[SFX: beneath a stormy sea, bubbles]
[Music: piercing flute, like a siren song]
[THE BUBBLES RISE AND THICKEN AND THEN –]
[SFX: SPLASH! We’re above ground. A musket shot, footsteps pounding through brush]
SIVA
(panting in terror) Ah! Ah!
SOLDIERS
(distant, overlapping voices) After him! That way, come on, with me! No, that way! Come aground!
[SFX: a wave crashes over the scene and we cut to: a crew cheering, wind in the sails. The captain speaks –]
GAMMON
(slow, victorious) My girls return! (louder) And they’ve only gone and got the bloody swag!
[SFX: He kicks something over. Small metallic pieces – gold coins – pour onto the deck, rolling off in all directions. CHEERS! FOOT-STAMPING! PIRATES!!!!]
[THE CHEERS FADE INTO THE RUMBLINGS OF A FARAWAY STORM. EVERYTHING IS quiet and hushed - a burnt-out-sounding husk of a place. Distantly, insects buzz. Pottery crunches underfoot.]
[MUSIC FADES IN. IT SOUNDS – IS THERE SUCH A THING AS LIVELY AND MOURNING?]
NOOR
(echoey) Oh Allah, elevate her station among those who are guided. Send her along the path of those who came before, and forgive us and her, oh Lord of the worlds…
[MUSIC KICKS UP A NOTCH]
Enlarge for her her grave, and shed light upon her in it.
[SFX: Thunder rolls, waves crash along the deck]
ALESTES
(audibly grinning) Storm’s right where we want it, Baker. Better get your arse in gear. Brace on my command.
Ready – set –
[SFX: the wind changes, catching in the sails. ALESTES laughs to herself – anticipation, delight, freedom.]
[THEME MUSIC]
VOICE
Rusty Quill Presents: Trice Forgotten. Premiering August the second, 2022, wherever you get your podcasts.