Dragon

Thank you again to to giraffe for picking my story in the last one. I was finally able to do one about a falcon, which I've been trying to do for ages. Anyways, on to the new list. Can't wait to see what you guys come up with.


Ocean
Net
Tackle
Fish
Catch
Ship
Gulf
Shore
Bait
Lure

I'll make the word count 285 no more, no less. I'll pick the next torch-bearer sometime on Thurs Oct 22.

giraffe

I'm thinking "lure, bait and net stockings". I'll try it in a few days.

mouse

Dragon Congrats
Interesting choice of words. I'm thinking too. Hope to come up with an idea in a day or two.

Doug

Dragon: Congrats on being the torchbearer. Quite a nautical theme, but maybe I can come up with something different. Going to give it a try.

Doug

Dragon: This had to be the hardest "epic" I've ever written. I was up to close to a 500 word count and had to pare it down to 285? I was just going to enter it as is, but with very intense editing over and over again I finally got 285 including the title. I give you...

The Dragon Tale

This was not just an ocean cruise for these blood pirates who plunder and then revel in their treasure drinking and dancing on the remains of the natives they kill.

Captain Jack was set to tackle this island and lure whatever guardians there may be letting them suffer death worse than fish bait stuck on a harpoon!

Stealthily they hit the shore engaging the terrain like a ship slipping through the gulf stream. They only stopped at the blinding darkness of an immense woodland. It looked like a tightly woven net that would ensnare them forever until they expired.

Jack was a cagey one. As he lingered at the edge of the engulfing tree line he heard a low guttural sound coming from not too far into the woods. His shipmates had no clue what they faced and began to march into the shallow part of the woods.

Jack hung back a few steps behind the others and his deck boy was the first to disappear into the darkness of the forest. The sound was deafening. It was a roar that had them scattering except for Captain Jack. His sights were set on the ruins of the castle and the treasure they would catch.

One by one his fellow plunderers disappeared as the deafening sound rang out again and again. Jack kept his one good ear close to the ground as he slinked around the edge of the woods. His soldiers died horrible deaths at the hand of a dragon who guarded the castle.

As the dragon engulfed the last of Captain Jacks shipmates, Jack dropped down from a tall tree and harpooned the dragon in the head.

Jack had his treasure.

marg

http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=64480

awesome story, Doug !

Doug

Marg: Thanks for the pic post. I fell in love with your pirate the moment I saw it. Its Captain Jack in the flesh!

marg

you're welcome, Doug.. but now you've got me thinking about a ThinkWrite submission, too - and I haven't actually done one since Ron started all this !

mouse

Doug-- I love Pirate tales .This was fantastic

mouse

I agree with Doug, the hardest part is keeping to the word count. Here is my humble tale. 285 words not counting title.

The Detective

It was a once in a life time vacation. A cruise aboard a luxurious ocean liner. I was anxious to bask in the sun near the Gulf Shore. This was no fishing boat with its smelly bait and barbed lures. This ship was a wonder, a small floating city. My room had a large comfortable bed and a flat screen T.V. In the bathroom was net hanging in one corner filled with sea shells. There was also a balcony complete with lounge chairs.

But, there is catch to this trip, I am an undercover detective for the cruise line, I am here to watch the staff for unusual activity. High on the list of activities given me to look for are: theft and contraband. I had also been given a list of suspects. Margo in the beauty salon, Eric in the gift shop and Max, one of the stewards..

In order to catch a suspect I’d have to appear like an ordinary passenger. I’d need to tackle this problem in a logical way. What better way than shopping and eating. I shopped for summer clothes, shoes, gifts, jewelry and I ate fine meals (all at company expense). In order to watch Max, I would have him bring snacks to my cabin.

I could find no illegal activity for Margo. Eric, on the other hand, has a habit of giving incorrect change for cash transactions and pocketing the difference. If caught he would feign ignorance and correct the problem. Max, there was nothing to warrant further investigation.

At the end of the cruise I handed in my report and went home.

There was a message on my answering machine. Max has found us a nice apartment..

Dragon

Great stories guys. Doug, how much do I love that you got pirates and a dragon into the same story. Captain Jack may have a hard time sailing his ship after sacrificing all his matey's.
mouse, good tale, love the hint of corruption at the end. I used to work at a luggage shop in Vancouver and when the cruise ships came in the workers would come buy luggage from us. They always wanted something hardsided and knife-proof because appearantly theft runs rampant among the crew of cruise ships. Your story brought back memories!

mrozowski

First try at this. 285 words including the title.

Internet Romance

I’m single, but not desperate…yet. My sister dared me to register online for one of those internet dating sites. Of course, she knew I would take the bait. Next day I set myself to tackle those traits that I thought would lure my perfect catch. My profile was filled with promises of moonlit romance on the shore, a good sense of humor and an attractive appearance. I hit submit.

The next morning I woke to “You’ve got mail!”. Ah, I had lured some poor sucker, I thought. I logged on to the ‘net to see who had responded. The person did not have a picture on his site, but he looked like he could be fun from his profile. He was an oil rig crewman in the Gulf and was scheduled for shore leave in about two weeks. He was looking for someone to go to the lake with him and spend a day catching fish and drinking beer. Seemed like a nice quiet time to me and I really liked fried fish caught fresh the same day.

Two weeks later we were to meet for coffee and introduce ourselves. I waited and waited, but he didn’t show up. Well! I thought angrily to myself. I guess there’s more fish in the ocean.

My sister called to ask me how the internet dating was going. I complained that the one interesting person wasn’t man enough to show up. I thought she would be sympathetic, but she just laughed.

“I’m sorry, Sis, I couldn’t get off work to meet you, yesterday. Don’t worry, some day your ship will come in!.” She paused. “ I dare you to fall in love.”

Here we go again.

mouse

Mrozkowski
Good story. Sounds like something my sister would have done to me. LOL

mouse

sorry misspelled your name --mrozowski

mrozowski

Thanks mouse. Let's make this easy for everyone. How about Pegret instead of mrozowski? I grew up as Peggy and now I'm Margaret. Love reading all the ThinkWrite stories.

giraffe

OK. Disqualify this for word count. I just wanted to join in the fun.

It was an ocean of students on that first day - confused, lost, trying to orient ourselves and looking at the lures of Fraternity Rush. The pressure was on to find which group of folks you wanted to join in with for the next 4 years. The jocks were playing tackle football on the front lawn hoping you would be man enough to join in. The elite ones (who didn't have to even study) had their girls in fish-net stockings prancing around and hoping to catch another millionaire's son. I definitely didn't belong in that club.
I was basically trying to find my way to the dorm and figured I'd deal with all this fraternity bait tomorrow. Everything was so surreal and I felt like such a small crumb in a huge cracker. There was like a chasm or gulf between my mind and theirs. It just made me feel more lost.
Then I met Paul. He looked more lost than I felt. I could actually ask him if he needed some help orienting. So I did. He was an architecture major and (as I found out) wanted nothing to do with this nonsense. I had no interest in pop culture and niether did he. My major was engineering. I wanted to design the perfect ship.
Somewhere on that shore that was a gaping campus lawn, I made a life-long friend. Maybe individual understanding over-rides group mentality. Or maybe the frat boys understand each other better than us loners.

mouse

Giraffe-- Like the Frat story. And it is fun to write isn't it. ???

giraffe

I just wish I could write song lyrics. Seriously, like Joni or Tori or Dylan. That's always been my bane.

maddyjean08

Exactly 285 words!
I was out on the ocean, the salty sea air stinging my face. I had a feeling I'd catch something that would change my way of living. My net was at the ready. The red button. As soon as a touch that, the net would slowly be lowered down, into the deep, dark sepths of the mysterious ocean. I opened my tackle box. Looking around, I saw a man on a small motorboat bring in a giant halibut. The fish were sure biting. My ship started to sway. I fell to the floor. Then it hit me. We were going to capsize! I quickly got up and threw the anchor overboard. The ship stopped swaying. I turned back to see the gulf. It was no longer there. Dissapeared. The shore. The shore I may never see again. I looked through my bait. A jumbo nightcrawler. That will sure lure some big fish. Bigger than that guy's halibut. Casting my line, I saw a tail spalsh up from the water. My pole flew overboard. I heard the most beatiful singing I've ever heard in my life. A song sweet and gentle, and full of love. Just as soon as the singing had started, it stopped, and the sky turned sickly grey. The head of a beatiful girl poked up from the water. " You won't steal my heart, will you?", she asked. "What happens if I do?", I asked. "You'll have ten wishes, each to your very heart's desire", she told me. "Then maybe I will", I replied. She stared at me blankly. A sinister, unblinking stare. The sky grew darker and darker. The mermaid's skin started to tighten around her. She looked like a deathly afraid skeleton.

maddyjean08

My story scares me and I thought it up!