Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Twitter Fiction

Here's the story I posted on Twitter during last week's Twitter Fiction Festival. Each chapter is one tweet. I wrote the story using words and pictograms made with typographic symbols. I hope you enjoy it!


The Caribbean. ~~~~~~~~~~~

1750 ~~ ^ ~~~~~~~~

The 1st days of the voyage were beautiful ~~~~~~~ ^ ~~~~

Then a storm struck /\/\/\/\/\^/\/\/\/\

The mainmast fell with a crash | / __ !

The pilot strove at the wheel and directed the ship to a small isle's cove (\/)

The storm passed. The passengers and sailors rowed ashore. <>==\__/==<>

While repairing the ship, the castaways built a little village of huts under the palms of the shore. ``|`` /\ /\ /\ ``|``

A community formed. They worked on the ship. The island provided for their needs. They watched the horizon. ~~~~~~~~~~~

The Capt. questioned his handling of the storm, his ability to lead the castaways. He thoughtfully watched the waves roll in. ((......

A romance developed between a young sailor, Matthias, and a wealthy trader’s daughter, Loretta. (}{)

The trader reacted to the romance as might be expected >:-(

One day, after several weeks on the island, the seaward gaze of the castaways was rewarded. ~~~~~ ^ ~~~~~~

The islanders rejoiced, until the ship drew nigh. It flew a black flag. 8=X

The Capt. realized there was no time to waste. The sands of the hourglass were running. |X|

The Capt. hatched a daring plan. The women and children were taken to a cave in the forest. ``|`` ((())) ``|``

Some men took defensive positions on the cove's shore, where they had previously moved some of the cannons for protection. /O'==

Some men swam to the damaged ship and hid themselves. Matthias took cover behind a row of barrels. (-)(-)(-)(-)

The pirate ship arrived in the cove. The men on shore created a diversion by opening fire. /O'== * * *

The salvos from shore stopped as the pirates drew closer. The men on the damaged ship swung to the pirate ship with grappling hooks. (* (*

The clang of sabres. 0={----------

The crack of muskets. )=,==< *

Matthias and many others distinguished themselves. The pirates were defeated. Cries of victory replaced the sounds of battle. :-D

On the pirate ship, a map of the island was discovered. -------X

The castaways followed the map and dug a deep pit. \___/

They began to despair. Then a shovel struck something. D---->*

They removed several large chests from the pit. {[-]}

Inside the chests, there were piles of doubloons. @@@@@@@ @@@@@@@                                                                                         
The trader, recognizing Matthias’ valor, offered his share of treasure, and his daughter’s hand, to the young sailor. O<

The Capt. took the helm of the pirate ship and the castaways departed the island well laden with gold. ~~~ ^ ~~~~~~~~

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~~~~~~~~~~ ^ ~

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~~~~~~~~~~~ The End