i love the imagery, you paint a perfect picture with your words alone, a rare talent these days ^^
it makes your imagination run wild with possibility and questions of whats to happen next, or what could happen.
Loved it :3

why thank you so very very much... that was so nice of you to say... I do believe I am blushing...

*hugs...

V.

So how DID they run aground in a canal?

We hit an uncharted rock. it actually wasn't any fault of ours. As I recall... cough cough cough... we moved over slightly so a very large freighter could get by on our port side. I was on the mess deck and it was like being on an elevator. All of a sudden the deck just lifted up. Forget training - the mess deck immediately emptied as everyone rushed to the main deck to see what we hit. The only damage we had was a few sprung plates in the hull which gave us a very minor leak.

This captain was very unlucky. We actually hit the pier at base Boston head on while trying dock. That put a big old half moon in the bow and required an extensive welding job.

V.

You have such a way of threading together an image of the story around the reader. Everyone takes a shot at being a writer, but you are a true naturally born storyteller and I think that takes on a little more with the title.

*gives him such a hug... you're so very kind Quiet... really really and thank you...

V.

Many times those hearing those stories think they are just made up... or stretching the a long way. May later find they were true and many times down playing the events that happened. I have been out in 60 to 100 foot swells when fishing in Southeast Alaska... It wasn't bad when they were a quarter to half mile apart... It's when they start stacking up at 300 feet apart things get nasty!

Great story my dear and I see you have moved Wackadoodle forward in time...

nooooooo... that was just me visiting a place I love to go. It's still the late 1800's.

I was stationed up in Alaska on a buoy tender. You're right about the waves in the Gulf up there. One time even the captain was sea sick and he was about as salty as they come - the cranky old despot.

V.

This was a lot of fun. I agree with JessiyWolf and femmpaws; you've always had an absolute gift for storytelling. The way you meld the discussion between the author and the characters is seamless and works perfectly. It doesn't feel like 'breaking the fourth wall' so much as the most entertaining version of 'talking to yourself.'

Alas, I have no sea stories. I've been on the Gulf of Mexico in a small boat, near where I grew up, but that's it. And somewhere between my youth and a few trips on Kath's cabin cruiser a little while back I seem to have lost my taste for it.

taking a ride on Kath's boat had to be an adventure all by itself... yes I'm smiling...

Thanks so very much Wire, you always have the nicest things to say and that keeps me going...

V.

Just hold your breath and close your eyes, hmmm? I'll have to remember that pro tip next time I have to shoot. Maybe it will improve my score.

sometimes it does... when it comes to line guns it comes down to luck more than anything because you really don't get to practice with them.

V.

Captain Tabor, huh?

he often pokes his head into my thoughts... as does a certain pig...

V.

I know I'm very likely not the first to say this, but you have a real skill for drawing the reader in and keeping them there until the last line, nothing there to take you out of it.

Seeing that this one is likely based on personal experience, I'll admit to have not been expecting the Whackadoodle Inn scene at all, it was a nice surprise and the segue was done brilliantly.

*chuckles... I wasn't expecting it either...

V.

oh absolutely...

V.

*laughs... that was me sitting with Wirewolf. The story I wrote for my granddaughter (almost done) is the fault here because I went there in person. It's meant as a legacy as sorts as I took my granddaughter there and left her so she know the critters I know as friends. Never fear, Vixyy and the group took good care of her (including a certain desk matron named Bering). During the course of the writing, there I was sooooo...

V.

Vixyy wanders in and out of various realities...if you haven't already noticed.

You do tell a great tale, and your narratives that are based on personal experiences place the reader in a front row seat. As you've said yourself, you just start and let the story unfold in front of you. Tabor is still one of the best books I've read.

Now you made me smile so big... I loved Tabor... it had so many many really good characters to work with, and they never let me down.

V.