The Town Square was epitome of organised chaos. The townspeople were here in force and you didn't have to see them to know they were there. The noise coming from the crowd was enough to register as a 4.0 on the Richter Scale. Then there was the band, who had to play louder so that they could be heard. Anyone one with pets at home should ensure that they are safe and well because I'm pretty sure you can hear the noise coming from the town square too.
As soon as we found ourselves in a comfortable nook between the Haggar Family and the Smith Family, both of which boasting about their families having had 2 Captains a piece. How would I describe these boasting sessions? I'd describe them as a big boy willy waving contest, it's that juvenile. Of course everyone is overshadowed by the Alun Family; who have had 6 Captains in their family history, the first being Zadok who was the first person to become adopt the mantle after the original Captain's death. They never shut up about it. You'd think it only happened yesterday the way they tell the story. Before long we were approached by Taylor, the town's doctor and my uncle. He removed my ceremonial hat, ruffled my hair and pulled my hat over my eyes "Ready to make history kid?" he asked before trying to grapple with my father.
Taylor was lucky enough to be good at being a medic growing up. His needlework when giving people stitched led my grandfather to believe he'd make a good tailor, and so Taylor became his name. Grandfather never approved of him becoming the town's doctor but he has been grateful about it ever since he had heart trouble a few years back. Before I could respond, my uncle slapped me hard on the back before offering me a present "Happy Promotion Day." I opened the hastily wrapped gift, it was a bracelet with a Tricorn hat motif. I thanked my uncle as I slowly slipped the bracelet on; before long the current First Mate, Seasick Steve, marches towards the Town Square carrying the Tricorn Hat of The Captain on a ceremonial pillow. Behind him came the Second Mate carrying The Captain's jacket on a similar cushion as well as the Coxswain and Boatswain carrying The Captain's personal weapon Stingray, and The Captain's Watch respectively.
The music stopped and the crowd went silent. The First Mate and crew marched towards the staging ground; the silence was only broken by the sound of the footsteps of the crew. The crew reached the staging ground swiftly and the Promotion Day ceremony began. The band played a short melody to signify the start of the ceremony and soon after the First Mate spoke "Welcome Steamwood to Promotion Day!" The crowd went wild with applause, whistling and hooting "Honour Guard!" cried the First mate and a dozen people dressed in bright royal blue jackets stepped up and formed a tunnel in front of the staging area; the First Mate the stood down from the podium and walked through the honour guard tunnel to the staging area carrying the Captain's Tricorn Hat. Two crew mates stepped up and opened up the hatch on the staging area revealing the pool in which all Promotion Day; the First Mate then dropped the Captain's Hat into the pool, the hidden weight pulling the hat to the bottom of the 20 metre deep pool, as soon as the hat touched down two sharks came swimming furiously into the pool. "Will the chosen please take their places!" a cry came from the Coxswain. I slowly made my way to the staging group, everyone else who was taking part rushed to get there first. We all lined up in our special Promotion Day clothes ready to take the plunge.
About the Creator
Alan Walker
Part-time Avid Gamer, self appointed nerd, and volunteer Karate Instructor
Long time reader, first time blogger
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Fudge Pt. 2
It was dawn over Wightland; not that you could ever tell given the fact the town of Steamwood was subterranean. Our little town was formed during the golden age of piracy when a pirate crew led by Captain Saint set up a hideout in an undiscovered cave on the Isle of Wight. Over the years their little hideout became fishing village and son after a small town, it's hard to believe anyone could grow crops underground but here we are, the town has survived for centuries because no one knows we're here.
By Alan Walker3 years ago in The Swamp
Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat4 days ago in The Swamp
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