Daniel bolts down the wharf—a small suitcase filled with clothes in his left hand, guitar case in his right—ticket westward clenched in his teeth. Dreams washing out to sea like the receding tide.
“Wait!” he tries to holler as he thumps his way unapologetically through the crowd, but it’s to no avail.
He has missed the boat.
Daniel shouts a final plea as if the captain can hear him—let alone turn around for the foolish passenger who will one day be late for his own funeral.
“What do I do?” Daniel says aloud, asking no one in particular.
An old man on a nearby bench turns and points his pipe at him. “Guess you better write a song about it.”
So, Daniel sits beside him, takes out his guitar, and begins to pluck a song of hope.
“Good way to kill the time, anyway,” the old man says.
Daniel snorts, strumming away. The man claps him on the back, lets out a smoky cough, and puts the pipe back in his mouth.
Together, they watch the ship sail until it is barely a speck on the horizon.
Thanks so much for reading “Missed the Boat” today. I hope you enjoyed it!
This story was inspired by our previous Fifties by the Fire prompt, Kiowa Boathouse. I simply couldn’t find a way to squeeze it down to fifty words. Check out a slew of incredible fifty-word stories above.
“Missed the Boat” was also inspired by a talented local musician in my area named Miles Taylour. Miles co-runs a local community music space and teaches lessons to the kids in our area (my daughter, included). I heard his song, “A Good Way to Kill the Time” live the other night, and it resonated with me in more ways than one. If you have a couple of minutes, give it a listen below—you’re in for a treat! It’s also available wherever you listen to your music (as well as his full-length album, Dreaming).
Let’s meet this Friday, September 20th for some Fifties by the Fire. The thread will go live at 3:00 PM EST.
Prompt: Write a fifty-word story (fiction, CNF, or poetry) about a dream, or dreaming.
As always thank you to
for providing his photo for our prompt.Have a great week!
Aww, let's hope he gets a second chance. I love where you began and ended this story. Just enough information for your readers' heads to work with. Miles Taylour has an echo of John Lennon in his voice, don't you think? Thanks for sharing it!
“What do I do?” Daniel says aloud, asking no one in particular.
Haven’t we all said that on repeat.