Story Prompts

1

All I could hear was the sound of the ocean roaring in my ears, my own screaming, and the shouts of the sailors who were pushing me toward the side of the boat. My bound feet didn't allow me much help in the fight for my life. In the end, all of my struggling was useless. The fall from the side felt like years. I hit the water, fighting in vain to keep myself afloat. The sailors cursed my existence from the ship. Breathing in the salt was my final surrender. I might have been crying but it was impossible to tell. I began to sink. The ringing in my ears from the sound of splash created by my body hitting the water was my only companion on my way down. Salt in my throat, darkness clouding my vision, and a fear of death haunting my mind, I slipped from consciousness.

I waited for that tunnel of white light to come to me so that I could be taken to death. The moments before replaying in my mind like a broken record.

I had stowed away in the brig of the flagship. We were bound for the Indian Ocean trade network. Finally going to get in on the trade and commerce. That was the plan anyway. I had snuck myself onto the ship because I wanted to escape. Get away from the fancy dresses and droll lords. I wasn't one for marriage. I had been hiding in the brig for a few days when a storm hit. The sailors had begun frantically searching the ship for anything that may have caused the sea gods to be angry. Women were a prime example of that.

The shouts grew closer and suddenly the crate I was hiding behind was moved and I was roughly grabbed. The sailors cursed and hit me and suddenly my hands and feet were tied. I was screaming and they were shouting and the ship was tossing on the restless sea as rain pounded away at everything. I was dragged up to the deck, shouts to throw me over the edge rang from everywhere.

Which brought me back to the now. I didn't know how long I'd been unconscious. But I wasn't dead yet. I could feel my lungs working. I felt my heart beating. But there was something off...

My legs were heavy and numb. My breathing was different. With a conscious effort, I took a shuddering breath. Water rushed into my lungs and I began to panic. I was still at the bottom of the ocean. But yet, the water in my lungs wasn't killing me. I opened my eyes to see dark shapes above me. Strangely enough, I wasn't curious about them at all. They felt disturbingly familiar. My only thought was a calm sort of anger and vengeance. I began to swim upward. I had never been a great swimmer, but now I moved effortlessly. I didn't know where I was going, it was instinctual. Moving quickly, I followed my internal compass. Suddenly I surfaced. There I saw the flagship. The one I had been thrown off of. The one that had ended my life. It was dark outside and the sea was calm. I opened my mouth and began to sing. A beautiful and wordless song of revenge. Watching the ship carefully, I saw the sailors begin to come to the deck. One by one they leapt off the side and approached me. And one by one I pulled them down to rest where they had left my soul to die.

~~
I don't even know anymore. The prompt is at the top. That ended up being darker and more poorly written than I wanted it to be. Whatever though. I wrote it during English. It's the best I've got for now.

-M