I can’t say it enough–thank goodness for writing prompts.
A pair of gannets wafted on a dying breeze towards the roughly hewn ship’s deck.
The near absence of wind distressed the captain. Violent waves and chilling gales eased his seafaring mind while on a quest. Instead, he heard a susurrus of undulating water, whispering, whimpering, whittling at the wooden brown hull of his vessel to join ship.
Like the twilight dissolving into true night, disquiet settled upon him.
Placing his right hand in the pocket of his woolen, double-breasted coat, he fingered the talisman that had sparked this adventure. The amulet’s amber stone warmed and began to swirl within its silver casing. He didn’t need to see its reaction to know he was close to achieving his boon. It pulsed a faint, orange glow once while it read his thoughts.
In tandem, the gannets, sensing the supernatural, let out strangled squawks and ascended into the crisp night on black-tipped wings, abandoning their pilfered shad.
Sequestered once again, the captain shuddered against the night, the sea, his quest. His leaden fingers fumbled at fastening the tin buttons of his coat, a desperate attempt at protecting him from the evil that lay ahead.
Mrs. Ram's Jams 