Today’s writing prompt and my response.
Day three for this week. Use the prompt however you like, one at a time, or pen a short story over as many as you like.
Boat fish girl: a picture prompt
I looked out from the rear deck as the ship surged into the cloud as if riding a wave, freed at last from the vast fish which had led us a merry dance – it and its fellows. They had circled us for days, nudging our ship this way and that across the ballooning ocean, but always south, ever south. And so we had neared the rocks.
Our captain shouted desperate orders. The men obeyed, most choosing to pray as they scaled rigging, hauled in sails, fought side by side with the captain to haul the great wheel about.
And then, they were gone. The ship reeled about, tipping sideways, sending men screaming against the rails, clinging for their lives. A great wave picked us up, lifted us into the clouds, towards the open sea. I scrambled from where I lay on my stern cabin’s floor, grasping my bunk, hand over hand to the porthole. Wanting to know what death we might be fleeing.
Yes, they were gone. Bar one. I saw it beyond the rocks, belly down on a pebbled shore.
I blinked. A creature knelt beside the fish. Surely not one of this world, although it had taken human guise. It seemed to be addressing the fish, and I knew, with a visceral knowledge: no ordinary fish this, but the steed of the creature – a mermaid, stranded on land, waiting for her mount to be returned to her.
The ship’s prow dipped, the stern rose, and all I saw were clouds and gulls. When next I could see the shore, it was empty. But in the surf, a glimpse of striped tail, a trailing of hanks of seaweed-like hair.
Follow the daily writing prompt on Facebook or Instagram.
Find Cheryl’s flash fiction and short stories here!