First Place: Fiction
Captain Crow Stealing the Moon Anna Valencia, Fayette
Captain Crow was a household tale in the world of Nisby. Legend told that he stole children away and used the, for slaves, but Moon thought otherwise. To her, Captain Crow was a legend that she hoped was true; for her, anything would be better than the life she endured on the vast shore of Nisby. Moon had no future in the Kingdom. She was a blue haired castaway without family, money, or a noble title. She always dreamed of a life sailing sailing the Black Sea with Captain Crow and his castaway children. For she knew that the tales were false, and Crow was a savior for lonely children like her. Every Midsummer’s Eve, Moon would walk to the coast of the Black Sea in her tattered gown, bare feet, and blue wavy hair. She was a known beauty in the land, but she was too poor to mean anything to society. She began her annual trip to the sea with hopes of catching just a glance of Crow and his crew. As usual, Moon took a seat by the shore of the sea, digging her toes anxiously into the red sand. No one in the village understood Moon’s yearly journey to the sea, but that did not trouble her. She knew the purpose of her hopeful trip: Long before Moon’s mother died of the plague, she told Moon the true story of Captain Crow’s passage across the sea every year. So with hope for a better future, every year since her mother’s passing, Moon made the trip in search of a new life. On the seventeenth year in a row of waiting, Moon began to lose hope of the arrival of her savior Captain Crow. She began to think of herself as stupid — stupid for ever thinking that she deserved anything better than the life she had. The wind was howling as usual, but then it suddenly stopped. Still sat by the shore, Moon didn’t think anything of the occurrence. She began to weep. There was a rustle in the nearby bushes. Moon looked up nervously hoping that no one had seen her crying. Then, from down the shore, a tall well fit man in a brown leather jacket and boots made his way down the shore. Moon quickly stood up and wiped her eyes dry. “Who are you?” she stuttered nervously. A boy who looked to be about eighteen years old walked up to Moon with a cocky grin on his face and said, “I am the man you have been waiting for Moon.” Without any hesitation, the boy grabbed Moon’s hand. And with a flash, everything went dark.
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