This week’s photo prompt is provided by Barb CT of the blog, Gallimaufry. Thank you Barb!
The waters lie still as a pond. The skelton of a whale – sunbleached, picked clean of meat – hangs from a worm-eaten pier, the wind sighing low and woody between the ribs. The splash of oars echoes from dock to hills, across the open sea.
‘This was a bad idea,’ whispers Con.
Jesse puts a finger to his lips. Soon they’ll be safely out the other side.
The boat rocks. Then again, harder this time, throwing Con off his seat, the oar from his hand which slips away, almost out of reach, heading for the deep black. He lunges, scrabbles, catches it with his fingertips.
A smile splits his face. ‘Always lucky – ‘
The water cracks in two, the prow of the dinghy tipping into the abyss. Con claws at the wood, ropes tangled round his legs, tying him to the boat. Jesse grabs for him, Con’s fingers slipping through his.
A deafening roar.
The waters lie still as a pond.
Written for Priceless Joy’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Authors. See the pic and write a tale of up to 175 words. See here to join in and to read the other tales.
Word Shamble 
Kraken. Cthulhu. Dagon. That’ll be what’s responsible, stake my life on it. Or a sinkhole. Yeah, could’ve been a sinkhole. No, wait …
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Haha! Yes, a Kraken for sure. Who knows if our heroes are a live or dead? They’re made of tough stuff, so … Thanks for reading. And BTW, what exactly is a Cthulhu?
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Ah, Cthulhu is a ‘nameless’ creature frm another dimension envisioned in H P Lovecraft’s weird tales …
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Ah, a nameless creature with a name? Great stuff. Some time I wil read Lovecraft … Thanks for that 🙂
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Almost made it, but not in time. I like the mystery of this piece.
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Well, you never know. Whatever ate them might spit them back out again! Weirder things have happened 🙂 Thanks for reading
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Oo, chilling! Nice touch to have him think he’s got the oar and start to say something positive right before the attack comes in earnest. Looks like that really was a bad idea, after all!
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It’s a movie trope, isn’t it? Put your characters in danger, save them, fool the viewer into thinking they’re ok – then have an axe murderer cut them down. Saw a similar technique in The Walking Dead just last night. Nothing new under the sun, eh?
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I don’t often see it in short fiction though, and in any case, it’s effective in both!
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Glad you think so – thanks Joy 🙂
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Dramatic action captured in a split second between the calm. Nicely done.
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Thank you, Iain. they knew what they were doing, I just wonder if they can survive … Thanks for reading
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Wonderful story Lynn! Seems the waters have taken Con into their deep mysteries. Leaves our imaginations wide open.
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Thanks Joy – yes I wonder if they’ll survive. You never know 🙂
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My! I wonder what happened between those last two sentences? Great suspense and well written.
Ellespeth
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Thanks Ellespeth. I think a lot happened – possibly brief and painful, but you never know. Perhaps the next scene would be a cheerier one 🙂
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