Heaven didn’t look down upon the town of Fairhaven, that much was certain. Abandoned to its own protection, that’s what Eunice thought; created and forsaken.
Fairhaven sat a few miles from the Cape of Verdad, which was a notorious shipwreck spot. There were no rocks in the area, and the coast was clear from at least a mile or two away, but it was cursed by a creature that made its home in a cave inside the cape. Woe betide any ship’s master who saw the cape on a map and assumed, with good reason, that there would be a dock in sight. Many a stranger had made this mistake, looking for a safe haven in a storm or after being lost at sea. Pulling into the cape, they were often bumped from beneath, and then, as they struggled to right themselves and learn what had caused the disruption, the long tentacles would emerge from the water, thick and muscular and full of ill intent. Their weight and force could crack a mast, and the crew was often buried in a fallen sail as the water came on deck, the creature pulling the ship down, down into the depths. Then, as the crew and passengers made their way to the surface, it rose from the murky deep mouth-side-up and swallowed as many as it could.
There had been no serious effort to kill the creature, for what level of force that would require was not easily requisitioned. Fairhaven and its neighbors were not rich or important towns, and the nearest major city had no good interest in helping them. So they were abandoned to their fate. Should a ship not come through, the creature would sometimes surprise fisherman near the shore or recreational swimmers who thought they were safely close enough to the edge of the water. Hunger is a powerful motivator, and if schools of fish or pods of mammals did not venture nearby to satisfy the creature’s needs, it would solve its hunger problem however possible.
This is why Eunice told her brother to visit her by carriage, insisting that he come the long way around the cape. Thinking he would surprise her, Jackson Harburg entered the Cape of Verdad on his way from Crist, a port city just outside the cape. It was the shortest distance, by far, and he assumed there would be a dock near his sister’s home, which he knew was on the water. Once his ship was spotted, the whole community of Fairhaven was alerted that a stranger was in the cape. Anything they could do to warn the ship to turn back was their motivation, and therefore they flew red flags, tried to send morse code through light flashes, anything to prevent another death on their watch.
But Jackson Harburg was a jaunty and arrogant sort who thought it a chuckle that the residents would be so strangely animated about his passage through the clear, calm waters of the cape. He could see the town of Fairhaven coming into view, and was thrilled at the prospect of surprising his sister. He even saw her through his binoculars coming to the edge of the water, and when he saw her face, he didn’t understand the dread fear that was emanating from it. He was so confused that she was not broadcasting joy, and as he pulled the glass away from his face to contemplate this puzzling fact, the first tentacle smashed behind him as another shot up from the sea and wiggled as if to taunt him.
The impact sent Jackson flying forward, and his small ship was shattered. What was intact was already sinking. When the final tentacle slaps occurred, Jackson was getting himself safe of the wreck. He didn’t have time to contemplate what this thing was, just to acknowledge that it was - and was wreaking havoc. No time to waste, he began swimming as fast as he could in his clothes toward the shore, where the cries of the townspeople became louder as he approached. He lungs were pumping, his heart racing, but the adrenalin kept him moving - that was the first time he thought about his three person crew and his wife, Priscilla. He turned to look back, and that was his mistake. It was Eunice’s voice that he heard last as the terrible sucking sound drowned out everything else and he was slurped into the internal guts of the monster of Cape Verdal.
Eunice could not believe he had been so stupid as to ignore her clear instructions, but of course, it was Jackson. Her beloved brother, gone beneath the sea. They could still see the other survivors near the wreck of the boat, until the creature slurped them up as well.
Later that night, under the full moon, Eunice cursed the bay and the creature of the cape. She swore to find some way out of there, and then she was lulled by the beautiful view of the water and the shoreline and the moon and the call of the nightbirds and the songs of the frogs and the dancing fireflies that dotted the path in front of her. She took a deep breath, and realized that this was her place, and she was going to be here, come hell or high water.
October 8, 2022