《The Small Sealmen of Sharpy Island》Chapter 11: Babbling and Blame
Advertisement
Minnie was carried in from the beach by William and Jerome- William carried her upper body and spoke words of reassurance to her, while Jerome took care of her legs. The way in which she was transported would have been incorrect and unprofessional from a medical standpoint, but the goal had been to get her safely into the house as soon as possible. The two men laid her on a long sofa in the sitting room as the remaining occupants gathered around her.
"I will go fetch Jane to prepare an ice wrap for her head," the butler announced as he slinked off.
Minnie was clearly injured and not entirely lucid, though it was also clear her head-first run into the rock had not incapacitated her in the way those observing from a distance had first assumed. Though her eyes were closed and her body limp, she was babbling softly, over and over.
"The...sealman..." she uttered, still shrill as ever despite her volume.
"The...salmon?" repeated William, not understanding fully, "what is it, dove?! What about salmon?"
"The sealman..." Minnie said again, out of it and unaware.
"I think she's saying 'wheelman'," offered Augusta, also mishearing, "is that what she'd call the captain of a ship, driving at the front? Did she see a captain behaving improper?"
"The....sealman..."
"I...I think she's saying 'the sealman' over and over," remarked Albert, the only one hearing clear. He looked over to Sophia, but her sad eyes remained still.
"'The sealman'?" William asked, clearly taken aback. "But...why on earth would she say that?"
Jerome rushed back into the room. "Excuse me, sir, I have the ice." The others stepped back to allow the man to lay it on Minnie's head.
Advertisement
"Jerome," William ventured, "what is it that you hear Minnie saying?"
"Sir?"
"She keeps repeating something."
The butler stood quiet a moment as Minnie again spoke "the sealman".
"...I hear something that should not be spoken of in polite company, but that comes from a man and contributes to the creation of life...sir."
William shook his head, though still a bit shocked. "No, no, Albert was right. It is definitely 'sealman'. Jerome, please send for a doctor at once."
"Yes, sir, I will call right away." The butler again left.
"Oh, my dove, my sweet dove," William exclaimed, grasping his young bride's hand.
"So if she's saying 'sealman'," Sophia now spoke, her expression unreadable, "could it be she's seen one too?"
There was a tense silence in the room for a moment. Then, with a sad sigh, William looked to his daughter.
"Oh, Sophia," he moaned, "what have you done?"
"...me?" Sophia asked, clearly perplexed.
"William, what do you mean?" added Augusta, confused as well.
"You haven't been up in your room all this time at all, have you?" He father continued, "you were on the beach, scaring poor Minnie!"
"W-what?" Sophia took a step back. Once again, the tears began to swell in her eyes.
"Did you take a seal head from your room and hold it up to your face and jump out at her? Poor Minnie was adequately terrified, I hope you're proud! That's where you've been all morning, isn't it! Now look at my wife thanks to your juvenile and cruel prank...oh...oh Minnie..."
"F-father..." was all Sophia could sputter.
"William, Albert and I saw Sophia when Minnie was already hurt," said Augusta, "there's no way she could have been on the beach..."
Advertisement
William said nothing, just continued to cradle his wife's limb hand.
"The...sealman..." Minnie repeated.
Sophia could not take it- the accusations of the previous night had already stung and kept her up all night sobbing. That her father continued to doubt her and accuse her of such harmful trickery was devastating. At once Sophia took off running, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Albert looked to his mother as she ran off. He clearly was troubled to see his non-biological cousin upset but unsure the proper approach.
"Go after her," Augusta stated, and turned back to William. "You have to stop accusing Sophia of these terrible things, William. You are traumatizing her."
Albert rushed off after Sophia as William shot a death glare at Augusta.
"I'M traumatizing her?" William exclaimed, "do you not see Minnie right now? There was no mention of the absurd notion of sealmen prior to Sophia's antics yesterday. And you saw how much Sophia wanted us to believe her story, insane as it was! Now Minnie is gravely injured, and babbling about sealmen- you can't tell me there's not a connection. If Sophia didn't go down to the beach and scare her, she must have put the idea in poor Minnie's mind somehow. Minnie did say she was gping to check with Sophia before she went swimming."
"You know Minnie didn't actually check with Sophia," said Augusta.
"What I know is Minnie is laying here hurt and speaking of fictional creatures- creatures Sophia made up." He too had tears swelling up at the corner of his eyes now. "I had hoped us coming to Sharpy Island together would help improve our relationship as a family but we're not but a day into our stay and..."
"Oh, William," Augusta sighed, "you had good intentions..."
"I don't want to believe this is all just Sophia but...what other explanation is there? Sealmen? It was bad enough when she was just fixating on the idea herself but now it's harming others..."
"Oh, William..."
"What other explanation can there be, Augusta?"
The woman sat in thought a moment, her head bowed.
"I...I can't think of any other explanation," she answered glumly. "But it just doesn't seem like Sophia..."
William nodded, a single tear rolling down his cheek that he quickly brushed away. "No, it does not seem like her, but it's...it's the truth we must address." He rose to his feet, looking around.
"Jerome!" He called out.
"Yes, sir?" Jerome's voice called back from a room or two over.
"I need you to contact another doctor as well. Please summon Dr. Vesuvius Gramheist- he's in the city, but I will pay for all his travel costs and arrangements."
Advertisement
Pins or Die!
Neku Sakuraba is your average teenager, he aspires to be the ultimate emo and nothing more. His life radically changes when he's dragged into the troubles of a random girl. Suddenly, Neku finds himself in the middle of a dangerous conflict. He discovers his latent talent to wield magical pins, which become his weapon of choice to defeat his pursuers. Every new enemy is stronger than the previous, and Neku's pins always look crappy in comparison. Will Neku defeat the vastly superior enemies? Can he ascend the ladder to become the strongest pin user in the world!? Note: Other than borrowed sprites, character names and pins - there's no real connection between this story and The World Ends With You. You neither need to play the game first, nor will this story spoil the game.
8 453Beware of Zombies
Hey, I'm Chase Cross, the main Protag, in this zombie flick. You may be wondering what this is about and that is a good question. See I was just an ex-gangsta trying to go clean. Running a Computer Cafe with Virtual Reality Sets for the low low. I thought I was doing an amazing job, I was making above what I was expecting. The place kept itself busy, there wasn't much gun voilences as I thought it would be on a main street. To top it off, I was going to ask this beautiful nerdy girl out on a date.. And then this thing happen. The world decided it wants to nom nom on people's faces. My world was ruin from day one of the mass festival, like did I really care that someone was eating someone else? No, I did not. Like its fine if you went to a apples bs or something and order cripsy steak but they give you a rare.. It's the same damn thing for zombies. Zombie Lives Matter too.. Which is why I am a proud supporter of staying away from populations capable of turning into one and nomming on me.. Well, given that I have some kind of mutant power and that local government want to draft those of my kind to fight against the zombie mutant kind. Well, how quaint can life get?
8 74Domain Of Voids
Issac Wolfe is a washed up detective who thinks he has lived his life completely and has no purpose in the world anymore. He lives his life in solitude, in his office turned apartment in the fictional city of Hawkesbay. Everyday is just like it should be Issac drinks, smokes eats and sleeps, but fate has something else for him and he still hasn't seen all that life has to offer him.
8 105Loot Sisters
Loot Sisters is a light-hearted flash fiction serial of 100-word episodes inspired by RPGs and hunting for quests. I don't have a set plan for where the story goes, as each week, I write my story around three random words posted weekly on The Prediction (an online flash fiction challenge group). I hope you enjoy the story! :) My characters include Maya (the narrator and a bit of a rogue-like character), Vera (our healer/mage), Felicia (resident navigator and lover of gadgets), and Rach (a fighter/brawler). Cover illustration is of Maya by Luminita Pham.
8 89Random memes and quotes
Way to light up your dark days..And a way to darken your light days.. I do not own any of these creative pictures. I just love memes/quotes and want to share them here. Including:-fanarts -Quotes-Gifs-funny expressionsmost memes:Games (especially DBH)Anime
8 155,,Fan"
TAEHYUNG POV.What are you doing here? - I asked. Can I come in first? - Jungkook asked as I nodded and let him inside, closing the door behind him. Kookie took off his mask and hat then looked at me.Are you okay? - He asked......As Jungkook posted photo on instagram he looked back at Taehyung.Muffin, I think that I can't to control myself anymore. - Jungkook said.Then don't control it. - Taehyung said.
8 138