Include the following in your story: medieval, derive, corn, daughter, molten, oar, rhythm, ears, antique, yammer.
Light was a hazy breath upon the eastern skyline. Colors of royal orange and lily pink tickled the whisping clouds. I lifted my groggy head from the side of the boat. Back and forth, the waves rocked my ship like a child’s teeter totter. Morning light shimmering like ribbons on the top of the water. Their trickling rhythm like a lullaby to my ears, but the morning light yammered at my consciousness. How could I enjoy such a beautiful sunrise when my world was coming to an end?
This wasteland of waves never ended. With the rags that I had, I had protection from the blistering Sun, but my mouth was deprived of all water. I could give in to the temptation of the ocean, but the salt would only end me faster. A groan broke from my lips when my stomach rumbled with the ache of hunger. How long had I been drifting? I don’t even know, but my ribs seeped through my skin. What I wouldn’t give for even a single kernel of corn.
My journey began months ago. I used to be a wealthy man, white collar, and respected. Yet, one day when I came home from work, I found nothing but a note and a molten feather waiting for me. The note…it was a ransom. My daughter had been kidnapped.
My daughter. My only shining light in my world of business and corruption. I had to find her! I’d give it all up to get her back… And I have. All I have left is this raft, these rags, and hope.
I started my search by trying to derive the origin of the feather. It might as well have been an antique, a medieval species now extinct, but I didn’t give up. I scoured every library, spoke to every expert, and I finally had a destination. An island and the heart of the devil’s triangle. No boat would go near it. No plane ever touched it. The Bird of the molten feather had to be there! Had to! I had to find the people who stole my daughter! I paid outrageous prices to get this far and that money now resides at the bottom of the ocean. The boat. The captain. The crew. They all laid at the bottom of the ocean. A furious storm whipped up an hour into the triangle and I’m the only one left.
I don’t even know where I am. Clouds block the stars. Only the sun told me the compass directions. I could be outside the Devil’s triangle and I wouldn’t even know it. I’m at my wit’s end. Who knows how far land is? Who knows if I’ll find my daughter?I knew how far land was in any direction.
It was when the sun broke the line of the horizon when I saw a shade silhouetted against the skylight. My eyes must be deceiving me! It looked like the shade of land, but the outline of a fiery Phoenix lifted up from it! My breath caught my throat, and I sat up faster than a seagull’s flight. Land. Land! Land with a fiery bird! Oh, my god, I’ve found it! I scrambled for the oars, a new strength of hope in my limbs. I made it! I’m here! I’m going to find my daughter!
nikki diekemper 