SciFi/Fantasy – December 4

“A misfortune has occurred so unexpected and so horrible that my little escape of the morning dwindles into insignificance.”
– J. Habakuk Jephson’s statement to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle about his experiences aboard the brigantine Mary Celeste, which on this date in 1872 was found adrift off the coast of the Azores.

Deserted — the captain’s table was set with an uneaten meal, and the lifeboat was missing — there was only slight damage to the ship’s rigging, and its cargo of 1,700 barrels of alcohol was intact.

The mystery of its abandonment and the fate of its crew and passengers remains unsolved.

Writing prompt: Write a scene in which your protagonist explores a similarly inexplicable discovery.

One Response to “SciFi/Fantasy – December 4”

1. David B. Schlosser says:

   10 December 2011 at 8:52 am

   Slate magazine runs a story, The unluckiest ship ever to sail the seven seas, sub-headlined, “In 1872, the crew of the Mary Celeste disappeared without a trace. Her story only got weirder from there.”
   http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2011/12/the_mary_celeste_the_unluckiest_ship_to_ever_sail_the_seven_seas_.single.html

   Reply

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