Into the surf – drawn towards rocky crags
One man against nature’s fury
As malevolent spirits – seawards prepare to him drag
Padre
Crags
Menace
By Torchlight
Ancient structure in the dead of night
A seeming dead end by torchlight
Is it a sanctuary – or an awaiting plight?
Padre
Defiance
Image: West Stow.org
The raids were becoming more frequent. There seemed to be a constant shadow hanging over the small Anglo-Saxon village, in which Brewster lived.
How many lives had been lost now? he wondered to himself as he looked into the treeline of the surrounding woods. The light and dark contrasts and the dappled light made it difficult to tell if there was any immediate danger.
Surely the village elders should do something about this. Maybe cutting the treeline back from the village boundary would at least give them more time to react.
“You girls stay close, and don’t wander off,” he warned his daughters. “Just stay near your mother,” Brewster added.
He again scanned the trees. The raiders seem to always come from the direction of the river. That has to be a clue, he pondered.
He looked upwards. The storm clouds are rolling in. That’s when they will strike, just when the defense is down and the village men take shelter from the storm, he mused.
Just then he caught sight of movement in the direction of the river. “Agatha, take the girls inside,” he commanded, as he stepped to put himself between his family and the red-headed invader approaching from the wood.
Defiantly, Brewster let loose a loud warning to all who could hear, as he faced the menacing intruder.
Pixabay
Padre
Prompt A (opposites attract challenge): light and dark
Prompt B (sentence starter): “The storm clouds are rolling in.”
Prompt C (photo):
The Storm-Bringer
Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay
“Someone is angry–very angry,” the old mariner said as he scanned the approaching squall line.
The mass of towering black cloud was beginning to fill the horizon, and the seabirds, in their flocks, were heading landward to escape the growing menace.
“Someone?” the young deck hand questioned.
“Aye, the Storm-Bringer,” the old man replied reflectively.
“Isn’t that just a myth?” the younger man queried.
“No, my boy. He’s real enough, though I ain’t seen the likes of him in thirty years, ever since he claimed the Aurora.”
The black clouds loomed larger, and flashes of lightening could be seen crossing the storm’s angry face.
“Aurora?” the hand asked.
“Aurora, now there was a handsome ship,” the old sailor reflected. “Sturdy built with good lines and trim. But she were no match for ‘the Bringer’.”
“Surely, it’s just a storm, like any other,” the young man said optimistically looking back at the darkening sky. His face betrayed another emotion, however.
“Believe what you like, Lad. It will be what it will be,” the old man said as he withdrew a photo of his wife and gave it a kiss.
Just as he was returning it to its waterproof container, an aged life boat seemed to be thrust out of the mass of raging clouds.
The boat was weather worn, and devoid of life; yet it bore a lighted lantern seemingly untouched by time. On its salt sprayed timbers it bore the faded word “AURORA.”
Padre
Prompt A (elemental challenge): threatening
Prompt B (sentence starter): “Someone is angry–very angry.”
Prompt C (photo): Above
Padre's Ramblings 