A short unfinished story using the numbered words.
It’s a class assignment for grade four.
See what you can do with it.
Continue the story.
Use the words and create a new story.
Use the words and write sentences.
1) Courageous
2) Fearless
3) Fierce
4) Dream
5) Pirate
6) Octopus
7) Triplets
8) Groan
9) Whine
10) Scream
11) Interrupt
12) Problem
13) Complain
14) Narrative
15) Rhythm
16) Introduction
17) Giggle
18) Order
19) Island
20) Angrily
21) a bit past her prime
22) relative safety
Red sails and wooden teeth
“Heave ho,” the mate shouted. The crew began lifting the heavy ropes that had just been untied from the harbour moorings. People on the dock waved. Some faces were sad and some were smiling. The crew was too busy to notice.
A wooden vessel, proudly flying the Union Jack, Excelsior was a bit past her prime and the deck groaned as if in protest to the many feet that crossed it.
Captain Nathan Fletcher stood quietly, resting his large hands on the ship’s railing. His face was serious and his eyes stared past the crowd at something only he could see. He was used to problems both on and off the ship. He didn’t like them, but he was prepared to deal with them. This was certainly not his first trip, but the news of pirate attacks made the potential for danger that much greater.
Fletcher was as fearless as any man who’d faced storms, sharks, at least one octopus, and more than his share of difficulties. This ship was under his command and he’d see her and her crew safely home, as he had countless times.
Excelsior had a new crew on this voyage and a few of the old crew were not on board. Ship’s crew was always a varied group of seasoned sailors, raw recruits and men with few other options. This trip featured a ship’s doctor – whose glass eye spent as much time in a glass as it did in it’s scarred socket, triplets-identical down to their footwear -when they wore any, and a giant who whistled. His cheerful whistle almost made people forget his size.
Excelsior’s captain had heard them complain about the food, and the work they had to do. Later he’d listened, taking care not to interrupt, as his first mate delivered a chilling narrative of a typical voyage. He watched the men ‘s faces as they struggled to appear courageous in front of their friends and shipmates.
Fletcher took his morning walk, as he did everyday in good weather.. Moving quietly around the ship he observed, and was observed by, the crew. A few weeks into the voyage a rhythm could be seen in the crew’s routine. Tasks were done carefully and efficiently, and there wasn’t too much time wasted.
Late that night a mournful sound could be heard. Men edged uneasily to the side of the ship. Sounds of Sorrow became shrieks of stark terror. The crew fell back from the rail as if scalded. Some falling, stumbling over their friends as they scrambled for the relative safety of the deck’s center.
Skip to content
duplezwrites 