Beginning of a pirate story
“I looked out over the hill. Nothing was there. Nothing after nothing after nothing. No-one behind me, no-one before me, just me. I didn’t feel lonely anymore - I was past that. What I felt now was the entirety of what stood ahead of me - the very same nothing. To be honest, I didn’t expect it to be so easy. “Someone will stop me” I told myself. “It’ll never work.” Here I was, though, and it was working perfectly. All I had to do was jump. Jump for the sky, jump for the ground, jump for the life to come. When it came down to it, though, I couldn’t do it. I could think it, of course, but I couldn’t force my feet to act, my legs to bend, my body to propel itself over. “Jump, damn it!” I thought to myself again, but still no luck. All this planning, all this pushing, and I couldn’t even die. The one power I had left in my life, and even that was taken away from me. I went up to that hill a lonely old man. I left as something much worse - a coward.
Well, that’s what I told myself, anyway. Couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I wasn’t really the one who was running away. He was afraid of me. He was the coward, not me. So many people fear death, but have you met another man who death feared? I’m the only one. I guess I’m special, and that’s why you should be pouring me a complimentary drink right about now.”
As old Bill Riley finished his tale, Thomas MacCabe, barely 14, poured him another glass of the brown poison. As he poured, he started his questions.
“So, why does death fear you?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I was coming to kill him. It was revenge, plain and simple.”
“Revenge for what?”
“You are full of questions, ain’t you Tommy? Good, never lose that. Revenge for taking my Lizzie. Do you remember her?”
The boy just shook his pint-sized head.
“Oh, she was a sight. Pretty as the day is long, with eyes that could melt stone or freeze fire, depending. She loved me, she did. Hurt like hell when death came and got her. That was two years ago, now. I still feel a little sad looking at her chair. Probably ought to get rid of it, but I don’t really have the heart… Where was I, anyway?”
“You were getting revenge on death” Thomas reminded the man reluctantly, as he still wanted to know more about Lizzie.
Riley took another long hard drink of the fine malt beverage so graciously placed before him. He was a haggard man, covered with battle scars, tattoos, and all the requisite markings of any pirate on good standing. He even missing hand, though he’d not gone the cliché route of a hook; instead, he just used the stub to point, wipe his beard, and wave about as he narrated his tales. He went on.
“Right, death. Well, after a few weeks of grieving, I decided that I’d challenge death. He had something of mine, so I’d take something of his. The thing about death is he cannot die. I mean, he’s already death, isn’t he? No, the only way to kill death was to make him live, so that’s exactly what I meant to do, just as soon as I could die myself.”
“Don’t believe a word that weary sea-feller says,” Mrs. MacCabe called out across the bar. “He’s drunk, and out of his mind, Thomas. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
But Bill Riley was right about something. Death was afraid of him, though not because of any cheap revenge. Death feared Bill Riley for something much more grim and terrifying.
Well, that’s what I told myself, anyway. Couldn’t have been farther from the truth. I wasn’t really the one who was running away. He was afraid of me. He was the coward, not me. So many people fear death, but have you met another man who death feared? I’m the only one. I guess I’m special, and that’s why you should be pouring me a complimentary drink right about now.”
As old Bill Riley finished his tale, Thomas MacCabe, barely 14, poured him another glass of the brown poison. As he poured, he started his questions.
“So, why does death fear you?”
“Didn’t I tell you? I was coming to kill him. It was revenge, plain and simple.”
“Revenge for what?”
“You are full of questions, ain’t you Tommy? Good, never lose that. Revenge for taking my Lizzie. Do you remember her?”
The boy just shook his pint-sized head.
“Oh, she was a sight. Pretty as the day is long, with eyes that could melt stone or freeze fire, depending. She loved me, she did. Hurt like hell when death came and got her. That was two years ago, now. I still feel a little sad looking at her chair. Probably ought to get rid of it, but I don’t really have the heart… Where was I, anyway?”
“You were getting revenge on death” Thomas reminded the man reluctantly, as he still wanted to know more about Lizzie.
Riley took another long hard drink of the fine malt beverage so graciously placed before him. He was a haggard man, covered with battle scars, tattoos, and all the requisite markings of any pirate on good standing. He even missing hand, though he’d not gone the cliché route of a hook; instead, he just used the stub to point, wipe his beard, and wave about as he narrated his tales. He went on.
“Right, death. Well, after a few weeks of grieving, I decided that I’d challenge death. He had something of mine, so I’d take something of his. The thing about death is he cannot die. I mean, he’s already death, isn’t he? No, the only way to kill death was to make him live, so that’s exactly what I meant to do, just as soon as I could die myself.”
“Don’t believe a word that weary sea-feller says,” Mrs. MacCabe called out across the bar. “He’s drunk, and out of his mind, Thomas. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
But Bill Riley was right about something. Death was afraid of him, though not because of any cheap revenge. Death feared Bill Riley for something much more grim and terrifying.