LJ Idol 10: Week 1: I need the struggle to feel alive
A Pirate's Life for Me
I have this awful habit of jumping on sinking ships.
I end up as an eternal castaway. A diaspora of one; a nomadic lone wolf moving through life with all of my material wealth compacted into the space of a single steamer trunk that I grasp onto for dear life while trying to keep my head above water.
Marking the years by the beds/couches/corners I have slept in.
It’s a curse, I realized eventually, but the thing about this curse is I never know until it’s too late; until it’s time to plot a course through the storm.
I wear out my welcome and I mosey on down the road. Riding out on the very bridges they’d built to bring me in on, letting the fires burn infinitely in my wake.
I keep my eyes on the horizon and never look over my shoulder.
I learn I thrive under pressure and find the most peace in the days it comes down to my basic needs for survival. I keep a bug out bag and carry a water bottle wherever I go. Semper paratus*.
It’s all the same story and I live it over and over again until I am running out of money and vices.
I send out a distress signal.
I wake to 5am alarm clocks for eight hundred days; commuter busses and packed lunches. It begins to wear me down, like sea glass, dulling the senses. I’m squandering time and my own fullest potential.
I’m homesick for moments spent around campfires with guitars and complete strangers and for a time I burned through notebooks like forest fires; pouring whiskey on the ground. My heart beats a bluegrass ballad for the wind under the wheels and miles of Americana passing me by.
I cry out for mutiny.
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* Latin phrase, meaning "Always ready". It is used as the official motto of some organizations, such as the US Coast Guard.
AN: This was my attempt at trying to write "flash fiction" and is exactly 300 words. (Not including the title)
Edit: Here is the link to read all of the entries and vote for your favorites: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/953518.html