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Write about a pirate captain obsessed with finding a mythical treasure.

Posted in Adventure on May 8, 2021

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✍️ 144 stories

A Pirate's Life For Me

Submitted to Contest #67

Here are some things that are said by, and about, alcoholics. Mostly these come from famous men celebrated for their genius and their drunkenness. Others I learned during my years of AA meetings. 1) First you take a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes you; 2) As an alcoholic, you will violate your standards quicker than you can lower them; 3) Work the program. Hang in. Keep coming. Believe that a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity.And here are some things that are said by, and about, pirates. 1) Yo ho...

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The Jewel of Calla

Submitted to Contest #67

Layth stared down at his brown feet, covered in grime and dirt from hours of labor. Blisters had begun to form on the soles of them, bringing unbearable pain along with him everywhere he walked. His shoes had been lost in the last hopeless expedition to Pawley's Island. Those shoes were his favorite, gifted to him by his mother before he was captured. They had leather laces that he tied in a double knot every time he wore them. If you looked closely at the rubber sole of the shoe, you could see an inscription of some code. Layth had no idea ...

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Miss Fitzhugh’s Dilemma

Submitted to Contest #67

As was her custom of the last two weeks, Miss Fitzhugh knocked at the door of the ship’s captain after she’d partaken of her evening meal, and as was his custom, he’d grunted, “Enter.” Letting herself in, she saw him there at his table, studying laboriously over maps, and papers, and a well-worn journal, and not noticing her at all. Hadn’t she put on her pearl pink dress just for him? Hadn’t she neatly arranged her copper tresses, added a little color to corner of her jade green eyes, and dabbed extra scent at her neck, just so he’d like h...

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Chasing Dreams

Submitted to Contest #67

Outside my window, a whale swims past, feeding off dust and starlight. There was a time when seeing something like that, so massive and so old, would have instilled me with wonder and awe, but whales are common enough these days (thanks to the efforts of environmentalists) that they no longer take my breath away, although not much does now.I glance down at my map, tracing my finger over the path I've drawn for myself through the constellations.We're so close.Behind me, the rest of the crew does their tasks - Jai with the sails, Coriel steeri...

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The Plunder of the Viragos

Submitted to Contest #67

They said in the Aegean Sea lay Virago, an isle fair. Near the Dodecanese Islands, they said the Viragos descended from the Amazons, wounded warrior women settling farther southwest, away from the beasts of Crimea. Yet most importantly to Captain Wolcott “Plank Walker” Spaulding, they said the Viragos were the Keepers of Treasure Lost. A bounty was said to be on Virago, including armor, shields, helmets and gauntlets from ages past, hammered from the purest Ionian gold. Tales were told of silver axes, heavy broadswords, and jeweled daggers f...

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Ale Storm

Submitted to Contest #67

You see, to a pirate, a true pirate, only two things are important in life. First, he needs a sea-faring ship with a capable crew. A pirate without a ship cannot sail the eleven seas and is thus stuck on land. Those poor souls are known as bandits, a retired or aspiring form of a pirate. And second, which is even more important than the first - and can be used as a substitute for the first - is ale. And when I say ale, I actually mean every alcohol ever made; be it beer, rum, mead, gin, wine, bourbon, vodka, schnapps, various liquors and spi...

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The Greatest Treasure of All

Submitted to Contest #67

There were people who thought that Captain Nathaniel Falcon was out of his mind when he bequeathed his chip, the Dragon of the Seas, to his daughter Betsy. You just couldn't have a woman in charge of a ship. Oh, women could be in charge all right, and often the most fearsome pirate captain would admit that when his wife wielded the rolling pin he cowered in the corner like a jellyfish. But Captain Falcon had always been strange. To start with, he knew how to swim, and preferred the men on the Dragon of the Seas to be able to swim as well...

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The Hunt For Devil's Island

Submitted to Contest #67

The wall of water crashed down upon the bow of my faithful Man-O-War as if it were a punch thrown by Poseidon himself. The unforgiving winds bellowed with such force that even the veteran crewmates aboard the Annabelle Lee were left quivering in their rain-soaked boots as we navigated the Strait of Hades. We were an unwelcome presence in those unholy waters. The sudden appearance of that powerful storm had made that fact perfectly clear.  As the determined Mr. Fredricks, my trusted sailing master, fought against sea’s pul...

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A sail upon the seven seas

Submitted to Contest #67

One Eyed Jacque lowered her eye glass and smirked, a wicked grin that hinted at much mischief. She had spied the flag of His Majesty King Henrold, the compass that had been stolen from her would soon be hers again. “Yaaaarrrrr! Yahaaaaaaaarrrr!” she laughed, her piratical person reflected in the still sea. The glistening brine showing her long dark locks glistening and single eye shimmering like an emerald atop a precious pearl. As the wondrous wind brought the sky to life the dastardly seafarer weighed anchor, raised her canvas sail and fel...

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The Patron Saint of Pirates

Submitted to Contest #67

The cannon head swiveled, groaning as its gaping mouth lowered itself to Émilien’s face. The gnarled ropes dug into the underside of his ribs as he shifted on the mast, his husk sandals sliding over the damp deck.The Captain slapped the top of the cannon affectionately. Her tricorn hat sat at a jaunty angle, and the Screaming Sword hung at her waist, silent. She turned to her prisoner, tracing the collar of her coal-colored vest.“Answer me this, stowaway,” she said, and Émilien tried in vain to sit up straighter. Her voice was liqu...

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Malediven Express

Submitted to Contest #67

Bound to Javahiru Rah, Malediven Express left Male’ at exactly nine on a Saturday morning of November. A thin silver line hemmed the cloudless neon-blue sky and the lazy deep blue. Frothy waves ebbed and flowed as the speedboat slammed the perfectly idle sea. Nature-trimmed palm and banyan trees on islands waved at the high-speed ocean toy. The three passengers of the speedboat were bound to Javahiru Rah which means Jewel Island, all with different reasons.Two hours after leaving the capital and exchanging names and pleasantries, Bogdan sat ...

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Captain S. Seldne

Submitted to Contest #67

Captain S. Seldne ordered his crew to stop in the offing and marched onto the deck, as he always did before solemnly addressing the crowd. The air had suddenly grown heavy, and Captain Seldne glowed at each of his “comrades,” as he liked to call them. The unabashed display of triumph before the triumph ever came. Those who had stayed with him were accustomed to this, however. The old seamen watched the captain amusedly, wondering how he would begin the tale this time. It was interesting, the way he rambled on about the Gatorade. The fog had...

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Captain Trowley's Treasure

Submitted to Contest #67

”Brace for impact!” Captain Trowley shouts at the top of his lungs. The giant, grey mass emerges from the water with a vile hissssss. It looks like a cross between a snake and a dragon if either had spent the last century away from sunlight.        The small wooden ship rocks as the creature opens its mouth to spew jets of water at us from the back of its throat. A few crewmates are knocked off of the deck and they don’t emerge back to the surface.        “Man th...

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A Quest Among Gnats

Submitted to Contest #67

Slap.Another gnat’s buzzing had ceased, though a swarm of them flitted to pick at each wanderer’s eyes. Shwick.Bruggs smeared the remains of the miniature corpse into his prickly, sweat-drenched jawline. Beside him, Jekkis swung his machete in a downward arc to clear an oversized leaf flung back at them by their leader’s progress.Both men eyed the slight woman five paces ahead. The mauve feather in her hat proudly waved atop a waterfall of curly black hair; a mask meant to coerce them to carelessness. It wasn’t the flintlock pistol at o...

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The Illusive Scroll

Submitted to Contest #67

“Come on lads! Put your backs into it!” I was getting tired of their lazy attitude. If they think this ship can steer itself then what the hell would I need them for?! My patience is wearing thin for them lot. I just need to get to my treasure. I have already wasted so much time trying to find this powerful scroll all because other pirates wanted to lead me on a jolly and send me in the wrong direction and after the wrong treasure. I don’t care about the Fountain of Youth or Cortés’ Treasure; those are for pirate plebs! I’m after the real ...

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