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Rover of the Sands
”Run!” you shout to Malone, as you both take off down the deck. Your heart is pumping so violently, you fear it will explode as you slide down the ladder and fly to your door. Your hand shakes as you take the familiar key from your pocket and turn the latch. It seems to last forever. But you and he are inside, the door shut and bolted behind you and for just one second, there is quite everywhere. Thinking quickly, you both grab the heavy timber bed, and using all your strength, you push it against the door at the very same moment the ramming begins.
Viola moans and you both turn to her. Her skin is leeched of all color and she seems to be losing her fight. Malone flies to her side where she lies on the floor, offering gentle encouragement. She emits one more long anguished cry as the door shakes and shatters. You see hands reaching through the jagged openings, trying to feel what is blocking the way. As they prepare the next sally, there is another strange silence.
“She’s struggling to breathe!” cries Malone.
“Viola!”
“No! No. My friend, you have a daughter.”
“Oh my God.”
But the bashing continues and now they’ve found other, heavier things. Soon they will be here. There is nowhere left to go!
In that moment, a frightful Apparition appears. His face is haggard and drawn and he wears a familiar sailor’s cap. He winks with one eye as he hiccups. He vibrates with fury and floats through the wall. Then suddenly the noise in the corridor isn’t there at all.
You turn to your wife, cradling her head in your lap. Malone lifts up your baby girl, giving her rump a good slap. Then there is the sound of her very first cry and your heart fills with joy and you feel your wife’s even breaths and her joy too.
The boat lurches suddenly as the sands beneath you start to sink. You can hear the waters rushing up from the entrapping depths, carrying your ship as they did years ago.
“It’s a miracle!” gasps Malone. The air is suddenly sultry and sweet. Is that really the moon shining in through your high round window?
You push the bed back as you and Malone go out to investigate. Outside, the world is just as if nothing had ever changed, no curse had ever come to the Earth. It is fresh and wonderful and the wind fills your sails!
An incessant splashing grabs your attention. The moonlight illuminates the face of Slugger O’Toole, thrashing in the water, as he was always a poor swimmer and drunk as a rule! You throw down a buoy for you and Malone to hoist him up. “I’ve got something to show you,” he says with that same sly wink.
Opening up the cantina and leading you to the large vat in the distillery, he bids you climb up the ladder to look inside.
Tracy and the others who tried to kill you lie face downward, drowned in Slugger’s best ale.
Three days later, sailing home in a fair wind, you stand amongst others with the Captain, Malone, Viola and your baby to pay your last respects as your comrades turned enemies are buried at sea in large sacks.
“I wonder,” she says, “Whether this would have been possible without their sacrifice. I can’t stop believing that someone had to suffer. Someone had to die.”
“And you don’t think they deserved it?” you ask her with warmth. She stamps her foot on the deck, so you envelop her in a kiss.
Somewhere nearby, you can hear Slugger laughing and toasting, saying jovially to anyone who will listen, "Didn't I always say that a woman aboard is fantastic good luck?"
Viola moans and you both turn to her. Her skin is leeched of all color and she seems to be losing her fight. Malone flies to her side where she lies on the floor, offering gentle encouragement. She emits one more long anguished cry as the door shakes and shatters. You see hands reaching through the jagged openings, trying to feel what is blocking the way. As they prepare the next sally, there is another strange silence.
“She’s struggling to breathe!” cries Malone.
“Viola!”
“No! No. My friend, you have a daughter.”
“Oh my God.”
But the bashing continues and now they’ve found other, heavier things. Soon they will be here. There is nowhere left to go!
In that moment, a frightful Apparition appears. His face is haggard and drawn and he wears a familiar sailor’s cap. He winks with one eye as he hiccups. He vibrates with fury and floats through the wall. Then suddenly the noise in the corridor isn’t there at all.
You turn to your wife, cradling her head in your lap. Malone lifts up your baby girl, giving her rump a good slap. Then there is the sound of her very first cry and your heart fills with joy and you feel your wife’s even breaths and her joy too.
The boat lurches suddenly as the sands beneath you start to sink. You can hear the waters rushing up from the entrapping depths, carrying your ship as they did years ago.
“It’s a miracle!” gasps Malone. The air is suddenly sultry and sweet. Is that really the moon shining in through your high round window?
You push the bed back as you and Malone go out to investigate. Outside, the world is just as if nothing had ever changed, no curse had ever come to the Earth. It is fresh and wonderful and the wind fills your sails!
An incessant splashing grabs your attention. The moonlight illuminates the face of Slugger O’Toole, thrashing in the water, as he was always a poor swimmer and drunk as a rule! You throw down a buoy for you and Malone to hoist him up. “I’ve got something to show you,” he says with that same sly wink.
Opening up the cantina and leading you to the large vat in the distillery, he bids you climb up the ladder to look inside.
Tracy and the others who tried to kill you lie face downward, drowned in Slugger’s best ale.
*********************************************
Three days later, sailing home in a fair wind, you stand amongst others with the Captain, Malone, Viola and your baby to pay your last respects as your comrades turned enemies are buried at sea in large sacks.
“I wonder,” she says, “Whether this would have been possible without their sacrifice. I can’t stop believing that someone had to suffer. Someone had to die.”
“And you don’t think they deserved it?” you ask her with warmth. She stamps her foot on the deck, so you envelop her in a kiss.
Somewhere nearby, you can hear Slugger laughing and toasting, saying jovially to anyone who will listen, "Didn't I always say that a woman aboard is fantastic good luck?"
