Encountering the Dutchman

The captain peered over his map, occasionally glancing up to check if the shoreline he could just make out through the mist matched anything. His ship had been blown off course by an unexpected storm last night, but he wasn’t ready to admit they were lost yet.

“Captain, we just fished up a mysterious barrel filled with old letters.”

He spun around. A derelict ship emerged from the mist. Cold sweat beaded the captain’s brow, and a moment later shots were fired from the ghost ship’s cannons.

“Turn this ship around, boys. Turn around and run!” the captain cried.

———————-

This story was inspired by the Carrot Ranch prompt for March 20, 2023: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about shots fired. Where is this story taking place? Is there urgency or surprise? Who is there? What happens next? Go where the prompt leads!

This song also provided inspiration for this story.

Advertisement