Drabble Challenge: 'Drift'
A double drabble written for the current challenge at Black Pearl Sails. Theme: 'Drift'.
~ Spindrift ~
He sat in a shadowed corner of the Black Dog Tavern, Port Royal, Jamaica, nursing his third grog.
The sidelong glances and furtive discussion had both diminished over the last two weeks. After the last hanging, he reckoned they’d cease entirely.
The last hanging. Jack Sparrow’s. Two mornings hence.
They tolerated him, but he was no longer one of them. He knew it. They knew it.
Oh, he still was, in fact, Brown’s apprentice. And his… regard for Miss Swann: that would never change, as long as he drew breath. But these facts that informed his life paled in the face of The Fact.
Pirate’s whelp.
He could hear him now…
Pirate is in your blood, boy, so you’ll have to square with that someday.
Jack.
Will drained his mug.
When he set it down again he was no longer alone.
“Gibbs!”
The man put a finger to his lips. “Hush, young Bootstrap.”
Will stiffened. “That… that’s not my name.”
“Is it not?”
Talk about a ‘sharp eye’…
“What do you want?” Will muttered.
Gibbs nodded. “I’ve a bit of a proposition for ye now, haven’t I?”
~.~
~ Spindrift ~
He sat in a shadowed corner of the Black Dog Tavern, Port Royal, Jamaica, nursing his third grog.
The sidelong glances and furtive discussion had both diminished over the last two weeks. After the last hanging, he reckoned they’d cease entirely.
The last hanging. Jack Sparrow’s. Two mornings hence.
They tolerated him, but he was no longer one of them. He knew it. They knew it.
Oh, he still was, in fact, Brown’s apprentice. And his… regard for Miss Swann: that would never change, as long as he drew breath. But these facts that informed his life paled in the face of The Fact.
Pirate’s whelp.
He could hear him now…
Pirate is in your blood, boy, so you’ll have to square with that someday.
Jack.
Will drained his mug.
When he set it down again he was no longer alone.
“Gibbs!”
The man put a finger to his lips. “Hush, young Bootstrap.”
Will stiffened. “That… that’s not my name.”
“Is it not?”
Talk about a ‘sharp eye’…
“What do you want?” Will muttered.
Gibbs nodded. “I’ve a bit of a proposition for ye now, haven’t I?”
~.~