"The Duende" drabbles by Jim M
From Merrin's Journal
The Duende #1
12th April 1926
John, I have not slept for 5 months, I cannot pry from my mind with drugs nor reasoning the look in his eyes before he jumped.. or what I saw come up from the depths of the Ocean to meet him.
He had the look of a mad thing John. He smiled and his teeth were black with blood, he put his head back and he bayed and howled like a dog then he smiled and jumped.
In his eyes, John.. something changed within me. I saw a depth in his eyes John.. a dark terrible depth.
The Duende: Standard Disclaimer
The Duende #2
I must repeat that if I had precognition of the horrors ahead, I should have immediately forfeit my passage on the Duende, a modern steamship of considerable displacement, obligated though I was by purchase of passage and by promise to my friend Merrin Copper.
Although we did not ever afterwards discuss the voyage, Merrin never took again to the water and often in his silences had a drawn, wasted gaze which belay the source of his distraction.
His early passing inspires me to finally unbear myself of the events aboard the Duende- albeit 6 years ago, they haunt me still.
Aboard the Duende. Part 1
The Duende #3
The Duende carried only a light cargo, twelve crew and seven passengers so was four days ahead of schedule when we sighted on the horizon an emergence of unavoidable query, a fracture in the otherwise silken Pacific. Its peaks and slopes glistened blackly, like the slick hide of a sightless thing dragged from the depths.
Our gentleman captain, much against the persuasions of his wife and the elder of his crew ordered that we set course for the island.
A pervasive and inescapable chill renewed within me with each metre closer we came. Merrin spoke quietly with the captain’s wife
Aboard the Duende. Part 2
The Duende #4
After a few hours sailing, strange magnetic disturbances affected the ships mechanical tools and electrical circuits.
We steamed in seeming circles, the compass swinging wildly and were alternatingly awoken by the sudden ignition of all our lights at night or plunged into darkness as they were extinguished during the day.
The captain became ever more agitated, taking infrequent meals by himself and ignoring his frightened wife. He obsessed himself with antiquarian navigation tools and charts. Hourly he sighted and gauged the alien landscape.
Fearing mutiny, Merrin took frequent council with the First Mate assuaging the man’s fears and assuring him.
Aboard the Duende. Part 3
The Duende #5
On the fifth day came the creatures.
Behemoth beasts travelled beneath us at unnatural speeds, sometimes violently moving the ship which wallowed, having lost power that morning. A maddening smell of decaying fish then assaulted us throughout the ship.
On the sixth day, I was roused from a thin sleep by screams from the deck. The Captain had jumped into the sea and had struck out toward the island before disappearing from view. The crew made no move to recover him, despite shrill demands from his wife. Minutes after he disappeared the engines sputtered to life and we gratefully departed.
Another Page From Merrin's Journal
The Duende #6
1st October 1931
John, I beg again your council. Six years have passed and yet every night and increasingly during the days I hear the maddening chanting, I see his eyes over and over
His eyes before he jumped, he stood at the rail; bayed and howled like a dog and then looked at me... I felt an expanse of millennia open within me... his eyes
Later…
My final days will be spent within this library, in my empty home searching, searching. I think I may have found reference within an ancient manuscript to another book, written by a madman…
