Short Story Competition Entries

Written in the Skies

I've never written anything of this genre before, and I almost didn't enter this competition by RomanceSparks and Wattpunk . It called to me though, and I felt it would be a challenge and it would push me to further my literary work. So, I don't know if I've given this genre any justice, although I really hope I do. This is my PiratePunk Romance called "Written in the Stars". Enjoy :)

Nothing that I can say could ever describe Alexa Jarvis. She was alluring, and fervent, unafraid of what was beyond the skies across which we travelled. I was the Captain of our ship, but she was the Captain of my heart.

We met many years before we ran away together to join a life of piracy. I knew, as soon as I met her, that she was the one for me. Before she entered my life, I was excluded from most groups and activities. I was an outsider, a freak, a monstrosity. Of course, I had never done anything wrong in my life. It was due to some unfortunate oddity upon my person which labelled me as a mutant.

When I was but a child, a group of Snatchers took me away and tortured me, cutting off my left arm at the elbow. Only a few days later, I was returned on my mother's doorstep, freezing cold and covered in my own dried blood. Where my lower arm should have been, a new metal arm was in its place. At first, it was painful. Excruciating and torturous. But after some weeks, it became a part of me. It was skilled and beneficial. Unfortunately, it meant that I was labelled an aberration.

It was one particularly miserable day that Alexa joined my life. I was sitting alone in class, at the back, in the corner, as per usual when she entered the room. I still don't know to this day whether she heard the other girls make comments about my malformation, all I know is that she walked straight past the perfect girls and sat next to me. The girl who had three empty seats on either side of her. The girl all in black with her hair hiding her face and her sleeve trying desperately to cover her arm.

"Hi." She had said to me with a smile so bright, it felt I was looking at the stars. "I'm Alexa."
"Nova." I relied, barely believing my eyes. "Why are you talking to me?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Everyone here looks the same. But not you. You look different. Interesting and unique. I don't want a friend that merges into the crowd. I like people who stand out."
"You want to be my friend?" I remember asking, certain this must have been some evil ploy.
"If you want to be mine?" She smiled her impeccable smile once more and I melted.

We became inseparable since then. Whilst everyone looked at me with disgust, Alexa looked at me with joy and love. If she ever heard anyone call me a mutant or a freak, they'd appear the next day with a broken nose or a black eye. I'd truly bear the brunt of torture when I was alone. Several times I was cornered and abused, defenceless and meek. Alexa just about turned red with rage when she found out about it. I didn't want to tell her but I couldn't exactly hide my cracked rip and bust lip.

So she taught me how to fight. Through her, I learned how to defend myself. My pain threshold increased and I became stronger, both physically and mentally. I felt powerful and indestructible. In return, I taught her how to handle a sword. My father was a blacksmith and I often practised in his workshop with the swords he crafted. I became skilled and undefeated by any of his customers. Alexa and I were a team. We were fierce and felt like we could take on the world.

Not long before we graduated school, headlines of pirates began to sweep our town. Thieving, violent gangs rode the seas and the skies, taking what they could and causing chaos wherever they went. It was reported on every news site and talked about in every class. Whilst adults expressed hatred, our classmates showed fear. Alexa and I, however, saw that life as an escape, something magnificent and invigorating.