Wordsmiths Fiction Week 1: The Disappeared Leader
Hello everyone!
Today, I'm participating in @dove11's Steemit challenge, I am trying to let my imagination soar high. To participate: Enter here: Wordsmiths Fiction Week 1: The Disappeared Leader.
At the heart of the immensity of the ocean, a storm of incredible violence unleashed its furies on a small cargo ship which was struggling desperately against the giant waves which seemed to appear from nowhere, pushing it from all sides in a macabre dance, as if the sea itself wanted to engulf the ship in its unfathomable abyss, on board, a team of Tunisian sailors, united and resolute, guided by Captain Mohamed, a man of experience and character, tried to stay the course despite the fury of the elements, but the navigation instruments were out of order, the compass no longer showed any reference, and the raging waves seemed to engulf the horizon, erasing any notion of direction or reference, the darkness, invasive and oppressive, seemed to want to encompass the whole world in a veil of confusion, and the crew, although united, began to lose hope as the storm raged with unparalleled violence.
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However, against all odds and in a final burst of strength, a member of the crew saw, on the horizon, a blurred shape which was vaguely distinguishable from the marine chaos, a silhouette which, although indistinct, resembled a lost island, a haven which, as improbable as it may seem, seemed to be the only possible escape from this devastating storm, the crew, exhausted but carrying a glimmer of hope, slowly headed towards this land unknown, maneuvering the ship with hesitant gestures, aware that the sea could at any moment engulf them again in its uncontrollable fury, when the boat finally docked on the shore, a thick mist rose little by little, revealing the contours of a dense and hostile island, covered with luxuriant and almost unreal vegetation, as if nature itself were a prison, a trap set for the castaways who dared to set foot there.
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The first days passed in deceptive calm, the crew being busy repairing the damaged ship, but very quickly, the situation turned into a real trap, the ship's engine was completely out of service, the radio mute, and the crew quickly realized that they no longer had any possibility of communicating with the outside world, the resources available on the island were insufficient, and despite the efforts made to find something to survive, the certainty that they were stuck in this hostile and unknown place grew by the day. In daylight, however, it was nothing compared to what was to come.
One morning, when the sea was almost supernaturally calm, strange news shook the crew: Captain Mohamed had disappeared, his cabin was empty, his small boat, usually moored near the ship, was no longer there, and no one knew where he could have gone or why he had disappeared so suddenly, the crew, panicked, launched into a frantic search on the island, scanning the dense jungle, the steep cliffs, and even the sea, but no trace of Mohamed was found, and his absence, as incomprehensible as it was, gave way to a void as deep as the sea itself.
The members of the crew, overwhelmed by uncertainty, then turned to Leila, second in command, a woman of strong character, endowed with an ability to remain calm in moments of crisis, but who, despite all her wisdom and pragmatism, could not ignore the terror which, slowly but surely, invaded her heart. to confess, clearly revealed the depth of his doubts.
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Despite the intensive searches carried out throughout the island, no clue could lead to the disappearance of Mohamed, and speculation began to multiply among the sailors, some believed that he had broken under the pressure of the situation, that he had chosen to flee to escape the inexorable grip of the island, while others imagined that he had decided to leave in search of help, hoping to return with a way to save them, however, all agreed on one point : Mohamed had disappeared without a trace, an act totally inconsistent with the man they knew, a man of character, a seaman, a leader whose absence left an immense void.
The nights on the island were marked by strange noises and whispers that the wind carried to their ears, as if nature itself was complicit in Mohamed's disappearance, the members of the crew spoke to each other in hushed tones, whispering increasingly fanciful theories about what had happened, and the island itself seemed to take on an almost supernatural character, as if it were a living entity that hid many secrets, mysteries. that none of them were yet ready to face.
A week after Mohamed's disappearance, when hope seemed to be dissipating definitively, a cry suddenly pierced the silence of the jungle, Mohamed, the missing captain, finally reappeared, haggard and terrified, his eyes filled with deep terror, as if what he had experienced had marked him to the depths of his being, Leila, the first to find him, rushed towards him, but she could not help but feel a shiver of doubt when she saw his appearance and the fear that was read in his eyes, "Where have you been? What happened?" she asked in a trembling voice, uncertainty and fear in her words.
Mohamed, after a moment's hesitation, launched into a story that defied logic, a story that even the most skeptical of sailors could not ignore, "I heard voices," he said in a hoarse, almost breathless voice, "They called to me, guided me into the jungle, to a hidden place, an old structure, a temple abandoned for centuries, lost and forgotten by all." Leila, while listening to him, felt a strange atmosphere weighing on them, as if each word spoken by Mohamed added to the heaviness of the air which surrounded them. “And there I saw things… Creatures, shadows, visions that defy belief.”
The sailors, although hesitant to believe this fantastic story, felt that a strange force enveloped them all, the island, the sea, Mohamed... everything seemed to be intertwined in an increasingly unfathomable mystery, the rational explanation became more and more distant, and each story, as absurd as it may seem, seemed to inscribe a new chapter in the mystery of their situation, but despite the doubts and questions that remained, the group managed to leave the island, aboard their repaired ship, but nothing would ever be the same again. Mohamed, although he became himself again, never stopped talking about the voices and the creatures he had seen, and everyone knew that he would never return to the reality they knew before, the island remained there, a secret buried in the eternal mist, a place where the mysteries remain indecipherable, hidden from the eyes of those who still dare to believe in them.
Thank you very much for reading, it's time to invite my friends @impersonal, @max-pro, @pathanapsana to participate in this contest.
Best Regards,
@kouba01
