Wordsmiths Fiction Week 1: The Disappeared Leader

The storm was terrible. Waves as tall as buildings crashed over the cargo ship. The rain fell hardly. It felt like sharp needles on skin. The thunder roared like an angry beast. The ship was badly broken. Water flooded the lower decks.

The crew of ten people fought hard to survive. Somehow after hours of struggling they spotted a small island through the mist. With the last of their strength they steered the ship toward the rocky shore and tied it to some large stones. Their radio was dead. Their compass spun in circles, useless. The ship’s engine had given up. They had no way to call for help.

Image by Med Ahabchane from Pixabay

Captain Elias Ward stood on the deck soaked. He was a brave man. While the others slept, tired and scared. He stayed awake staring at the dark forest beyond the beach. Strange shapes moved between the trees.

Terrible morning came. The crew woke up and Captain Ward was missing. One of the small boats was also gone. Panic spread quickly. “He would never leave us!” cried Marla the ship’s engineer.

Mateo Briggs the second-in-command stayed calm. “We must search the island,” he said. The crew split into teams and searched everywhere.

The island felt wrong. The trees were tall with bark white as bones. Strange vines hung down like hands reaching out. The air smelled of salt and metal. No any move. It was complete silence.

After searching for they found a strange place. The ground glowed with a soft blue light. In the centre there were broken stones. These were covered with strange symbols. Mateo touched one stone. It felt very cold but the air was warm and sticky. They called out for the captain again and again but no answer. No footprints led away. It was as if he had simply vanished into thin air.

That night the crew sat close together on the broken ship whispering under the lantern light. “Maybe he ran away,” said Eric.

“No!” Marla said angrily. “Captain Ward loved this ship. He loved us. He wouldn’t leave without a word.” “Maybe the island got him,” whispered another crew member. Mateo didn’t speak. But quietly he checked the flare gun and kept it near his side.

Days passed slowly. Food and clean water were running low. Hope was dying. Some crew members stared at the forest their eyes wide and glassy as if they were waiting for something. On the fourth morning someone shouted from the deck “A boat! It’s him!”

They rushed to the edge. The missing lifeboat was drifting back toward the ship. Inside was Captain Ward. He looked half dead, cold, weak, and with torn clothes. His face was pale with eyes dark. They pulled him onto the ship carefully.

“Captain! Where did you go?” Mateo asked. Captain Ward opened his eyes slowly. His voice was dry and cracked. “The island... is alive” he whispered. Everyone fell silent. Fear gripped them all. Later after he had rested and warmed up Captain Ward told them what had happened.

That first night he had walked inland hoping to find a high hill to light a fire and signal for help. Instead he found the glowing clearing. And then he heard something not a voice but a feeling deep inside him. Sadness. Fear. Loneliness.

Curious and worried he touched the biggest stone. Suddenly he was pulled into another world. A strange place full of thick mist floating rocks and dark creatures that watched him with glowing eyes.

“They showed me things,” Ward said. His voice trembling. “They showed me memories. They showed me futures that might happen. This island... it used to be a bridge between worlds.”

He struggled to find his way back. Only by thinking about his crew, his ship, and their friendship was he able to break free. When he woke up he was in the lifeboat, drifting near the island.

“But…” he said, his voice dropping low, “I didn’t come back alone.” The crew froze.That night strange things began to happen on the ship. They heard soft whispers when no one was speaking. Shadows moved at the edges of their vision. Lights flickered without reason.

Marla screamed once during her shift. She said something had whispered secrets to her no one else could know. The next morning they found Eric dead. His face was twisted in fear but there were no wounds on his body. It was as if the life had simply been stolen from him. Mateo called the crew together. “We have to leave this place,” he said firmly.

They worked quickly. Using broken wood and torn sails they repaired the ship. They didn't care where they went they just needed to get away. As they sailed away the island stayed in view far longer than it should have. The strange blue light still glowed on the beach like a cold watching eye.

Captain Ward sat at the front of the ship. He never spoke again. He ate little and slept less. His eyes seemed to always be searching the horizon for something only he could see. The crew whispered among themselves. Some said a spirit from the island had entered the Captain. Others believed he had left part of his soul behind.

No one knew for sure. But all agreed on one thing: The island had changed him. And it had left its mark on them all.

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Here I have generated a video explaining all the story in the similar words using an automated tool and provided the complete script of the video the complete story which I have written to participate in the contest.

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I invite @afzalqamar, @wuddi and @chant to join this contest.