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Challenge: Hope
March 10, 2004

By Geek Mama
March 10, 2004

~ The Blade of a Sword ~

"…And for these crimes you have been sentenced to be on this day, hung by the neck until dead. May God have mercy on your soul."

This was it, then. The end of hope, he thought, as the executioner put the heavy hemp rope around his neck and tightened the knot.
The `hempen jig' – he'd seen others dance it, of course. Some of `em spittin' death in the eye; others weepin' like women. He'd go for the spittin' himself, thank you very much. So as not to tarnish the legend.

And the girl was out there, too, somewhere. The rum burner. He almost smiled.

He tried to pray, but failed as usual. They'd talk face to face soon anyway, eh?

A bit of commotion—was it just anticipation rippling through the crowd? But wait—there was someone…in a bloody great hat!

The trap was thrown and his eyes widened in terror as the deck vanished. And then his booted toes and his life suddenly caught and
balanced on the blade of a sword, the commotion turned to a roar, and hope sprang anew as the son of his best friend once again did
something stupid.

Maybe God had heard anyway.

By Kayden Eidyak
March 10, 2004

~ Hope Prevails ~

In the coming light
A Sparrow took flight.

To seek a treasure
Beyond all measure.

Long he sought
And tarried not,

For a chest of gold
In stories told.

A game was played,
The crew betrayed.

Left alone,
No place was home.

One last shot,
It's all he's got.

Ten years yearning,
Revenge was burning.

A by-chance duel
With a blacksmith fool,

Put lives in motion
That were nobody's notion.

Sail to the cave,
The fair lady to save.

A battle of wits,
One ship blown to bits.

Marooned once more,
Rescued by the Commodore.

Return once more to the cove,
To fight amongst the golden trove.

A clash between two deathless souls,
Each one with two separate goals.

A resounding boom,
Of echoing doom.

Return the token,
The curse is broken.

Darkness fails,
Hope prevails.

By Otherhawk
March 10, 2004

~ Almost ~

"Some people are simply hopeless," she told the deck of the Black Pearl angrily. It made no answer that she understood, but doubtless if her so-called Captain had been there he would have come up with a translation that covered exactly why he was not to blame and why she should show him some respect before getting round to asking exactly what it was he had done. The thought of that conversation made her hand itch.

The other three crewmembers who had likewise been left on board, while the Captain and the rest of them enjoyed a depraved time
ashore, stayed out of her way, especially after she started practicing knife-throwing, growling "Bloody Sparrow" and taking a
swig of rum with each accurate shot.

Then he came stumbling on board, and, with barely a glance at the expression on her face and the knife in her hand, swaggered on up to her. He leaned in close to her and, ignoring her attempts to speak, pressed something into her hand.

"S'not black," he muttered seriously and then staggered off towards his cabin.

Frowning she looked down at her hand. It was a necklace, a single pearl held in a delicate shell wrought in gold. The workmanship was amazing. She knew that this had not been part of the swag they'd taken lately; he must have bought it himself. For her.

She gazed at the door that had just swung shut for a long moment, then resumed her knife practice, this time with a smile on her face.

By Eledhwen
March 10, 2004

~ Hoping ~

Jack Sparrow had always been an optimist.

When he walked the Black Pearl’s plank, he hoped he would not drown.

Sitting on his island, he hoped rescue would come swiftly.

During ten years of wandering, he hoped Barbossa would do nothing to harm his lady.

When the opportune moment finally arrived, he hoped devoutly that young Will Turner would not do anything stupid. Then, he found himself hoping that the blacksmith would do something stupid, and save him from the gallows.

But as he stood at the Pearl’s helm, he knew that none of the hoping had been in vain.

By AttackRat
March 11, 2004

~ Norrington's Hope ~

Through the chaos taking place around them, Norrington turned his attention away from the obnoxious pirate, and towards his once
intended. Intended was all she ever had been to him; he knew even when she accepted his proposal that she would never be his. Her
heart and soul belonged to another man. He did love her; she meant more to him than she would ever know, and from that love, he found the strength to let her go. He only hoped one day he would find that kind of love again, and that next time his love would be
returned.

By Trinity Day
March 11, 2004

~ All He Has ~

Light didn't reach here, so Bootstrap Bill had no way to measure the time since he had been thrown beneath the sea.

He occasionally saw strange lights and stranger creatures swim by. Creatures every sailor had heard tales of, but even the most superstitious thought too fantastic to be true. Even these creatures avoided Bootstrap's cursed self.

At first he hoped to escape and take revenge on the Black Pearl's crew.

Then he hoped to escape to dry land and see the sun again.

Finally he hoped to choke on the next gulp of sea water and escape it all.

By Estelwolfe
March 11, 2004

~ Watching and Talking ~

By Kelsey
March 14, 2004

~ Hope ~

Hope walked into their lives in the form of a furry black green-eyed kitten. Often ships had cats aboard to mind the rats, but not the Black Pearl. Captain Jack Sparrow didn't like cats. However, Anamaria spotted the cat before Jack could smuggle it off the ship, and stopped talk of getting rid of the creature.

The cat was dubbed "Hope", by Jack of all people, and grew fat on the rats below decks and the fish the crew tossed his way.

The night Jack finally married Anamaria he asked her why she finally said 'yes'.

She said simply, "Hope."

By Sylvia
March 15, 2004

~ Hope ~

Hope springs eternal so they say, but Jack found that particular idea far fetched - especially from his perspective of iron bars and thick stone walls.

What the hell was that? It couldn't be. could it? Hell's teeth but it was! He'd know the sound of his beloved anywhere, under any conditions. The Black Pearl's guns were speaking loudly just outside in the bay. She was so close, so very close.

He ran as he heard the whine of incoming cannon fire. Moments later his hope lay scattered around him, mixed with the fragments of prison dust and shards of moonlight.

By AhiFlame
March 16, 2004

~ Maybe This Time Will Be Different? ~

Jack gently caressed the wooden wheel, running his hands over the wood with an affectionate grin. Tears of joy secretly pricked the back of his eyes, but they didn’t quite make an appearance. He was tempted to let them go, but he knew his crew was still watching, although they had skittered off to their tasks.

Pride and paranoia intertwined, forcing him to keep a commanding composure.

For the first time in years, the dying speck of hope grew to a flame in his heart. Hope that this time would be different.

By Ecri
March 16, 2004

~ Hope's Prisoner ~

He'd long held the hope that she'd one day be his. The only thing that was entirely his own, hope sustained him through dark
days when a memory was all he had of her.

Afraid to be told he was too bold for one of his station, he'd allowed a day in the unspecified future to become all he lived for.

His hope had kept him silent until a sea voyage with a pirate captain had given him his voice. Hope had bloomed. Yes, he'd long held the hope, but he found it was so much better to hold her.

~.~

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