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I'm formally posting my "In". I had PMed you during my probe. Gotta get writing soon, the days creep by quicker than you think!
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Jul 2, 2021 00:28
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First one in? Perhaps I'm submitting too eagerly. But I worry I'll forget over the long weekend. An Evening at Papa's 976 words. The radio played at a quarter volume which filled the room with an ambience of groovy guitar. A few feet from the radio sat an old man, gently tapping his feet to the rhythm of the light percussion. One of his hands sat idly on his lap, the other he reached blindly with to find his dog. The dog’s ears perked up at the sight of the groping hand. She moved her head forward into the man’s palm, helping him find its intended target. “You know, Arturo. I think I saw these fellas live once.” His eyes remained straight on, focusing on nothing in particular. A middle aged woman sat on a couch several feet from the old man, her eyes darted over to the dog and then to the old man. “Papa!” The woman shouted. “Arturo has been dead since I was a teenager. That’s Maria!” “Hmm…” The old man replied. He sucked his lips into his toothless mouth and nodded his head weakly. “Yes, of course sweetie. How could I forget?” He turned his attention directly to the dog. His hands began to gently scratch what little bit of hair the dog had atop her head, which resembled a small Mohawk. “Maria is a good little lady.” His face filled with a toothless grin. “Err… How long have we had Maria now?” The daughter let out a heavy sigh. “We got Maria 8 years ago. She keeps you company when I can’t be around.” She turned her attention back to her phone; she was very clearly not engaged in the company or music around her. The old man wrinkled his forehead, a very deep line running down the center; somehow the most prominent of the hundreds of wrinkles worn into his face. “Poor Maria isn’t just here for company. We have you and Isabel for that.” He retorted. The woman looked up from her phone with a clearly defeated look on her face. “Papa! Mama has been dead for 8 years.” She shook her head. The old man protested back, looking very upset. “Isabel is not dead!” His frail hand balled into a fist and slammed down meekly onto the arm of his chair. “We both saw her at hospital just a few nights ago. She was doing better. Why would say such things, Sofia?” He turned his head to face his daughter directly, his eyes looking to hers in obvious desperation. The dog beside him let out a small whimper in reaction to the sudden change in his demeanor. “Don’t you remember the funeral, Papa?” She replied with measured nonchalance to his accusations, this was not the first time this has happened. The old man’s scowl faded into an expression of cold realization. “Oh, Sofia.” He paused and sucked his lips into his mouth again. “It is true, I am sorry. You know I forget a lot lately.” His hand lazily fell back to the dog, his eyes followed. “Poor Maria. I’m sorry I scared you.” The dog looked content and reassured from the renewed petting, her mouth opened to let her tongue fall out. The man’s attention returned to the radio the song had changed, but it was still the comforting, old Cumbia he seemed to always have playing. This new tune was less groovy and more reminiscent of a nice day at the beach. “Anyway, as I was saying…” He continued a sentence long left behind. “I saw these fellas live once. I think me and your mother had just married. We were in Lima, the city was so much smaller back then.” He began to nod his head again gently to the rhythm. Sofia interrupted briefly. “We are in Lima now, Papa. But yes, the city was smaller then.” She gave an affirming nod. “We’re in Lima? Well that’s something!” He let out a small chuckle. “Well, back when I was a young man going to Lima was a real treat. I remember Mama had warned me how dangerous it was.” He laughed again, before he had even told his anecdote. “Well, that just made me and Isabel want to go that much more. Maybe Mama wasn’t too wrong though we we’re at the show for maybe half an hour before-“ The dog gave a sudden jerk up to her feet and let out several loud, alarming barks. Sofia looked around the room wearily, she saw nothing. “Maria! Maria!” She shouted. “Hush now, you’ll upset the neighbors.” The dog quickly quieted down. “Right.” The old man resumed. “We had been there maybe half an hour before some city boy there I think took us for an easy mark. He was accosting Isabel, kept grabbing her by the arm. She wasn’t interested of course.” The story paused for a brief moment. The man started to idly play with the lent of the blanket he had wrapped his legs in. “Well, when I gave him a piece of mind and told him where I thought he should go. Well, he didn’t like that.” The old man began to laugh well beyond what seemed appropriate for the story. He laughed so hard, in fact, that he had to stop for a few hacking coughs. “Well.” The old man finally continued. “This idiot raises his fists like a tough guy. Like he was going to take me down. He got one cheap punch in on my nose, didn’t even get it bloody. Well, let me tell you, farmer boys might not be the smartest, but all that hard work definitely made me strong as an ox. A couple good jabs and he was on the floor begging me to stop…” The old man went silent for several seconds as the song changed again. He craned his head over to the dog beside him. “Oh, Benito. You know, I used to work building schools!”
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Jul 2, 2021 19:40
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I didn't put my flash rule in my post and now if I do it will count as an edit.  Prompt Puppy: https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/peruvian-inca-orchid/ Zurtilik fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Jul 5, 2021 |
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Jul 4, 2021 23:45
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There's a few I haven't read still. But wooo! I'm ready for another one. Got the dust off the old writing brain, even if it wasn't a great little story. Thanks for keeping this cool thing going, goons.
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Jul 6, 2021 02:04
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In. Please give me a bird.
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Jul 6, 2021 09:08
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Rebecks’ Gift ~1177 words. Flash Rule:  Rebecks was in love. He was also too much of a romantic for his own good. The big goof really sealed the deal this time by promising something he had no business promising: the fabled Silver Leaf. “It’s like they say, Sky. No mate has ever turned down the silver leaf. It’s the one sure shot I have of winning over Girdie.” Rebecks said to me with far more enthusiasm than he had any right to have. Girdie was the hen of Rebecks’ desire and always had been. Girdie’s mutual feelings remained apparent to everyone who wasn’t Rebecks. He was sure that her heart and nest was destined for another mate and no could tell him otherwise. “Rebecks, I think a nice Allamanda will do. Less of a trip, less risk. Hens love them.” I protested as a last-ditch effort. We were already well on our way to The Thicket and there was no getting out of this if I knew Rebecks’ determination. “You know how I feel, Sky. If you don’t want to come along you don’t have to.” Rebecks told me without even glancing over. No chance, Rebecks and I are friends to the end, even if that end might be stupid. It was not long before we arrived at The Thicket. It was aptly named; a mess of vines, trees and brush covered in the meanest looking thorns and brambles I’ve ever seen or heard tale of. It was in the heart of The Thicket that the Silver Leaf bush was said to grow. The ‘silver leaves’ of it were said to be unparalleled in their luster and they were known to sheen with a soft, silver glow in the light of the sun. The tradition states no hen could resist a courtship offer of the Silver Leaf and its status as a nesting symbol was unmatched, all would know the derring-do of the Cock of the Nest. The first and most apparent issue of Rebecks’ plan was that Rebecks was the largest bird of the roost. Rebecks was found as a hatchling and generously adopted and raised as our own. None of the elders at the time could’ve predicted the way in which Rebeck would grow to tower over them manifold. He could be quite the formidable figure, but he was also a noted pushover. On the other wing, I was the smallest adult of the roost. This was just by nature’s determination; I was no outsider. Rebecks surveyed the Thicket for a time. “I’m certain that my heart will carry me true!” He declared to break the silence. I thought to myself there was no chance, this fool was going to get caught in the thorns before he gets a wing in. “Sky, you stay here and watch, in case I need help.” Rebecks stated as he already began to trail off towards an opening he appeared to have located. Rebecks and I became friends when we were barely older than hatchlings. I have always been the smallest: be it of the nest, the flock, or the roost. This resulted in people believing they always had pecking order above me and thus led to many bouts. Some might describe me as reckless, but I do what I have to do to establish my presence. My right to exist! My day dreaming was broken several moments later by a shriek. My feathers stood on end! Rebecks was already in trouble. I jolted towards the opening that Rebecks had disappeared into, the path began to narrow quickly becoming more thorns and brush than branch and vine. I heard some weak chirping as I continued on the cleared path. “Rebecks! I am coming!” I shouted ahead. The path had narrowed to the point where the thorns and jagged, broken brush began to touch my head. I was able to duck without issue, but how had Rebecks even made it this far? It was just then that I finally spotted my friend ahead. He was thrashing helplessly. As I had predicted he had gotten trapped in the tangles of The Thicket. Bits of feathers were tossed about, and the thorns appeared to have dug into him in a couple places. “Rebecks, you idiot. Quit moving, you’ll only make it worse.” His attention turned to me now, my voice must’ve calmed him. “Skymir!” He shouted with an unusually helpless tone in his voice. “You were right, this was an awful idea.” “Rebecks, not now.” I replied in protest. I had no desire to see my friend yield so easily. “I’ll get us out of this!” My attention immediately turned to the thorny branches and vines that had entrapped my pal. I set to work biting at the areas of the twigs and limbs not covered in barbs, I broke a few loose and freed one of Rebecks’ wings. I peeked up at Rebecks whose attention appeared to now rest on something else, he looked troubled. “SNAKE!” Rebecks shouted before I had time to even turn my head to see. There was no escape from this predator, this area was simply too thick to fly out of. For once in my life, fear had truly overtaken me. I had frozen still. My heart pounded. Rebecks flew into a fit, even with one wing still firmly stuck to the brambles and another one covered in hanging on bits of vine and loose barbs. He extended his beak out and stabbed at the serpent’s eye. It connected, the beast reared back. “You have to get it together, Sky. Get me loose if you can.” I regained my composure and scurried away before the scaly menace could do the same. Now to the other wing, I nipped at the plants that held my friend. The impulse to flee was strong, the fear flowed through me. I could not see what the snake might be doing as I pecked my friend free. I could only trust that Rebecks could muster the strength to protect us both! I finally did it, the last bit holding Rebecks back was broken and he moved forward without hesitation towards our predator. I’d not seen such courage in Rebecks since the day we met. The last time he had saved my life! Now we were both fighting for each other. The melee ended as fast as it seemed to start with Rebecks savagely removing the beast’s eyes and sending it slithering off. Rebecks insisted that he stand guard now and I complied and scouted forward. The legends were true and the Silver Leaf did lie in the heart of the The Thicket. I had returned with it in beak, thankful to see my friend Rebecks. “They’ll never believe a word of this in the roost.” I muttered as I passed him the object of our quest. “We only need Girdie to believe, Sky.” He stated as he retrieved the leaf from me. “We make a good team.” I replied back. We began to make our way out of The Thicket. As I had said. We were friends to the end!
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Jul 12, 2021 01:07
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Never done a mystery. They intimidate me. Give me a word! ...please. 
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Jul 13, 2021 12:59
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Actually I'm going to be a reckless fool and  Two more, please!
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Jul 13, 2021 13:07
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rohan posted:ROBBERY and MAGICAL 
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Jul 13, 2021 14:53
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If you're a good sport though you'll have to toxx when you come back for another story if you do miss!
Zurtilik fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Jul 13, 2021 |
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Jul 13, 2021 16:10
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2000 words! Hot dog. Is that a boon or enough rope to ruin it all?!
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Jul 14, 2021 01:38
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I've set a random personal rule that I wouldn't judge until at least 5 submissions. But some day!
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Jul 15, 2021 01:21
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Beyond the Vault - 1496 words - Prompt Words: Vintage, Robbery, Magical The plan had gone off without a hitch. I made my way to the cellar just as my contact had instructed me to. There was no one in the house… The mansion. Hell, the cellar alone was bigger than any place I had ever lived. This contact of mine, he wanted me to steal some wine. I’d grabbed the handful of ‘special vintages’ he had specifically requested. My contact had told me that wine was too heavy and fragile to “go grabbing and stuffing in a sack all willy-nilly like they were little precious trinkets.” He was an eccentric man, my contact, he kept telling me to keep to the wine and to be careful of everything else there. “The man you’re robbing, he’s an odd and dangerous one. Just grab what I’ve asked and get out.” As far as I’d seen that was fine with me anyway. For a house so fancy it was pretty light on anything worth grabbing. The cellar was designed like a maze, it felt like. The racks of barrels and bottles rose from floor to ceiling and the lighting was faint. Most everything had a solid layer of dust covering it up, a few bottles here and there were missing but otherwise it looked as if the man never even came down here. I’d found most of what I needed, just a couple more bottles and I’d be home free! I rounded a rack and it was a dead-end. End of the line, I guess. I eyed over all the different bottles, god it was cold down here… A couple more minutes and I found the last ones I needed. It was then out of the corner of my eye I noticed something I had somehow missed on my first look at the dead-end wall. It was a vault door, which looked old in style and yet looked remarkably new and maintained. Unlike the rest of the contents of this cellar, this door was clean. Hell, it looked polished… I got closer and looked it over. This thing was solid, real solid. No way I was going to simply break it down. For all my confidence, I was no yeggman. A simple house safe, maybe I could crack it. But this was well out of my league. The owner was not here though, that’s what I was told. So there was no intimidating them into giving me a combination. I was told wrong though, it seems, for the second I rounded the corner of that last rack again I saw a figure standing there. An old man… No, old was an understatement. This guy was ancient; it looked like a strong gust could push him down. He moved forward a weak step, no wonder I didn’t even hear him. “Young man…” He faintly muttered. “I’m sad to see someone stealing from such an old man, but perhaps I cannot blame you. It’s not as if I could drink all this wine.” He couldn’t see my face. I was masked. But I’m sure it didn’t take a genius to look at my stance and my body to guess I was a ‘young man’. “I won’t stop you, you know. But I see you. Eyeing my safe...” His eyes glanced to the right of me and over to the immaculate vault door. Yeah, I was eyeing it. This house was a bust outside of some weird sommelier’s lust for old wine. Most clients I served I could make a little side change, some jewelry or electronics maybe. This decrepit big shot here though, with his giant house, he lived like a pauper beyond this cellar… and that vault door. I finally responded to him, I altered my voice some, keeping it low and intimidating. “Yes, the vault. What’s the combination?” I asked him outright. Surely, this withered raisin of a man wasn’t going to put up much resistant. Hell, he didn’t even have a gun or anything. The old man shook his head. “Why… Why do you care? You’ve got more than you could want here, in this cellar. You’ve got plenty already in your hands, More than enough.” This old fart wanted to act tough. I grabbed him by his shirt and shouted. “Look here you old bastard, I’m not leaving here without that combination.” I raised my fist to threaten. Part of my mind wondered if he had called the cops, if he was simply stalling for time. The old man paused a moment and replied again finally. “You’re so desperate to get even more? So desperate you’d strike an old man who can barely even walk?” He asked his eyes staring into mine, as if he could guilt me into changing my mind. “The things behind there… They’re not worth it I assure you.” I laughed. “People don’t tend to keep nothing behind a vault like that. You use it too, I can tell. It’s the only thing down here not forgotten about.” I hefted him across the floor closer to the vault. He made a loud thud and let out a terrible groan of pain in response. I had worried I might’ve overdone it, but he slowly stood back up. That shriveled centenarian was tougher than he looked. “If it is that important…” He walked a few labored steps towards the safe and punched in a combination. I was close behind him and once he finished it, I turned the handle and it opened without an issue. This is where he hid everything for sure. This was no bust. Inside were jewels, gold, trinkets and antiques that I couldn’t even begin to imagine the value of. If you had told me the Holy Grail was in there I wouldn’t have doubted you. This dude was loaded. I’d need to find a better fence when this was over, this was definitely beyond my usual fare. I dragged the old man with me, I didn’t want to risk him closing the door or pulling some sort of trick. Plus if the cops did actually show up maybe I could use him. I scooped handfuls of the loot into pockets, my bags. I looked like a walking stereotype, slinging a fat Santa like sack over my shoulder. The whole time the old man just sort of watched with grave disappointment. The cops never showed, I started to walk away and the old man never raised a finger… ___________________________________________________________________ The next morning I woke up early and decided to celebrate my major score by dipping into one of the extra bottles I had nabbed last night. I had worked my way through half the bottle when I heard an unexpected tapping at my door. “Go away!” I replied. The tapping stopped for a moment but then I heard the sound of someone jiggling my door knob. I grabbed a nearby knife and creeped my way to my door. The jiggling had stopped, but I didn’t like this one bit. I gave a look through the peep hole and then gasped at who I saw on the other side. It was the old man from last night and it appeared as if he was fumbling with something in his hands. “Son of a bitch.” I muttered to myself. How did this old bastard even find me? What did he plan to even do? Were the cops coming too? Before I had much time to think the matter I heard the sound of my door knob turning. I’m not sure how he had unlocked my door, but I wasn’t about to let some old man shake me down. I took a step back and prepared to lunge at this bastard if he walked a step closer. Then it happened, he opened the door and walked in as if he had nothing to fear. I pounced on the old man and prepared to thrust the knife into his ancient, dusty heart if I had to. “How the hell did you find me, you old gently caress!?” I shouted at him, with the knife still raised. He offered no reply and merely squinted his eyes at me. It was then I felt the most horrible pain in my life fill my entire body. I dropped the knife and fell to the floor. I writhed and screamed, it felt as if my insides were melting. “I told you the things inside weren’t worth it. But you types never listen.” He said with more force and life than he had ever shown the night before. He walked over me, there was nothing I could do. It was barely able to even concentrate on him as I struggled. The old man let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the wine bottle on my table. “A waste of a good vintage too.” He walked off into the next room and left me behind. It was only a few moments later that the world turned dark and the pain overtook me…
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Jul 19, 2021 01:30
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I'm in! Hit me with a rad tune, please.
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Jul 20, 2021 11:18
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In. and uhhhh , I guess. I ended up not submitting last time I entered.
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Aug 11, 2021 18:38
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Starting Line: When I was a boy, I was fond of the story of the pirate god. Another Treasure Hunt 1200 words. When I was a boy, I was fond of the story of the pirate god. He is said to have been a fearless and benevolent figure who gladly shared the wealth of his finds and plunder with the poorer folk of these Red Islands. He was said to be a mortal like us who was chosen by the Gods one day and ascended to join them at the Eternal Throne. Never to be seen by man again! The Pirate God's day of ascension was celebrated with many festivities. As a child, my favorite was when parents would plan and hide caches of treats to be found by teams of children in the style of mock treasure hunts. Beyond all the fun, it was ultimately an exercise in teamwork and gumption! Some kids would view it as their chance to grow rich on candy and toys, while others would make it a day of camaraderie, sharing the loot generously amongst their crew. I was always one to believe in the latter, and it was a philosophy I took with me into my own years as a Captain. ------ We came into ownership of a map after swindling it off some haughty Islanian treasure hunter types, looking to claim the riches of the Red Isles for themselves. We’ve come up empty as much as richer off such maps, but I had a good feeling about this one. It appears to be from the Great Age of Sailors, and if the map is true then the treasure will be unlike any we’ve encountered before! ------ “Captain, this island, the heat is unbearable!” My navigator Keipy shouted. I couldn’t disagree, we were on foot a mere two hours out and I could already feel the weight of the heat becoming too much. There wasn’t much to be done about the humidity, but we could at least shield away from the sun for a while. “Make way to the canopy.” I ordered, pointing towards the clump of trees not far from us. "First we nearly get crushed by the storm last night. Now this island is trying to cook us alive!" Shouted my first Mate, Odenis. "Aye, but we've been through worse before. Besides, it was Lumbus' work that got us through that storm. Feels like she broke drat near her whole body trying to keep us afloat. We cannot make her efforts for naught." I replied with a littlest bit of humor I could manage in this heat. We sat for a short while longer, catching our breath, but not getting much cooler. I think I may have given the sun too much credit for the heat. The humidity didn't respect the shade. “I think this is as much of a break as we’re going to manage on this godforsaken isle! One thing we seemed to agree on is that we needed to get to the center of this miserable, little hellhole before we can really begin the hunt. So waiting around here isn’t going to do us much good.” I continued on with my walk, knowing the crew would follow without complaint. Another hour of misery and finally we felt confident we had found our starting point. ‘At the heart of the land, where the wilds grow thickest’ began the map’s riddle. This seemed clear enough. I’d imagined we would find a miserable tangle of trees somewhere in the center of this island and so far that proved to be true. We set up a makeshift camp at the best of a clearing we could find. The heat had worn some of my men to the limit. "You all should rest as best you can for now. Odenis, I and Keipy will scout ahead." Keipy was best at making heads or tales of these sorts of maps. So we three went forward into 'where the wilds grew thickest'. -------- The map itself seemed understandable enough to Keipy and we found our way to the mouth of a worn dug out. "Doesn't look like nature's work, does it?" Keipy noted to us. "I just hope this hole is how it should be and not the work of someone who came before us! Suppose we best get a bit digging in…" he trailed off as he rolled the map up and into his pocket. His other hand gripped the shovel he brought with him. We all got to work quickly. Not much time passed and the work was near unbearable. "Perhaps we should come back with the men." Odenis suggested. "I'd hate to get the whole crew out if this isn't where we need to be" I replied, my eyes still on the hole we had begun to dug. My attention however was quickly pulled away by a yelp from Keipy. He was suddenly out of view, swallowed by the Earth as his shovel found a sink hole. A thud followed, then a terrible groan of pain. "Keipy!" I approached the hole with caution, not certain if the ground would give way further. Keipy called back, his voice in pain. "Captain… I think this is it." I signaled to Odenis to return for the crew. "Can you walk, Keipy?" I shouted back into the hole. "Not…" He let out another pained sound. "Not well. Though what I can see. It seems promising!" A smile creeper over me, a bit of good news finally. The crew finally arrived and we dug out the rest of what we soon realized to be an old stone structure. With great caution we worked our way to poor Keipy. Down there in the light of our torches I realized this was no simple hidden hoard. The stonework was caked in dust and dirt, it had been a long while since another soul last stepped foot here. Our long walk was finally ended as we sighted what appears to be a large metal trunk. I cleared a segment of the dust with my hand and the metal shone bright in the torch light. The very container seemed to be made of gold. "Yah!" The crew shouted in excitement. Our first real sign of booty! We pried open the Golden coffer… or perhaps I should've said coffin. Inside we found merely the skeleton of some old wretched soul. I scanned the corpse slowly. Not even a gold tooth to pocket. As all hope was beginning to flee a small icon caught my eye. The age of this structure and the symbol could be no coincidence. This was the mark of The Pirate God himself. Had he been no myth? "Egads!" Odenis exclaimed. "Surely you know what that four toothed skull means, Captain!" I nodded back. Then Odenis reached out, his hand grabbing at the small metal ring on the boney hand. "Odenis, we cannot loot such a thing! Bust of a hunt or no-" It was as I spoke that the back wall of the tomb began to shake and creak. The torch light caught the glimmer of metal: gold, silver. Then the dancing color of a rainbow of gems. "God is good, they say!" I exclaimed. "God is good!" The crew shouted back. I suppose even the Pirate God's generosity extends beyond the grave.
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Aug 16, 2021 02:08
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In.
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Aug 18, 2021 02:16
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Me waking up and realizing I never sent a story:
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Aug 23, 2021 13:04
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I'm in. and for my inexcusable former absence!Edit: Also, welcome to 30! It doesn't really feel that different from 29. Zurtilik fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Aug 24, 2021 |
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Aug 24, 2021 14:41
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| # ¿ Jan 22, 2026 16:03 |
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Sign me up!
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Nov 10, 2021 11:57
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