworld sat at
his desk, staring down at a three-dimensional holographic model of the planet
Earth, scratching his red chin and scowling.
“What is wrong, Satan?” Phil
asked. “Are you feeling blue?”
“Please stop making that joke,”
Satan said in a thunderous voice.
“But it’s hilarious.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Oh, come on. Just because we’re in Hell doesn’t mean we
can’t laugh. I mean, you’re feeling blue,
even though you’re all red. Gosh, I
crack myself up.”
“Do you remember why my last chief
scribe was fired from his position?” Satan asked.
“Because he smiled too much.”
“And do you remember where that
former chief scribe is positioned now?”
“In the latrines.”
“That’s correct. And yet you tell jokes.”
“Oh, I just want you to not be so
glum all the time. Every day, it seems
you’re unhappy. What gives? Does something specific have you down today?”
“These people,” Satan said,
nodding at the slowly rotating Earth. “They’re
making it far too easy for me.”
“Easy? Isn’t easy good?”
“No, Phil,” Satan said, sighing
and putting his horned head into his scaly hands. “Do I want to dominate these people and make
them turn away from my enemy? Of
course. Do I want to fill their minds
with things of the world and distract them from the bigger picture? You bet.
Am I succeeding in that? Absolutely. And it isn’t even close. But it used to be so much more
interesting. The chase.”
“There is still a chase, right?”
Phil asked as he made notes in a tome about the day’s meal plan. Lutefisk again.
“Yes, there is still a chase,” the
devil said, “but the opportunities are becoming more and more limited. Most of the people simply walk around
oblivious to the world around them. They
come pre-distracted. They are in their
own little bubble, disconnected from the things my enemy would want them to
seek. Instead of observing the world in
front of their eyes, they spend most of their time staring down at those little
transmitters they hold in their hands, watching or reading or doing who knows
what. I still send demons down to
possess people to deter them from following my enemy, but they used to put up a
good fight against the little devils. The
demons really had to work at it to break the person. Nowadays, though, people are just like, ‘Oh,
I guess I’m possessed now,’ and it really doesn’t change anything because they’re
already so disconnected from where my enemy wants them to be. Things have changed. This isn’t what I was promised. This isn’t the adventure I was told
about. This is nothing but a fraudulent
bore.”
“What? Who promised you an adventure?”
“It was…” Satan sat up and
scrunched his crimson brow. “Now I don’t
remember. It was who knows how many millennia
ago. Humanity was so much more interesting
back then. They were homogenous, but
within their similarities was boundless diversity. Now they are just carbon copies of each
other. Billions of identical souls
simply floating about in the wind, allowing me to push them where I desire,
with little to no effort. These people
nowadays make most of their day to day decisions based on feelings and not
facts, and feelings are so easily coerced.
I don’t have to be mean and scary anymore. I don’t have to manipulate them deep to their
core. At most, I just dangle something
shiny in front of their face, and they do whatever I want them to. They don’t even know it’s happening. It is almost too easy.”
“But like you said, you get to
sway them anywhere you want!” Phil said excitedly. “Isn’t that the point? You still get to win!”
“Win?” Satan said, laughing a deep
menacing laugh. “When the game is so easy,
it sure doesn’t feel like winning.”
“Feel?” Phil said. “What an incredibly human thing for you to
think.”
Satan turned and scowled down at
his chief scribe.
“Oh, come now,” Phil said. “You just need to laugh a little. Fortunately for you, I’ve been prepping for
this for the last few years. One of
these should make you laugh.”
“One of what?”
“One of these. I think you’ll like them. First off: a father was walking by a cemetery
with his son. The father told his son
that he can’t be buried in that cemetery.
The son asked why. The father
answered, saying he can’t be buried there because he’s not dead yet.”
Satan just stared at Phil.
“Okay, tough crowd,” Phil
said. “What do you get when you cross a
platypus with a steamroller? Any
guesses? No? Okay then.
You get a flatypus.”
Satan returned his head to his
hands.
“Imagine that a flock of birds
flies by in a V-formation. One of the
lines of birds is longer. Do you know
why?”
The devil sighed and shook his
head. “Why?”
“Because that line has more birds
in it.” Phil burst into laughter.
Satan rolled his dark eyes. “This is not what I need right now,” he said. “I need a challenge. Something to make the chase more interesting.”
“What can be more interesting than
a good joke?”
“I don’t know, but if I hear one I
will let you know.”
“Ouch.”
“Maybe I should see if my enemy
would wipe most of the world out with a flood again,” Satan said, nearly smiling
at the thought. “That was quiet
entertaining to watch the first time. It
would be nice to have another clean start to the chase.”
“I think your enemy promised not
to do that again,” Phil said, flipping quickly through a large tome and
pointing at a water-stained page. “Something
about a rainbow or whatever.”
“Ah, yes, you are correct,” Satan
said. “He did promise that, and he tends
to be fairly good at keeping his promises.”
“That he does,” Phil said, nodding. “So, you’re looking for something that doesn’t
kill everybody off, but gives the world just enough hope so you can have fun
crushing it all again?”
“Exactly. Is that too much to ask?”
“Certainly not.”
“Ideas?”
“But of course,” Phil said. “I mean, you already let the Cubs win the
World Series, but I’m sure there’s something else we can do. We could get them to treat Pluto as a planet
again.”
“No.”
“We could make all of the world’s
lawyers really sick.”
“No.”
“Well then I’m out of ideas.”
“There must be something.”
“Wait… yes,” Phil said
excitedly. “Yes! I have it!”
He started to draw with a black feathered pen on a piece of
parchment. After several minutes, he
held up the parchment and showed it to Satan.
The devil looked over it and then
grinned widely, nodding at his chief scribe.
“You’ve done it, you brilliant little demon!”
“Thank you, oh malevolent one! I remember seeing something similar in one of
the tomes, and I thought, wow, the price of the power of the air would
certainly have interest in this one! It
is so you! It is perfect! It is—”
“Shut up, Phil.”
“Okay, boss.”
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Witch Doctor
Here is my second attempt at the five word writing challenge. Just like last time, I requested on Facebook that five friends each give me a word, and then I would use those five words in a piece of flash fiction (usually less than 1500 words). And thus, I present to you the result of that attempt, Witch Doctor.
Words:
Salmon
Dachshund
Toenail
Intravenous
Waterfall
Words:
Salmon
Dachshund
Toenail
Intravenous
Waterfall
Witch
Doctor
“My life is in danger,” I said to the small man
seated cross-legged on the other side of the fire. The colorful paint on his face glimmered in
the light of the fire, the piercings that covered his body causing strange
shadows to dance on the thick trees behind him.
I had hiked for several days through the tropical forest to find this
man, the witch doctor of the Eastern Woods, a man known to hold powers that no
other man could hold. He was the cure to
the fear that had taken over my life over the last two weeks. It was all I could think about, and my very
life depended on this man.
I had arrived at the witch
doctor’s small hut four days ago, explaining to him my dire situation. I am a man of the people, serving on the highest
council in country’s capital city. There
were nine of us serving together as advisors to the prime minister. There were
nine. Now there is one. The other eight were murdered in their homes,
or on walks with their children, or while riding in a limousine on the way to a
meeting. One by one their bodies were discovered,
no signs of death or even a struggle, no life remaining. I didn’t know who killed them or for what
purpose, but I knew I was next. I had to
do something drastic. Believing my bodyguards
and trusty sidearm would be insufficient defense, I sought the man that now
sits before me, hoping he could provide some additional protection against the
oncoming foe.
“There is a potion,” he had said
two days ago in a deep and slowly rolling voice, after I sat down and explained
my unfortunate situation. “The potion
will protect you from your enemies in supernatural ways. You must do exactly what I tell you. Do not stray from even a single instruction,
or things will not go well.”
I didn’t want to believe what I
was doing. In a world of cars flying
through the sky and robots doing much of the physical labor, here I am, sitting
around a campfire in a forest, listening to a witch doctor talk about magical
potions. I started to regret my
decision, and yet, his reputation proceeded him. This man had done many inexplicable things,
and he was paid well for it. He had only
started talking to me when I set the bag of gold on the ground, which was
quickly carried away by one of his many similarly dressed servants. It all seemed too strange for me, but I made
myself feel better by remembering that I’m only using his services for
protection, and that the potion he is creating is not one of his infamous
poisons.
On the first day, he told me to do
nothing but sit by the fire and think about the people who may be trying to
kill me. He told me to envision them and
their purposes. I didn’t know who they
were, so I mainly thought about the upcoming football games.
On the second day, he told me to
venture out into the forest. “Travel
west three miles, to a large tree long split in two by fire from the sky,” he
said. “You must then turn north, travel
two miles, until your ears perceive the noise of rushing water. Follow the noise to the base of a great
waterfall, and there you will find many living things in the water. You must bring back a specimen from the base
of the falls, and only from the base.
There will be fish of many different kinds, rainbowfish and angelfish
and leaf fish, but you must stand in the water and wait, and soon enough you
will find a silver fish with blue markings.
You must reach in with your hands and catch this fish and bring it back,
alive.”
I did exactly what he said. I stood there in the water for two hours
before the silver fish came swimming by.
It looked like a salmon. After
several attempts, I pulled it from the water and placed it in a small water
basin I had brought with me. When I
returned to the witch doctor, he was still sitting by the fire, but there was
now a black pot sitting over the flames.
I sat the basin beside him. He
reached into it and pulled out the fish and proceeded to break it in half,
which I hadn’t thought possible to do to a slippery fish. A thick blue liquid poured from its insides
into the pot.
On the third day, he told me to
follow a path. “Travel the road to the
east four miles,” he said, “until you come to a small village with dwellings
built from the forest. In the middle
there is a well of stone. You must sit
down and wait. People will walk by, but
you must not speak to them. A young
maiden will approach, with a silver dress and blue flowers in her hair, and she
will fill her bucket from the well. You
must then offer her this.” He held out
his hand, showing a violet berry. “You
must take what she gives you.”
I did exactly what he said. I sat for two hours before the young woman
with a silver dress and blue flowers in her hair approached, filling her bucket
from the well. I then offered her the
berry. She took it, ate it, and then did
one somewhat normal thing, followed by several very abnormal things. She took a cloth from a pocket in her simple
dress and laid it on the well. Reaching
back into the pocket, she took a knife and cut off several long brown hairs
from her head, placing them on the cloth.
She then cut off several of her eyelashes and a piece of a toenail,
placing them each on the cloth. Finally,
she folded up the cloth and bound it together with twine from her pocket. She then took her bucket of water and left.
Sitting back in front of the witch
doctor, really starting to think this may have been a bad idea, I watched as he
took the girl’s hair, eyelashes, and toenail, and dropped them into the pot,
mixing it with the blue liquid from the fish.
On the fourth day, he told me to
once again venture out into the forest.
“Travel west three miles, to a large tree long split in two by fire from
the sky,” he said. “There you will find
many living things in the branches. You
must climb the tree and bring back a specimen from the largest of the branches,
and only from the largest. There will be
birds of many different kinds, macaws and trogons and lorikeets, but you must sit
on the branch and wait, and soon enough you will find a silver bird with blue
markings. You must reach out with your
hands and catch this bird and bring it back, alive.”
I did exactly what he said. As I sat on that branch waiting, I wondered
why I didn’t stop by this tree two days earlier, but I decided not to question the
witch doctor. I waited for two hours
before the silver bird with blue markings flew to the large branch I was
sitting on. The bird allowed me to catch
it easily and place it within a small metal cage I had brought with me.
Sitting back in front of the witch
doctor, I watched as he took the bird and used tweezers made from two small
bones to extract something small and black from the bird’s mouth. He dropped it into the pot, mixing it with
the blue liquid from the fish and the girl’s hair, eyelashes, and toenail.
It is now the fifth day, early in
the morning. I half expect him to send
me to a dog park, instructing me to wait until a silver dachshund with a blue collar
approaches. Instead, I find myself
laying on my back on a mat near the fire.
The witch doctor sits, stirring the pot, as it generates blue
bubbles. He then takes a very modern
looking syringe and sticks it into the pot, filling it with the potion. He comes over and, without saying anything,
sticks the needle in my arm, filling me with an intravenous injection of
magical potion. For a moment, I feel
nothing. And then I feel terrible.
The witch doctor stands over me,
and then smiles, and then grins a terrible grin. “It will be quick, worry not.”
I try to ask him why I feel so
terrible, but I can’t form any words. I
can’t move.
“Your ambition has granted me a
much simpler task than I had with the others, your fellow councilors, coming to assemble your own
concoction.”
What?
“All ends lead to new beginnings.”
My vision starts to fade, and
then…
Wednesday, August 09, 2017
Mallory
This is my first attempt at the five word writing challenge. I requested on Facebook that five friends each give me a word, and then I would use those five words in a piece of flash fiction (usually less than 1500 words). And thus, I present to you the result of that attempt, Mallory.
Words:
Remote
Pirate Ship
Cosmic
Sparkling
Barley
Mallory
Words:
Remote
Pirate Ship
Cosmic
Sparkling
Barley
Mallory
Many days have come and gone since the last
abandoned ship showed itself on the horizon, drifting aimlessly upon the
ocean. It is the reason I put together
our team to navigate the waters for months at a time. Our current sixteen week exploration is only
five days from completion, and while this mission has been an overall success,
it is still missing something to set it apart.
We are not the only such team
attempting to profit from the mysterious vessels, and we are far from the most
successful. Teams have come from both
sides of the Atlantic to scour the seas, and most of them have at least found
one of the centuries-old ships. There
are many theories as to why such crafts have been discovered over the last
several years, having somehow floated upon the water undiscovered since the
American Revolution. Some include
references to the Bermuda Triangle, while others sound like something out of
science fiction or some sort of paranormal horror film. I do not know why the ships have started
appearing, and it is not really of my concern.
I have my sights on something else.
The ships have come in different sizes
and styles. Some are cargo ships, and
the teams that discovered those crafts plundered a wide variety of antique
objects of historical significance.
Other ships were strictly for passengers, perhaps transporting British
diplomats between Europe and their western colonies. Pirate ships have been found, of course, full
of cannons and the occasional treasure horde.
These finds are the main reasons our team is out searching, seeking the
one great discovery that will make us richer than we could ever imagine. We have watched videos of other teams coming
across such ships, grown men weeping at the sight, the ship shimmering of bright
gold in the cosmic rays of the midday sun.
That is what we want. There is a
ship out there for us, we know it, and we will not stop until we find it.
The strangest thing about the
discovered ships is that they have all been completely devoid of human remains. It would be expected to find the occasional
body. Perhaps a sailor who died of
starvation on his voyage, or an apprehended prisoner found shackled to the
walls in the brig. Yet there has been
nothing. Not a skeleton, not even a
bone. I assume the sea travelers all
abandoned ship and lived out their days on some remote island somewhere, only
to watch their ship drift off and disappear into the horizon. It is still strange, though.
Our own ship, a large freighter
named Mallory, was repurposed from its transatlantic trade route and now holds
the remains of our last several finds in large cargo containers. The containers will be brought to our
headquarters in South Carolina and unloaded into the warehouse, and hopefully
the loot will sell for enough to finance our next three month mission on the
high seas. Finding a treasure horde
would allow us to retire, though I do not believe I would. There is always more to find.
“Captain!” comes the voice,
pulling my eyes from the maps that cover the walls of my office. A man runs in through the door, a wide smile
across his face.
“What is it?” I say, not wanting
to be disturbed. I spend much of my time
studying the maps and watching weather patterns, attempting to discern the
places a drifting sea vessel would be most likely to be discovered.
“A ship! We’ve found a ship!”
“Good,” I say, standing and
walking through toward the door.
“And Captain,” the man says. “There is a shine.”
I raise my eyebrow at him. “We shall see,” I say, not wanting to be too
optimistic. I quickly make my way to the
bow, joining dozens of my crew. Just
ahead of and well below us, there is indeed a ship, a great structure of dark
brown wood. It is dwarfed by our own
cargo ship, but it is significantly larger than any of our previous finds,
perhaps even larger than any of the other finds by the other teams. A small number of cannons protrude from its gun
ports at a variety of angles, some obviously damaged and others completely
missing. The cannons were there only for
defense from pirates, as this appears to be a trade ship. The vessel does emit a shine, but I am still
hesitant. However, as I watch it come
closer, the shine becomes more pronounced, and I finally allow myself to
smile.
The ship is full of gold. I watch the sparkling coins and jewels, piles
of riches larger than anything we’ve ever seen.
I feel a tear falling down my cheek and quickly wipe it away. This is it, I know it. This is what we’ve been looking for.
Mallory stops and anchors with the
trade vessel directly on our starboard side.
I do not need to give a single order, as my crews know exactly what to
do when we come across a find. Each crew
member goes through months of training before they are allowed on such a
mission, as I will not allow our expeditions to be slowed by ineptitude. I smile as the boarding bridge is lowered,
the ladders are let down, and the initial boarding crew scampers down and
across quickly, and soon they are aboard it, and then…
And then the air around the trade
vessel shimmers, with thin streaks of color twisting around the whole of the
craft, and the men and women who boarded it can no longer be seen.
And neither can anyone else.
I am suddenly alone on the deck of
Mallory, completely alone in the middle of the sea. I see none of my crew on either ship, nor do
I hear them. For several moments I can
only stand there, my unbelieving eyes staring at the vacant deck. I feel cold and can see my breath. And then, my eyes move toward the trade ship
below me, the gold shine filling the air.
I feel myself smiling, though I know I should not be smiling. And yet, smile I do, and I am then
approaching the edge of the ship, climbing down the ladder, walking across the
boarding bridge. My eyes have not left
the gold that shines brightly.
I step down onto the craft,
walking up to a small wooden table with high piles of gold coins. I hear myself cackling as I reach out and
take several of the coins, running them through my fingers. This is it.
This is what I’ve been looking for.
This is the answer to all my questions.
I then realize that the coins
don’t feel like coins.
The whole of my vision shifts, and
suddenly there are not coins in my hand, and there are not piles of gold or
mounds of jewels. I peer at my hand and
see small fragments of yellow. Corn
kernels. All around me there are massive
piles of yellow, but not of the kind I have been seeking. There is wheat and bananas and barley, and
more corn, all scattered about. I begin
to see bones, some scattered about and some in full skeletons, piled high and buried
within the food of the ship, as though this were a floating mass grave. The more I looked, the more bones I saw. They were everywhere.
I shiver in fear and then turn
toward Mallory, knowing I need to return.
I run for it, leaping over the side of the trade ship. Or I try to, as I instead slam into something
that I cannot see, an invisible barrier that shimmers with streaks of color as
I bounce off it and fall to the floor, landing between two skeletons in a pile
of corn ears. I scamper up, attempting
not to completely lose my mind, and again run toward the edge, but I abruptly
stop. I watch as the boarding bridge is
raised back to the ship, and the ladders are pulled back up. I look to the deck, and for a moment I see
nothing, and then suddenly the deck is full.
I bring my hand to my mouth as I watch skeletons walk upon the deck of
my ship, and soon they are running off into its interior, acting very much like
crew should act. I turn and see piles of
food, but the bodies have all vanished.
When I turn back to Mallory, I see
nothing but the blue of the ocean.
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