Flash Friday Fiction: Oh Captain, My Captain

Marooned, by Howard Pyle, 1909. Public Domain.
Marooned, by Howard Pyle, 1909. Public Domain.

Oh Captain, My Captain (159 words)

It was naive to have thought they’d never get caught, he realized now. Sailing the seas for so many moons, seizing booty without consequence, believing nothing could take them down.

They’d gotten careless. Displayed themselves a little more brazenly.  Laughed at the notion that some day the end would come, that some day they’d be challenged.

He’d always imagined death would come at the hands of the enemy. But it hadn’t. No, it’d come from a careless caress, one he’d thought hidden.

The crew mutinied, led by the first mate, the captain’s right hand. “Ain’t right,” he’d sniggered. “Men ain’t s’pposed to love one another that way.”

They’d thrust a dagger through his captain’s heart, cleaving them both in two. They hadn’t killed him, though. No, they’d left him to a fate much worse than that: a lifetime on this island, with only his beloved’s coat for company.

He bowed his head. “It was worth it, Cap’n,” he whispered.

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Oh, how I love Fridays – especially when the prompt lends itself (at least in my mind) to the inclusion of romance. Within the 150 (+/-10) word limit, we also had to include something about arrogance. Let me know what you think of my story, and please head over to Flash Friday Fiction to read and comment on the other entries, or perhaps enter a tale of your own!

By the way, it’s been one year since I started writing flash fiction, and boy, has it ever been fun! So here’s to me on my flashversary – may there be many more to come. And hopefully I’ll finish a few real novels along the way.

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