Curse of Hell's Rose

Prompt: Write a curse; detailing what will happen to someone who opens this pirate treasure chest without permission.

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Hell's Rose plundered many a ship

Captured countless gems, jewels, and gold

The women aboard soon all net their end,

By illness, childbirth, murder, and accident

Whomever fool enough to open this chest,

Will soon learn first-hand the brutality of their ends.

__________ . __________

Victim #1: Jaclyn Shepard, Age 25, Toronto, Ontario

Spring Break. The time of the year when students go wild. Most of the people on campus travel during those few free weeks but I like to stay behind and relax with Netflix and the whole campus to myself. 

It's not that I don't have the money. Ever since we all discovered the treasure of Hell's Rose. The famous ship run completely by women; Jane "Peacock" Ramsey, Betty "Red- Eye" Scott, Gloria "Magpie" Fry, and Maize "Salty Dog" Ramsey. Between Daniel, my former boss, Summer, my former boss's boss, and Emily, my former fellow intern, we'd each gotten enough treasure so we never had to work again. Although I chose to continue going to school to get my journalism degree.

Tonight I was lying on my bed, binge watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix, when I felt the sudden urge to go clubbing. I never go clubbing; I hate drinking in any fashion. But I get up, put on a really tight dress and heels and drove to one of the local clubs.

The music was blaring and sweaty bodies danced close together on the dance floor. I made my way to the bar and ordered a shot of vodka . Then another and another and another. After I lost count I started dancing. I don't know how long I danced for but I know I stopped when I got a phone call; it was Daniel.

"Emily's sick. Caught something in Europe," he said quickly. With the sound of the music pounding in the background I tried to make my way towards the door, stumbling into many people and tables on the way. "Are you drunk?" Daniel asked, surprise in his voice.

"Maybe" I replied, dragging out some of the letters to make it sound longer then it was. Opening the front door a small breeze brushed past my cheek, making me shudder. "Did you say Em's sick?" I asked. Emily was the person I was closest to out of the four of us. After we found the treasure and split ways, we stayed in touch via snail mail.

"They don't know what it it yet, all they know is that it's deadly." I closed my eyes, that wasn't good. "Summer and I are flying out tomorrow. She's at Hospital de I'Hotel-Dieu in Paris, France. Get there as soon as possible!" He said rather loudly. 

"No need to shout. I'll be there in a couple of days" I replied. Hanging up I shook my head and walked towards the road; I needed to get back to my dorm as fast as I could. Stumbling across the wide sidewalk I walked onto the road, in between the parked cars. Sticking my hand out at the taxi coming towards me I stepped out too far and it crashed into me. I watched the sky sailing past above me before everything went black

Victim #2: Summer Moore, Age 35, Paris, France

Airplanes always stress me out. After almost a decade of flying experience and I wasn’t any closer to being remotely comfortable on one. The way I can even remotely get through a three-hour plane ride is with Gravol.  I have to take it a half-hour before boarding the plane in order to settle my stomach. Even with the pill it takes my husband, Daniel’s hand to keep me calm during takeoffs and landings. Now we were on an airplane, on our way to visit our friend Emily in Paris.

After we’d discovered the treasure belonging to the pirate ship Hell’s Rose, she had decided to travel the world; starting with Europe. Jaclyn, being her school driven self, made up her mind that she would go back to school and work for the rest of her life. With the amount of money that we all gained from finding the treasure, this was an absurd thought to all of us. My husband and I had retired early and bought houses in New York, Los Angeles, and our hometown of Wichita, Kanas.

A few days ago Daniel had gotten a call from a hospital in Paris, it was Emily. Her voice was hoarse and she coughed quite a lot. She told us that she had come down with something while exploring the Catacombs beneath Paris’ streets. The doctors had informed her that what she had picked up was very serious and was most likely life threatening. She had called us to ask if we would fly there and be with her when she got the final news. Then Emily said that she had tried to call Jaclyn first but had received no answer; Daniel called her right after hanging up with Emily.

Now we were clutching each other’s hands as the plane touched down in Orly Airport, a little less than a half hour drive to the Hosptial de L’Hotel-Dieu. Getting our bags we ran to the front of the airport and hailed a taxi. Taking out my cellphone I called Jaclyn’s number to tell her we arrived safely but I got her voicemail. I hung up the call and shook it off, she must be sleeping off the major hangover she would have had after the night of drinking she had. After Daniel told me that Jaclyn had been drunk I was honestly shocked, she is not a drinker. Right after I hung up I called Emily’s room number and informed her that we were almost at the hospital.

Emily doesn’t have any family so she considers Jaclyn, Daniel and myself her surrogate family. That’s why she called us with the news. Emily and her parents were in a car crash when she was young and after that she was bounced around from foster family to foster family until she was 18; that’s when she met Jaclyn. The joy in her voice put a smile on my face when I told her we were only a few minutes away.

As soon as we were at the hospital we practically threw the money at the taxi driver and flew through the doors and into the elevator to Emily’s floor. Slowing our pace as we entered her room I immediately sat down in the chair by the door. Being eight months pregnant can be horribly tiring at times and seeing Emily looking so sick and weak just made it so much worse. Her once beautiful, shiny brown hair was now thin and dull, pulled back in a loose ponytail. Emily’s face was paler than usual and she looked so sickly.

Daniel stood next to her, holding her hand when the doctor entered the room. He placed a hand on my shoulder and walked to the right side of her bed. I managed to stand and walk over next to Daniel.

“We just received a call from Toronto, Ontario. It was about a woman named Jaclyn Shepard. The policeman said that one of our patients, a Miss Emily Walker, was her emergency contact.” He took a moment and look down at Emily. “I’m very sorry to say this but she’s been involved in an accident.” Tears formed in Emily’s eyes and fell down her thin cheeks. “They said she was trying to get a taxi and went too far into the road and was hit by a car.” He stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. “I’m so sorry” and with that he nodded at us and left.

“She’d dead?” Emily whispered. This made the realization of the news hit me in the face. I grabbed Daniel’s hand and started balling. I just remember not being able to stop crying and then the pain started. The baby was coming; it was early. With the stress of Emily’s condition and the news about Jaclyn I figured helped with the pre-mature labor.

The doctors figured an emergency C-Section was better than to do a natural birth. Everything was fine until I heard them start scrambling around; the doctor preforming the surgery and all of the nurses were grabbing what seemed like a lot of gauze. Daniel could see the panic on my face so he started trying to calm me down, telling me everything was alright but I knew it wasn’t.

After hearing that Jaclyn had been involved in an accident and knowing that she had been drunk clued me in to the treasure. When we’d found the chest, inscribed on the top had been a curse of some sort. It warned that whomever opened the chest would either die of illness, childbirth, murder, or accident. Of course, there were four of us, one person for each mod of death but like anyone else, we didn’t take it seriously and had opened the chest. Now it seemed as though it was coming true.

Jaclyn had died in a drunken accident, the same way Maize Ramsay had died. Now Emily was sick with a life threatening illness, just like the ship’s captain, Jane Ramsay had. I was having a baby and there seemed to be something wrong so I knew, I just knew it was my turn to die just like Betty Scott had; delivering her baby. And that meant that my sweet Daniel would die by someone else’s hand.

Not too long after the panicking had started it soon stopped. I assumed that everything was alright when I heard my baby crying. It was a lovely sound; it’s how you know they’re alright, when they start crying; it means they can breathe. That’s the last thing I heard before I felt really faint. My head was a light as a feather when I closed my eyes. The best thing to hear as the last thing you hear.

Victim #3: Daniel Moore, Age 33, Paris, France

Both of them were dead. Jaclyn in a freak accident and my poor wife Summer while bringing our gorgeous baby boy into the world. Both of them died in the way the curse had said. It was always on my mind; the curse. Between me and Summer, I was the worrier in the marriage. Ever since we found the treasure and saw the curse I kept bringing it up. I could tell it had been annoying but my mind couldn't stop thinking about it.

Jaclyn went first, just like the drunkard Maize Ramsey. Emily was sick, really sick, just like their Captain had been. Now Summer was dead and I was next. Murdered. That’s what the curse said.

Slowly, I pulled the chair by the door, the one Summer had been sitting in only a few hours ago, over to the left side of Emily’s bed and sat. Looking over at her asleep I sighed. Only two of us left.

“I’m going to go get food. Hospital food always sucks” I say in a whisper, trying not to wake her. Emily’s head turned towards me. “Go back to bed. I’ll be back in a little while.” I stood up and made my way towards the door.

“Be careful out there. You could be next” Emily croaked. Smiling, I turned and nodded. My heart was already racing. I knew the possibility of it happening now was extreme.

Exiting the hospital I made my way around the corner of the block. The sky was pitch black as I passed many buildings. In-between each building was a small alleyway. Into one of them I was pulled. Someone grabbed my jacket as I walked past. They shoved me against the wall of one of the buildings. The lack of light made it hard to see the person but I heard him speak to someone else.

Then I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen, then another, and another. It took a whole for it to register that I’d been stabbed. My knees felt weak and they soon crumbled underneath me, causing my body to fall onto the ground. My vision was starting to get fuzzy when I felt hands in my pockets. Muggers. The last thing I remember was footsteps running away from the alley.   

Victim #4: Emily Walker, Age 25, Victoria, British Colombia

They moved me to Victoria General Hospital in Victoria, British Colombia just after Summer and Daniel died. At my request of course. I wanted to be in my hometown when I died; be close to some of the people I grew up with.

Jaclyn was the closest thing I had to a sister, and vice versa. We both were only children when our parents died and we met in a group home at the age of seven years old. After that we bonded fast and had made sure that they put us in the same foster homes; sometimes turning homes down because they only wanted one of us. We made sure the other stayed safe and sane.

Summer and Daniel were the strongest couple I’d ever known. They’d been together for twelve years and married for eight of them. I’m so heartbroken that they’ll never be able to watch their baby boy grow up.

Whoever is reading this might know the story of the four friends that died within a week of each other. Although you might not. Depends on what happens when I die.

Jaclyn died in a car accident on March 8 2014. Summer died during childbirth on March 9 2014, the day after Jaclyn. Her husband, Daniel, was mugged and killed in an alleyway outside the hospital I was in on March 9 2014, only a couple of hours after Summer had passed away. And now, within the next few days, I will die from the unknown illness I caught in Paris.

We all died because we were greedy for pirate treasure. The curse stated that whomever opened the chest would die by murder, childbirth, illness, and accident. The curse of Hell’s Rose had come true.

Mysterious Man

Prompt: "Sometimes at dusk we would see him come out from the hidden interior of his island. For years we had no idea who he was or what he did until..." 
FINISH THE STORY
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The man who lived on the island was a quiet man. He rarely came into town and when he did he would buy strange things. Everyone had always assumed he wasn't married and had no children because we only ever sawa him. Yet when he came into town, he would go straight for the women's isle for the tampons.

He looked like he was middle-aged, maybe 45. His hair was already starting to turn grey at the roots and he was always dressed in wool cardigans and beige khakis. We never knew his real name so we all called him The Mysterious Man, for he was nothing if not mysterious.

Sometimes at dusk we would see him come out from the hidden interior of his island. He would stand at the boarder of trees, staring out at the water. Looking at him from our homes he was like a sort of Urban Legend; the way the light from the falling sun was just enough for us to be able to see him. Since nobody saw much of him, the older kids had convinced the children that he wasn't really there. That he was a ghost and would take them away in the middle of the night. If only we'd known how true that story actually was.

The morning of December 10, 1986, everyone was awakened by the screams coming from the Samson house. They all rushed into their boots and outdoor coats as the screams continued. Running in through the open front door they pushed and shoved each other to the top of the stairs.

Kneeling on the soft, grey carpet by his daughter's bed was Mr. Samson and Lucy Samson was nowhere to be found. The whole town searched from top to bottom, by both the townspeople and police. They never found her; she was missing for months.

People were starting to give up hope. It had been six months since that day and not a single clue had been found. Many of the people in the town had, had suspicions about The Mysterious Man but he seemed to act as if this lose had effected him as well. He even paid his condolenses to the Samson's, who were still holding on to the last bit of hope they had.

On June 15, 1987, a little boy was playing close to the coast when he thought he saw someone running through the trees on The Mysterious Man's island. He described them as being no taller than himself and quite thin. The boy also mentioned that he thought it had been Lucy; with the way this small person ran and their long brown hair flowing behind them.

At hearing that their daughter could be somewhere on the island, the Samsons insisted that the police investigate into who the man really was. As it turned out, this mysterious man had been the suspect of another child abduction four years prior. It was almost the same case. A twelve year old girl had gone missing on his block and he been the prime suspect. Unfortunatly when the police had investigated, nothing had turned up.

When brought before a judge the next day, a warrent was granted, although rather hestitantly. What the authorites found on that island shook the small town to its very core.

The trees that cluttered the island blocked any light from making it's way to the ground, making it impossible for any new plants to grow. This was reflected in The Mysterious Man's house. All of the shades were drawn making all of the rooms dark, except for the small amount of scattered candles throughout the bungalow.

Searching the house with the man close behind the police came across a locked door near the rear of the house. Breaking down the door a squeal was heard in the right corner of the closet sized room. Turning on a flashlight to see in the pitch blackness, one of the officers shoved The Mysterious Man against the wall and put him in handcuffs.

Inside the room, huddled against the far wall was Lucy Samson. Her clothes were slightly ripped and her hair was a mess. One the floor was a pillow and a single blanket. Moments after they'd opened the door a crash sounded in the next room and a teenage girl ran out of the kitchen. She was wearing a plain green apron and a blue dress with her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

Later they confirmed that the sixteen year old was Samantha Wilson, the young girl The Mysterious Man had kidnapped four years before.

Months later The Mysterious Man got a life sentence, and both Lucy and Samantha were doing well in counciling and they'd both been re-united with their families, although it was harder for Samantha.

The man who lived on the island was a quiet man; only now everyone knew the reason.

Under the Stars

Prompt: Tell a story set in the glowworm caves of New Zealand.
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It was dark. They didn't have any lights so they felt along the walls of the cave; inching forwards on reluctant feet. There were two of them. Two boys. They clutched each others hand, determined not to get lost in the darkness.

"Zach, why are there no lights?" One of them asked, his right hand slowly feeling along the rock wall. Every now and them his skinny hand would hit a sharp rock and pull away, surprised.

"Just wait a little longer." The other boy replied, giving the skinny boy's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I know how you're afraid of the dark but this will be worth it. Trust me, Justin" Zach continued. They continued to make their way deeper into the cave. "It'll give you something to remember me by when you go n your trip" Just as Zach spoke small blue lights flickered on on the ceiling of the cave. They shone so bright and their numbers were so great that they lit up the whole cave. It stretched back at least another 20 feet and the two boys could see that inches away from their feet, the rocky hard ground gave way to water.

"Justin, here is my secret cave" Zach said, looking to his right. Justin stood stock-still. His hand fell rom the wall to rest at his side as he gazed up at the ceiling.

"Oh my god" was all Justin said. Outside the sun was falling from the sky and the moon's blue light illuminated the woods outside. Cautiously Justin removed his shoes and walked into the shallow water. With his back to Zach he allowed himself to tear up.

"Hey, you alright? I'm not going to regret showing you this, am I?" Zach asked, trying to lighten the suddenly tense mood. He knew that he didn't share much with the smaller kid but his brother was being shipped off to boarding school at the end of the summer.

"Thank you" Justin managed through sniffs and bear hugged Zach, who smiled. "I'm going to miss you while I'm away."

"I will too" Zach replied, returning the hug. To lift the mood, Zach moved away from his brother and back towards the opening. "Let's go for a swim." And with that he was stripped down to his Superman boxers. Pushing his black hair out of his eyes he ran past his brother and swan dived into the middle of the cave. "Coming?" He asked, popping to the surface. Justin nodded, stripped down to his Batman boxers and canon-balled right next to his brother.

I need ideas!

Hey everyone!

I need some ideas for more St. Paul's Adventures shorts. Comment on that page or message me on Tumblr.
Please :)
My tumblr is: livebetter-smilebrighter.tumblr.com

- Emma

Detached

Prompt:  First person point of view. Floating in space. Over a red planet. Timing is running out.
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Space is vast; there's no doubt about that. But it's also beautiful, full of bright stars in a near-ending darkness. Very few people really know what space looks like, about all of the wonders it holds. I am floating in front of one right now.

"Oliver, you seein' this?" Liam voiced over the mic. His voice came across staticy and at certain places it broke up. Liam is the ship's driver. He makes sure that she stays on track so he rarely comes out of the bridge; practically lives there.

"Yeah. Isn't it beautiful? I respond, not moving an inch from where I float. I'm Destiny's mechanic, i make sure she's still running. There had been a problem with the hyper-drive so I'd gone out to see what was wrong. When I saw the gorgeous red planet behind me I'd gotten a little distracted.

"It is red" he said. I could tell he wasn't as entranced by the planet. "Ollie?" I didn't respond. "Oliver! The hyper-drive?"  It was just so red.

From where I was I could tell that the red color it had was actually clouds. They swirled across the planet's surface, almost like dancing. I was so captured that I didn't notice when it started getting closer.

"OLIVER!" Liam screamed in my ear and snapped me out of my trance. I looked back at the ship and saw that the cord attaching me to Destiny had been cut and I was being pulled towards the planet by it's gravitational pull.

"LIAM!" I yelled back, my voice cracking with fear. I knew that if I entered the atmosphere of this planet I would burn up, unless I ran out of air first.

"Hold on, I've gottcha" he said calmly. The beauty of this planet; the red color and the dancing clouds, melted away and was replaced with horror. I looked down at the oxygen meter and saw I only had a minute of air left in the tank.

"Hurry! I've only got a minute of air left!" I was panicking. Frantically looking anywhere but the planet. It looked so haunting now, so dangerous. With the violent swirling red clouds coming nearer and nearer. Then there was the heat; I was getting close to its atmosphere. "It's so hot. Liam!" I turned my back so I was facing away from the planet. I couldn't watch the thing that was once beautiful in my eyes turn ugly.

"I've got ya. You'll be fine." His voice was cracking up more than it had been before and I shut my eyes. The heat was starting to burn me; I could feel my skin blistering. I began breathing slower, trying to save oxygen. I could feel myself falling unconscious as I relaxed, letting my body float through empty space. "I've got you Ollie." I heard Liam say as two mechanical hands wrapped around my body and brought me safely away from the red planet.

Invisibility Ring

Sun pours through the grey curtains that hung in front of my bedroom window. A small sliver of yellow light made it's way to my bed and onto my face, causing me to open my eyes. I blink and look around my room and then at my window. It's the middle of summer in Newfoundland and the sun was shining bright. The sky, I saw was a light shade of blue and as far as I could tell, there were no clouds. I prop myself up on my hands and blink a few times, attempting to wake myself up.

Finally feeling awake enough to try getting ready, I place my feet on the comfort of the fluffy white rug on my floor and stand. My room hadn't changed much from when I'd rearranged the furniture at Christmas. My bed sits against one of the two outside walls, the only window to it's left. In front of my bed is my dresser and closet and to the right is the door to my bedroom.

Feeling more aware of my surroundings I make my way across the room towards my dresser; looking at the floor the whole time, not wanting to get blinded again by the sun. Finally looking up I did a double-take. My mirror is perched on-top of my dresser, usually I can see my whole face perfectly, but now there is empty space. Grasping the mirror with both hands I bring it close to my face, but I still see nothing. Still in shock, I place it back on the dresser and head to the bathroom. Maybe it's just my mirror that's warped.

Flipping on the light by the bathroom door I walk in and face the mirror. Nothing. I look down at myself and then back at the mirror. I'm shocked when I see that I can see myself. I'm still wearing my pajamas; a pair of flannel pants hang loosely from my waist along with a navy blue tank top. My typical sleeping attire.

I quickly take a shower, surprisingly easy, and get ready for school. I stop when I'm face to face with my closet. What do I wear? Will everyone only see the clothes and freak out? I decide that it's better to check and see. Putting on a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt I look in the mirror. Not completely shocked but still a little surprised that you still could not see the clothes I had just put on. Almost as if I had some sort of cloak around me

"Willow!" I hear my mom say from the kitchen downstairs. Then I remembered, I have school today, its Monday and I have a test!

“Coming!” I yell back. I look back in the mirror, forgetting that I won’t see anything, then I remember that nobody can see me so it doesn’t matter how bad I look. Sighing, I run down the stairs and into the kitchen. I see my mom standing by the sink and my lunch sitting on the counter. “I’m running late mom. See you after school” I say and run out of the house carrying my brown paper bag; I know, so cliché but whatever. 

Arriving at school I go to my locker and open it. Wait, I have my test first period so I don’t need my books, plus I can definitely scare a few people with a floating pencil. Smiling, I walk to my first period class; History, Canadian History to be exact. One of my favorite subjects. Walking through the classroom door I see an empty seat right in the middle of the class, I take it. Laying my book bag down on the ground I look around to see students already looking confused at my book bag. I guess it just appeared when I took it off my back. The plan was already working. Next I took out a pencil; I knew nobody would be able to see it, since I was holding it and all. 

I watched everyone take their seats, some a little weary about sitting next to the mysteriously appearing book bag. Then the teacher walked in and passed around the tests. I guess she figured someone had put their book bag there to save their seat because she placed a test on my desk. I smile again; this was going to be fun.

Looking at the test I could see that it covered World War II, a subject we had just finished learning about. This would be no problem. As I fill in the answers I notice the teacher coming around to my seat. This is the moment I put the plan into full action. When the teacher arrives at my seat I start answering the long answer questions. I figured that since I was holding the pencil, no one could see it, so it would seem strange that words were somehow showing up on the page. 

I was right. As soon as my teacher walked past my desk she came to a stop and looked at my test. I kept answering the questions, looking up once to see if she was still there. She was. All of the color had gone out of her face but it seemed like she couldn't look away. When I looked back at my paper that's when I noticed the ring on my right hand. It was old and looked like it had gone to hell and back. I remember finding it in a box in the attic last night and then going to bed. That gave me a thought. 

When I finished the test I went straight for the bathroom and locked myself into a stall. Looking at the ring I took it off. Glancing down at myself, I sighed, I was still there. But the real question was, was I still invisible? Opening the stall door I look across from myself and into the mirror. There I was, standing in my sweatpants and t-shirt with my hair in a very very messy bun. It was the ring. I had an invisibility ring! This would definitely make school more fun.