by Ryan Brenner

Created on: August 06, 2010

The ship heaved across the churning water.  Its mast and rigging slashed by a relentless wind.  Captain Blackgold held the wheel in a death grip.  He squinted hard forcing his eyes to see through the driving rain.  He was close.   The island could not be more than a few miles away.  Through a flash of lightning he caught a glimpse of shoreline against the roaring sea. 

“There,” he yelled above the wind, “Go, get the girl,” he called to the first mate.

The girl would know.  She had been there the night the ship sank in the cove.  He turned the wheel hard again pointing the giant ship toward the island.  Lightening illuminated his destination again.

“Here, Cap’n,” said a toothless grin behind him, as he released his hold on a young girl that fell terrified to the deck.

“Is that the island,” asked the captain?

The girl did not answer.  He asked again, but again the girl remained stubbornly silent.  Blackgold raised his hand, but paused, cruel though he was he could not bring himself to do it.  He could not hit her.  Still, he needed an answer.  He would not risk the ship against the jagged rocks for nothing.

“No harm’ll come to you if you give it to me now,” Blackgold yelled over the storm.

“I’ll never trust a pirate,” the girl had found her courage.

“If this is not the place we must turn now, or be dragged to the depths against the rocks,” he said.  “I’ll take us to Davey Jones.  I swear on my own life.”

A giant wave rocked the ship. The girl fell to the deck.  A locket fell from her neck dangling from a chain.  Blackgold grabbed it.

“No,” she screamed in protest, “you mustn’t.”

But it was too late.  He opened the locket which for a second seemed to sing a soft melody barely heard above the roar of the wind and waves.

A golden glow appeared in the cove below the surface.  The girl screamed a protest again.  But, Blackgold only smiled.  He had found his heading.

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