This week's prompt reminded me of Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits. Hence, I give you The Flight of the Tesla, a whimsical look into a special night when pirates may not be so...piratical.
Here's the prompt:
The Flight of the Tesla
The crew was gasping in the thin air.
“Keep peddling, Men!” Master Krugler shouted, again. His admonitions had become monotonous, and so were ignored by all of us trying to fuel our aching muscles with the altitudinous atmosphere.
Maricia, sitting next to me, grunted. Although she could hold her own in a tavern melee, and had beaten most of the crew in arm wrestling, she did not appreciate being lumped in with the “men.” Rather than calling the Master out as she might have done at a lower altitude, though, she simply kicked her efforts up a gear. The meter mounted to the front of her lectromagical cycle shot around the dial and her credit counter clicked up at an alarming rate. The rest of the Peddling Crew redoubled our efforts to keep her from claiming more than her share of the booty. Master Krugler just sat back with a satisfied smile.
After the sun set, and night fell, the Master signaled for us to slow our efforts, as he worked his levers to bring this lectromagical pirate ship, the Tesla, to hover over the tiny, sleeping village.
As we drifted over the village, the Grappling Crew dropped their lines with fireproof canvas bags down the houses’ chimneys. With a flick of their wrists, the bags’ sutures were released, and the toys and fruits they carried spilled across many hearths. A moment later, tugs on the lines told the Grapplers that our gifts had been received, and they hauled them back aboard laden with cookies, cakes, and even a rhubarb pie.
At the village’s end, the Master shouted, “Fly away, Men.” Then he gave a wink to Maricia. “We’ve many more stops to make to atone for a year’s worth of piracy this Christmas Eve.”
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