WEEK 375
Ronnie stood on the deck, straining to see through the fog and hoping that...


...this truly was, pardon the pun, his ship coming in. He went, paid his tab at the bar, and lighting a cigarette, walked to the pier. As he was getting closer he couldn't help but reflect back on the happenings of the last couple of weeks. "If someone would have told me a month ago that I, Ronnie C. Dobs, would be waiting for a mysterious ship. Neck deep in intrigue, cloak and dagger typed, complete with a beautiful, exotic woman, stuff. Not to mention the dark foggy night." He muttered under his breath, exhaling a plume of bluish smoke that mixed with the fog almost instantly. He perked up as he saw the man he was to contact. As the man walked towards him, he never even saw the gun. The last conscious thought he had was, "What?" As the man rummaged through his pockets looking for the envelope he carried, only one thought was going through his mind. "The poor guy never even had a chance. Fool!"

by Antonio E. Villarreal, Franklin Park, IL

...his true love will come back to the sea. As he unfurls his black wings and flies off the ship to seek his love and fight for her. As he came to see her laying on a rock, suffering for him to come. He sees blood dripping down her arm, he flies to her quickly and she smiled weakly. He was sad, the pain of her arm and the pain of him worrying hurt, but he didn't care. He picked her up like a princess and flew back to the ship, he was the dark angel who wanted to be a nondark angel, she was a human, but they loved each other and it didn't matter whether they were different or not. The dark and beautiful end!

by Alixander Cherry, Shrewsbury, PA

...his younger brother was safe. Waves crashed upon the jagged rocks below the edge of the cliff. Ronnie felt the mist as it sprayed his face. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky and illuminated the cloud Ronnie was standing in. As the wind picked up he heard a horn in the distance. Ronnie looked over at the lighthouse and was relieved. The beacon was spinning and shining the bright light to the vessel. A second horn sounded. Ronnie started for the docks as fast he could. When the ship arrived, they were going to need all the help they could get to anchor and find shelter from the coming hurricane.

by Donald Stidham, Cleveland, TN

...the forces of nature would allow for the fog to lift before he left for the airport. As Ronnie raised his cup of coffee to his lips he heard his wife walk onto the deck.

"I knew this would happen to keep us from leaving," Joann Complained.

"Don't be negative," Ronnie added. "It will clear in time for us to make our flight."

"You say that whenever we try to leave this forsaken place," Joann retorted.

"You wanted to live on the lake," Ronnie reminded her.

It was said that anyone who lived on Lake Heartwell could never leave. They had moved in fourteen years ago depending on having supplies brought to them. Each time Ronnie tried to leave, a thick fog would roll in, making it impossible to see. Their dream home was a nightmare keeping them prisoners from civilization. The legend of Lake Heartwell lives on.

by Ranae Cherry, Shrewsbury, PA

...the pilot of the ship, high above in the wheelhouse, was having a easier time locating the signal from the Tarpon Point lighthouse.

"Why is it", Ronnie asked Tyler, "that the last leg of the trip, is always the hardest to deal with"?

"Because we just want to get home Ronnie. We can almost taste it, we want it so bad".

"Yeah, I can't wait to see Evie and..".

The horrible sound of the metal hull running aground on the Tarpon Point shoal, drowned out the rest of Ronnie's statement.

As the ship came to a full stop, now firmly trapped on the hidden shoal, the collision alarm was loudly sounding.

Regaining their feet after almost lurching overboard when the ship first struck the shoal, Tyler could barely hear Ronnie's voice over the clanging of the alarm, "Tarpon Point light, two points to starboard".

"Too late my friend, too late", Tyler replied, "it's going to be more than a couple of hours before we get home now"!

by Stewart Lindsay, Buffalo, NY