(6:26 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Hey there gentle reader. I'm back. Not sure I am ready to go but I am back.
Just in case it is a little confusing, I only just write up those little blurbs for the Abaco days. I truly didn't write a thing on those days in relation to this novel effort.
I was hanging low in Abaco for sure. Luckily, throught the magic of literary time travel, I was able to go back to those dates on the page and fill in those little nuggets for your benefit.
Good to see you again by the way. Sorry you had nothing to read for a few days. ~;-)
(6:56 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Another fantastic start to a day huh? And to think, with the four days of zero words, I have to cram eight thousand more words into the days ahead to catch up. Wow!
***
(7:02 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Fulcrum woke up and realised that he could not go on this wa any longer. He could not stay here in this house with this green eyed lady trying to live someone else's life. It just was not working for him. With all his faults, he still wanted to be himself and not someone else. Sure, he would like to become a better person. Ahhhh!! He started to shake. What kind of a thing was that for a pirate to want? Was that from inhabiting this other person's life?
He thought about it for a good while.
No. That was his own thought.
Over the past few days, he had noticed that he was starting to become this other person whose life he seemed to be living. Finding he had skills he never learned in his own life. That was disconcerting.
(7:41 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
***
And time is once again slipping away. What amazing stealth!
***
I was standing in the parking lot
Feeling like the boy that time forgot
Trying to be a man that I am not
Just standing in the parking lot
***
Fulcrum slipped out of the bed quietly without waking Sarah. He
grabbed his clothes off of the daybed and padded into the living room. He dressed in silence and then left by the front door saying a silent goodbye to Sarah.
He set off on the ankle express heading down to the docks at Potter's Cay.
(8:08 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
When he got to the docks, he began asking around trying to find a boat leaving for Harbour Island that would be willing to take him along.
It took him a while. Someone told him that he had missed the fast ferry. Finally he found a smack boat that was heading to Spanish Wells that was willing to take him on board and was leaving in a few hours. He thanked the captain and said that he would ask around some more to see if anyone was going all the way to Harbour Island but that he would be bake in time if not. The captain warned him not to be late as they would not wait for him.
"Sure thing captain. If I am not back, just leave without me. And thanks."
Fulcrum continued searching for a Briland bound boat but found none. He stopped at a stall and got himself an early conch salad as he was getting very hungry by now.
He continued asking around as he spooned the firey mixture of mollusk, bird and goat into his mouth, sweating and glowing all the while.
***
Fulcrum cut through from the western side of the causway to the eastern side under the old bridge and saw that the mate on the "Lady Love" was casting off the stern lines and the smack boat was slowly easing away from the causway. he broke into a run, calling out to the boat.
The mate noticed him and waved to him, "Hurry up man! We aren't waiting! This captain doesn't play."
Fulcrum increased his speed, getting close as the gap between the stern ond the concrete widened.
"Jump man! you can make it!"
Fulcrum jumped... He landed on the stern deck and rolled, ending up on his back, a net saving his skull from the hard planks.
***
(8:26 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
"Man, you cut it close. The captain warned you," laughed the mate, reaching down to help him up.
"Yeah, I know, I got caught short and had to make a stop. I think that conch salad may have been a bit too hot to put on an empty stomach."
"Man you like to live dangerous hey? You wouldn't catch me eating conch from this dock even if I was already dead. Things around this island are too polluted man."
"It really is dirty isn't it. Mind you, the town used to be way dirtier in the past but the harbour was not like this." said Fulcrum.
(8:33 am Mon Nov 17, 2008)
(3:34 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
It took a while but "Lady Love" finally made it to Spanish Wells after a rough time with Six Shilling Channel.
She tied up and the crew made her neat before the captain invited Fulcrum and the crew to lunch at one of the local snacking places.
They all got a table off to the right side and the captain ordered a round of conch salad for everyone. Fulcrum declined. Adamantly. Seems the morning excitement had scarred him.
"But Fulcrum, this salad we make up here is not like what they make down in Nassau. Our salad will not treat you like that."
"Captain, I just can't take that chance anymore today. Maybe another day."
"I thought you said you wanted to leave for Briland later today."
"I did. I do. Well, I may not find a ride, or I may come back sometime soon."
"Why don't you take a taxi and a taxi and a taxi?"
"Nah, I think I will just aks around down at the docks and see if I can find someone heading over that way."
"Well, if you don't find a ride, you can sleep on the "Lady Love" tonight if you like."
"Sounds like a plan, thanks Captain," said Fulcrum.
(3:57 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
The waitress finally brought everone their conch salads and aksed if they were ready to order yet.
Captain Jack ordered a conch burger. The first mate, Abel, asked for a fried egg sandwich without bread. Nora hit him on the shoulder with her pad and wrote down his order.
There was a lot of cutting up and fake orders made and taken before everything was finally sorted and Nora went back into the kitchen to put in their order.
"I'm fixing to marry Nora one day soon," said Abel.
"Yeah? You asked her yet?" winked the captain, digging his elbow into Abel's side.
"Not exactly, but I will soon," muttered Abel.
"Sure you will Abel," grinned Jack, "so tell me, have you even asked her out on a date yet?"
"Yes I have! Do you think I am a total loser?"
"You have? I see. So tell me, did she say yes and have you two actually been on a date yet?"
"Of course!"
"Really, when was this Abel?"
"A long time ago now."
The captain burst out laughing."
"What are you laughing at?"
"Fulcrum! How much you want to bet that he is talking about the time when he was five and he went to the beach with her one day when their familiess were still friendly with each other? That's it, isn't it Abel?"
"Shut up!"
(4:29 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Abel's fried egg sandwich came without bread, just as ordered. That started a new round of laughing.
***
Sarah woke up to an empty bed and a still house. Things were too quiet. She got an odd feeling that something was wrong. Amiss as it were.
"Fuller. Fuller! Where are you?"
She waited. Listned. Carefully. But now answer came. No response broke the morning silence.
She got up and walked around the place, looking in the bathroom, the kitchen, the spare bedroom. No Fuller anywhere. She looked and saw that the clothes he had taken off last night were gone.
"Fuller!" Nothing. She grabbed the phone and dialed Jaro's number, "Jaro? Have you seen Fuller? Did he tell you anything about going somewhere?"
"No Sarah, I haven't seen him for a few days now. He may have just gone out for a walk to made a run to the shop for something."
(5:43 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
***
Ouch! Well gentle reader, look at that. I need to do three thousand words today and really wanted to do four thousand to try and make a good beginning at catching back up due to the missed days in Abaco. But just look at the non-spurt in the last hour or so. I got totally side tracked into nothing. The temporal black hole.
But I must write on! Right on! Keep that virtual ink flowing onto that virtual paper. It's only words after all. Words that I have to put right down today.
***
Sarah went outside and looked around. No Fuller. She began to get worried as her bad feeling deepened. He had not seemed like himself lately. He had seemed confused. She kicked hereself for not calling a doctor to check him over. So what if he was being a big baby, she should have insisted.
He may have hit his head that day riding the waves. What if he were still suffering the effects of hitting his head on a rock or who knows what?
She asked around the neighbourhood but no one had seen him. She went back inside and called Jaro again, "Jaro, can you come over, I think something has happened to Fuller."
(5:56 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
"Sure thing Sarah, I just need to get ready and I will be right over. Should be within the hour."
***
Fulcrum went down to the docks after the late lunch and asked around about a boat going through to Briland. No one knew of any going on and one or two suggested that he may wnato to just try and catch a ride on the fast ferry on the morrow. Now that he was so close he was beginning to get really impatient though and he kept aksing around.
He ended up back by the "Lady Love" and asked Captain jack if perhaps one of the crew could run him around in one of the smaller boats which she carried behind.
"No, Fulcrum, we have work to do to get ready for our next trip and we need to get all we can done before we run out of daylight and darkness makes things more difficult or impossible."
(6:08 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
(6:44 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
***
I need something
Yes I need something
Say I need something
To do in my life
I keep running
Yes I keep running
Say I keep running
From you in the night
I see something
Yes I see something
Say I see something
For you in the light
***
I had a girl
I thought my own
I held her close
We were alone
But then somehow
She slipped away
To me it seemed
Night ate the day
The sky went black
My heart did too
My tears poured out
And washed my shoes
The salty mud
Spread through the world
All on account
Of that one sweet girl
Oh yes somehow
She slipped away
To me it seemed
Night ate the day
***
I wish I had a plan
To win you for myself
But my mind empties out
Like a jar up on your shelf
I keep things to myself
Whenever you're around
But love just never grows
And I never make a sound
***
There was a young pirate
Who went out sailing
Who went out sailing
With a pirate crew
With a pirate crew
This bold young pirate
He went out raiding
He went out raiding
Upon the blue
Upon the blue
***
Well gentle reader, that was supposed to be the start of some many versed pirate song but it didn't get far. Perhaps later, or perhaps a new start.
So, I am struggling along here, adding one word to another when the ability to multiply words would come in really handy right about now.
I am going to try really hard to get to three thousand words before I shut down for the day. The problem is, for some reason, I am so tired that I want to shut down now, not an hour or three from now and I certainly don't want to get near midnight. We shall see. You are most welcome to come along for the ride.
***
(7:42 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
(7:56 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Wow! I am trying so hard I am off in some no zone writing nothing. Fast. I tried writing nothing slow but it was not working out.
Fulcrum never found his boat to Briland and so when the sun went down he went on back to the "Lady Love" and aksed if he could bunk there for the night. The captain laughed and told him yes and had the first mate show him where he could bunk down. He helped out a bit with finishing up the loading of the dry provisions and then he was invited to the club in the bush.
***
Fulcrum followed the crew down the bush path and was reminded of his night time troubles on Briland so many years ago now and yet so recently past.
He started to shake a bit and had to breath deeply to try and calm himself down. Although it was a cool night, he began to sweat.
The men passed out of the narrow confines of the path into a wide clearing under the stars.
There was a fire burning in the middle of the clearing and some chichens and meat roasting on spits. Men were sitting around on chairs and couches and benches and tree limbs. There was laughter and singing and general good cheer all around.
Fulcrum sat down next to a sun burned, wiry young man with curly blond hair and blue eyes. The man looked at him briefly, turned away and then looked back, "Don't I know you from somwehere? You look familiar. Whose your people?"
"Ah, my name is Fulcrum, I sort of grew up on a private cay that my father took care of and never knew my family."
"You been here before?"
"Not for many years now. I doubt you remember me from around here."
"So, what's your full name?"
"Ah, Fulcrum Albury. What's yours? Were you born here?"
"I'm Joshua Higgs. I was born right here. Born and bred like they say."
(8:26 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
"It's good to meet you Joshua."
"Good to meet you too Fulcrum. I know I have seen you some where. When did you get here?"
"I just came in today. I caught a ride on the "Lady Love" with Captain Jack. We just left Nassau this morning.
"Ah, so you are a Nassau boy then? I may have seen you down there then. What do you do down there."
"A bit of this and a bit of that. I think I see someone over there that I want to speak to, excuse me for a while please," said Fulcrum getting up to avoid the questions.
(8:32 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
That was close. He really had to watch out for getting in to conversations with poeple who might want to know about him. He would really need to figure out some plausible story to tell if he could not figure out a way to get back to his own life. He looked down to the ground as he walked and sighed. Shook his head.
***
(8:52 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
(9:37 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
Sarah was beside herself by sundown and as the evening faded into night she couldn't shake the feelings of unease and fear that continued to creep into the dark corners of her mind. She and jaro had spent the day looking for some sign of Fuller without success.
Neither of them thought to ask down at Potter's Cay. It was not a place that Fuller frequented.
Jaro finally left after Sarah assured him that she would be OK for the night alone.
Sarah undressed and took a hot shower. She let the water pulse down on her trembling body and set up a calming rhythm in her troubled mind, the heat bringing the first small bit of relief to her for the day.
(10:21 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
***
Well, gentle reader, I have crossed over three thousand words but I don't see staying up to try for four thousand of them. So, that being said, I will plod on but am liable to end abruptly.
***
Sarah let the water soak her for about fifteen minutes, allowing the shower stall to steam up before shampooing her hair and then soaping up and rinsing off. She finished up with another five minutes of water massage before shutting off the water and reaching out of the stall to grab a giant, soft towel and dry herself off.
She went to the bedroom and put on her pyjamas and then went back to the bathroom and hung up the wet towel before getting a smaller dry towel and wrapping it around her wet hair.
She pulled back the covers, lay down on her side of the king size bed, looked over at the empty spot beside her and cried herself to sleep. To sleep yes and to dream. And her dreams were not the nice ones that you woke from and remembered fondly.
(10:31 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
***
Fulcrum sat down next to Abel on a large, worn out leather couch on the other side of the clearing, "Hey Abel, how are things going with you tonight? You hungry?"
"So, so I guess, and I am very hungry, I hope something is ready soon or I am going back down by the restaurant to grab a little something to tide me over until this is done."
"You sure you just don't want to catch another glimpse of Nora?" from an easy chair in the shadows nearby.
"Give it a rest will you captain?"
"Sure thing Able. You want me to talk to her for you though?"
"Captain, you are working on my last nerve here now."
"Any more lip out of you Mr. Pinder and I will have you keel hauled the next time we put out to sea."
"Right oh Captain! No more lip from me!"
Fulcrum leaned over and whispered in Abel's ear, "They still keel hauling people up this way?"
Abel burst out laughing, spewing his lime aid all down his shirt and over his jeans.
"What is so funny Mr. Pinder? Care to share it with everyone?"
"Captain! Fulcrum here wants to know if we still keel haul up this way," sputtered Abel.
Captain Jack laughed, "Sure we do my good man, only we are much more humane about it these days than they used to be long ago. We keep our hulls scraped much smoother than they used to just so as not to tear people up so much. Barnacles can really tear a person up.
***
(11:09 pm Mon Nov 17, 2008)
And so I bid you good night gentle reader.
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