His fist hits the Captain's face with a satisfying thwack sound and the Captain falls back onto the deck, straight down on his ass with a loud crack against the floorboards. At the same time the parrot jumps off of the captain's shoulders and onto the Dorade Box, that fake out portal to Hell they'd both been threatening him with seconds earlier.

"Hey man," The parrot squawks, trembling with fear. "Just take it easy, dude…"

This makes him laugh out loud at the parrot. Then he takes one last look at the Captain sitting dumbly on the deck, turns to the railing and throws himself overboard.

The parrot's right to be afraid, he thinks just before hitting the water. I was aiming at him.

A few minutes later he reaches the floating duck and manages to find a ladder on it's side. After hauling himself up he stands at the entrance and sees a chalkboard next to the door. Above the chalkboard is a sign that reads: ANSWER CORRECT FOR YE TO ENTER.

And on the chalkboard is written a riddle:

Describe Wind

This is a palimpsest, he thinks, wondering at his newfound acuity for definitions. He considers a moment before picking up the chalk at the base of the board, erasing the request and writing his answer.

That cause which is only seen in it's effect.

---

Twenty First chapter in an ongoing serial based on @mariannewest's daily #freewrite writing prompts. Here are the previous chapters listed below:

Chapter One>Chapter Two

Chapter Three>Chapter Four

Chapter Five>Chapter Six

Chapter Seven>Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine>Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven>Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen>Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen>Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen>Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen>Chapter Twenty

And here is Chapter Twenty Two


Written in five minutes from the writing prompt, "palimpsest" and "describe wind" as part of the #freewrite exercise. Image is also by me. You can view the prompt here and check out the other entries; with our amazing technology these days, one story needn't be written over another; you can read them all in turn. Thanks to @mariannewest for creating and running this rushing funnel of gale force literature.

WEEK TWO OF THE "WRITE FROM MY MUSIC" CONTEST IS UP

Check out my new contest where you listen to an instrumental piece of music by yours truly, and then write your own story inspired by that piece. You can join the contest here.