Captain's Prompt for August: Anchor

Elena had heard the term ‘somebody’s anchor’ before in her life. She never had put very much thought into the idea of it though, the sentiment of the whole thing. That being said, in the line of work she had used to dabble in, deciding to deem someone your anchor was a very bold, and frankly idiotic, idea.

There was no honor among thieves after all, wasn’t that what they said?

For a long time, Marco had been the only people who had come even somewhat close to having her trust. Looking back upon those careless days, she wished to take all of those mistakes back. It was so frustrating, to reply the memories over and over like one of those silent films, and figure out so many different choices she could have made. So many easier paths carelessly tossed aside.

After her days with Marco, she had presumed perhaps Constantine could have been her anchor. By no means at all was he a bad man. On the contrary, to this day she still held him in high regard, as one of the best men she’d ever known. The list was small, but seemed to slowly be growing as she grew further from her shell and purposely made the efforts of seeking good people, instead of bad.

That dream of perhaps trusting Constantine fully was given up, the very instant her mind considered the offer she had been given from Captain Chenbeard, when he’d offered her a place amongst his band of pirates. It was a pleasing thought, but between a new life filled with promise and the chance at dabbling with whatever Constantine might’ve offered her, she would always pick the former.

Today, with every new face she encountered, she was learning quickly how to distinguish anchors. There were shitty anchors, some of the types that were lovely to look at but didn’t do their job of, well, anchoring. Then, there were dependable anchors, these ones usually showing how worn they were, but every time they were tasked with a job, they pulled through.

This pirate crew, whether it was a bright-eyed hopeful seeking adventure, or someone seeking a second chance and redemption like she was, was proving to be nothing but sturdy anchors.

For the first time, she understood what the idea of ‘somebody’s anchor’ meant.