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Roger Zelazny. And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee


Roger Zelazny. And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee



Preface from Unicorn Variations: Here is another of those
short shorts I dearly enjoy doing when the opportunity and the
idea come together. I tend to see things like this as
single-panel, briefly captioned cartoons--and I work backward a
little from there.




It was with them constantly--the black patch directly
overhead from whence proceeded the lightnings, the
near-blinding downpour, the explosions like artillery fire.
Van Berkum staggered as the ship shifted again, almost
dropping the carton he carried. The winds howled about him,
tearing at his soaked garments; the water splashed and swirled
about his ankles--retreating, returning, retreating. High waves
crashed constantly against the ship. The eerie, green light of
St. Elmo's fire danced along the spars.
Above the wind and over even the thunder, he heard the
sudden shriek of a fellow seaman, random object of attention
from one of their drifting demonic tormentors.
Trapped high in the rigging was a dead man, flensed of all
flesh by the elements, his bony frame infected now by the
moving green glow, right arm flapping as if waving--or
beckoning.
Van Berkum crossed the deck to the new cargo site, began
lashing his carton into place. How many times had they shifted
these cartons, crates and barrels about? He had lost count long
ago. It seemed that every time the job was done a new move was
immediately ordered.
He looked out over the railing. Whenever he was near,
whenever the opportunity presented itself, he scanned the
distant horizon, dim through the curtain of rain. And he hoped.
In this, he was different. Unlike any of the others, he
had a hope--albeit a small one--for he had a plan.

A mighty peal of laughter shook the ship. Van Berkum shuddered.
The captain stayed in his cabin almost constantly now, with a keg
of rum. It was said that he was playing cards with the Devil.

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 Roger Zelazny. And I Only Am Escaped to Tell Thee