Message In A Bottle

A Fishermans Tale Of Woe- modern fairytale

 

To Whom It May Concern,

If this account comes to be in your hands, then I beg that you listen with concern. It is not for myself that I beg- for I cannot be saved. Neither should you heed me if I beg that you visit merciful death upon me, for my soul would be lost and redemption for my sins denied.

Best ignore the lonesome cries of a loathsome heart. Despite anything that I may say in the foreseeable future, please understand that I am a wretched excuse for a man who has been made to exist within this shallow abyss of misery and despair and, as such, I am prone to bouts of suicidal depression.

It was not always this way with me.

I was once a humble fisherman named Timothy Smith who worked hard to support the family I adored. My wife, Hanna, and my children, Richard and Helen, were my main priority in all aspects of my existence. That is, until I heard the voice of the woman in red call to me.

It began when I was onboard my fishing vessel and was caught in a storm. My crew and I worked hard to guide us safely through the raging torrent, but when we heard her voice we were all stilled in an instant; enraptured by the sinister beauty of her tone.

In our distraction we did not anticipate the almighty wave that crashed upon us, rendered me unconscious and rolled the boat and all upon her beneath the waves of the salty b***h of an ocean. I awoke submerged beneath the turbulence and struggled to reach the surface so that I could breath. As I ascended my crew floated lifeless around me and I wondered how I had come to remain alive while they had perished.

I swam endlessly upwards, but seemed to make little or no progress in the murky gloom. After a futile and fleeting struggle I felt the strength leave my limbs and my lungs fill with the salty b***h’s waters. I surrendered to her urge for me to sleep eternally in her cold heart and the world fell into darkness.

When I awoke the second time I found myself on the beach not far from my home. The most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on cradled me in her arms and looked at me with kind concern,

‘How fare thee man of the sea?’ she asked melodically.

I coughed and gasped in sudden panic and leapt up to search for my crew- hopeful that the vision of their demise had been an illusion of the mind. I scanned the moonlit sands in anxious search of the living, curious as to why the skies were suddenly so clear and bright, but then she spoke and I calmed in an instant of hearing her sweet resonance.

‘Your kin are no more my sweet. I chose you, not they- for you are my one true love.’

My heart yearned to be broken at the loss of my crew of close friends and relatives, but her words pleased and placated me in a way that I had never before experienced.

I owed her my life.

I was hers and she was mine.

That was all that mattered in the world to me in that enchanting moment.

 The woman in red wanted more.

‘Tell me Timothy. What lies in the way of us being together? What could possibly prevent us from being as one for eternity?’

I thought to ask of her how she knew my name, but, as her words progressed, my heart leapt with joy and, forgetting my concern, I turned back to her to say with unbound fervour,

‘Nothing will stop the love that beats longingly in my humble heart for you, my darling. I am yours forever more.’

I meant each and every word with a passion that would still the tide and that was when the woman in red reminded me of the truth,

‘How then shall you be rid of your wife?’ she asked me, her question a blunt reminder of Hanna’s existence.

My memory of Hanna was one of deep love and friendship and so I replied,

‘I cannot rid myself of my wife, my love. She has done no harm to me.’

The woman smiled sweet temptation toward my mesmerised eyes and ordered,

‘Bring her to the beach and I shall rid of her on your behalf. Do it now or I shall return to the watery depths and never return.’

I did not think and obeyed her in an instant. I ran, nay sprinted, the beach to the grassy hill that led to my home and begged my wife to assist me on the beach.

‘The boat capsized and Tommy is hurt on the rocks.’ I lied.

 Hanna loved her cousin Tommy as if he were a sibling and she followed to assist me without question. Hanna spoke to me as we hurried back to the beach, but I could not capture neither meaning nor sound of her words. Only the distant song of yearning love could I hear and it lulled me to its source with ease.

‘Where is he?’ my wife raged around as we set alighted upon the sand.

I made to answer, but the words stuck in my throat as Hanna was pulled from me and dragged screaming to the sea. So quickly did it happen that I did not see who or what had taken hold of her; only a blur of crimson gave a clue as to the identity of my wife’s abductor.

The culprit soon returned and held me captive in her sea green eyes.

‘There is more besides that you must sacrifice for my love is there not?’ she bade me.

‘No! Not my children!’ I begged, but she touched me with ice cold fingertips and the spell on me increased.

I returned home and brought my children from their beds. I carried the mites to shore and gave them up in offering to my true love and then she sang me the words to her song,

‘Behold my dress of crimson red

 The stain of your kinds thirst for bloodshed

The ink that you left on my skin

When you murdered my kith and kin

Behold! I deliver this eye for an eye

Loved ones avenged with love's sacrifice

And thy own perfect penance shall be

To deliver a message to your kind from me

You shall dwell in my waters

From near to far

To tell all the tale as the bottle you are.’

As the woman in red revealed the truth to me I began to gradually shrink and solidify at her feet. My body came to be glass that reflected the cold light of the moon and my mind nothing more than a piece of scripted parchment- a story of folly and woe to be told to any who care to look.

When my transformation was complete the woman in red held me in her grip and said,

‘You have lost your family as I have lost mine and now you must travel the oceans like the discarded rubbish your kind pollute my body with. I’d say that makes us even.’

There was no love, nor compassion in her eyes now, only malice and contempt. I had been bewitched by the salty b***h that all seafarers fear and she had taken everything I had.

Tendrils of red rose up around the woman and then fell as ocean water that swept me out to sea.

If you have read this and care for my well-being, please do not destroy me. Place me back into the jar and release me back into the loving arms of the salty b***h.

 

 

 

Author's Note

I'm sort of proud of this cos I wrote it in under an hour from the picture prompt. It's written for a contest, but all feedback is, as always, greatly appreciated.

Reviews

[Wicahpi]

Wow! I was swept away into this story/letter write away!
I wasn't sure exactly what the tale would be, but had an idea,
though never saw the 'bottle' coming. Just wonderful.
I love how you told this tale with that 'voice' and wrote
it as a letter (message in a bottle) as it turns out.
Cleverly told. So captivated was he that he sacrificed
his own family for her love, not seeing the truth.
I like this twist of fate. Excellent entry into my
Bewitched contest. This is the third entry I've read
thus far. All three just wonderful! Good Luck!