Good morning all. I hope everyone had a fantastic week. Personally, I suspect the time thief snuck in and took a few hours from me somewhere. Not quite sure where, but I know the time is gone. Today is a race to catch up, I can just feel the engines start to rev. So let’s call the official start to the day a little early and kick it off with a writing prompt. Ready? Fabulous. Let’s go.
Not my favorite. I kind of like the mystery, but as with all mysteries, I need to think a bit further in and then backtrack to the beginning. Which could be fun. Perhaps later, this will look better to me. For now, it just served the purpose of shaking my brain awake. Which isn’t really a bad thing.
Friday, November 5th: It washed ashore in the night.
It washed ashore in the night. No one was quite certain where it came from. There had been no storms recently. Nothing that would dredge anything up from the sea bottom. There was no wind to drive any ships onto the rocks. The weather had been clear and fine for days. Yet here the wreckage was.
Everyone flocked to the beach. The old timers studied the remains. Some declared it was part of the bow, others claimed they were daft and that it was clearly part of the stern. They argued, but without seeing the shape of the entire thing, no one would be able to determine which it was. The point was the argument in any case, not the final determination.
Everyone poked around a bit before leaving. There was nothing of value in the wreck. There was no metal of any sort they could see. And anything that might have been contained inside was long gone, washed into the sea and lost for good.
‘Unless another strange tide washes it ashore.’ Tamsin thought. He too came to study the wreck and it puzzled him. That it should appear when there was no storm was strange enough. That it bore no markings could be set down to the vagaries of fate. The piece of wreckage wasn’t large as these things went and it was conceivable that they simply got a piece of the ship that hadn’t been marked. There was enough of it though that someone should have been able to identify the craftsmen who built her. They may have been a small port but the sailors who ended up here often spent much of their life prior traveling to distant lands. The fact that none of them recognized the shape or the craftsmanship was puzzling.
When all had come ashore to have a good look at it, Tamsin gathered some of the others and together they hauled it up past the high water mark so that the tide wouldn’t take her back out to sea when they weren’t looking.
When that was accomplished he left it, his mind heavy as he returned home. The next morning brought news of another find washed up onto the shore. This time it was a heavy chest and all were curious as to what it held. It was the same size as an ordinary seaman’s chest. It was however bound with thick chains. No less than three locks held it shut. While there was speculation as to what treasures I t might hold, no one was rushing to break open the locks.
The truth was that the chest had the townsfolk spooked more than the wreckage from the day before. A bit of a strange ship was one thing. This was another. The weight of the chains alone should have sent it to the bottom of the sea. In the calm waters, there was no way it should have merely floated to shore. Tamsin strolled down to the beach to see this wonder for himself. He was slightly amused to find that the locals had gone for the priest. Tamsin stood back respectfully as the good father performed the ritual to drive out evil spirits and to bless the contents of the crate so that it would harm no one.
Confident in his abilities, the father spoke the last word of the blessing, gave a satisfied nod of a job well done and then began walking back to his church. Knowing that before he settled here, the father was part of several missionary groups and traveled as extensively, if not more so than many here, Tamsin moved forward, lengthening his stride to catch up with him. The men behind were still hesitant to approach and Tamsin thought he had tome before they would manage to get the trunk open.
Ten til Midnight 