Your Story #126

Prompt: Write a drabble—a short story of exactly 100 words—based on the photo prompt below. You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

Email your submission to yourstorycontest@aimmedia.com with the subject line "Your Story 126."

No attachments, please. Include your name and mailing address. Entries without a name or mailing address with be disqualified.

Unfortunately, we cannot respond to every entry we receive, due to volume. No confirmation emails will be sent out to confirm receipt of submission. But be assured all submissions received before entry deadline are considered carefully. Official Rules.

Entry Deadline: CLOSED

Out of around 120 entries, WD editors chose the following six finalists. Vote for your favorite entry using the poll at the bottom of the page.

The ship’s captain wasn’t a suspicious man. It was just something about these containers and their weight discrepancy that didn’t sit right. After a few hours at sea, he needed to investigate.

Reaching the first crate, he pried open the heavy door and took a step inside. It was much darker and warmer than he was expecting. Sand blew past his feet and a sharp breeze scraped his cheek. Then, all at once, the blinding sun was overhead, and a desert was all around him.

“Now captain…” came a woman’s voice from behind him. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

A rancid smell seeps into the Aegean Sea. Keadia, a sea nymph, is miles away but senses the passing ship’s leak will burst open.

Another chemical spill. Thousands of gallons.

She calls for aid. Not a scream, but a frequency summoned from within. To human ears, it's a dull ringing. The call also warns those nearby.

A pod of whales, a school of cuttlefish, a seven-thousand-year-old coral reef…

The devastation wouldn't just impact nymphs and marine life. There are other beings. Some observe Earth from ancient realms. They’re growing impatient.

Keadia knew war rumbled through these sacred waters.

The storm came out of nowhere. Waves tossed around the box ship like the toy it was in this massive ocean.

As captain, he had to make sure that he did everything he could to hold his ship together. During the last storm, he had managed not to lose any crew. The same couldn’t be said of the cargo.

He could hear feet hurriedly rushing up the stairs just outside the door. It was probably Carson. What could he possibly want?

The door slammed open as Carson barged in.

“Mom says it's time to get out of the tub, nerd!”

I liked the sway of the ocean, the cool breeze, and salty air. I’d even acclimated to the shudders and groans of the ship and her haul. Mostly, though, I liked the aloneness of it, this life at sea: the vastness of the ocean, the eternity of stars, and my thoughts. It was enough. No acclimation required.

Sometimes, I’d wander the stacks, great monuments to consumerism and want, and speculate on the contents of the massive containers. I’d bang on the heavy steel, believing the echo would help me determine what was inside. Then, one night, my knock was returned.

Domesticated as he had become, there is a price to human interaction. Beyond acquiring a taste for fruits and plants not native to his natural island habitat, the beast gets cranky without its toys.

To placate the enormous creature, the zoologists tried everything from creating a massive tire swing (no place to hang it), life-size stuffed dolls (quickly shredded), to a colossal rubber cherry ball (caused $2 billion in damage after playfully thrown at the science facility.) With a mind for puzzles, the scientists hope the giant Jega game en route to Skull Island will finally appease the 100-foot-tall gorilla.

There is a flutter in Jeremy's chest as he braces for the giant squid's strike. Its car-sized suckers stick to the container ship's window. Glass cracks as it releases its pressure, drawing back into the ocean.

As the vessel rocks, its multicolored cargo receptacles shift, straining their locks.

"It's rising again!" said a crewman.

Other crew members ask for Jeremy's orders.

"Turn to port."

Two of the creature's tentacles run through the ocean toward the cargo ship, entangling the vessel and dragging it into the sea.

The words GAME OVER flash before Jeremy's eyes. He removes his virtual goggles.

"Damn."