Ahab. Ishmael. Mr. Bulkington. A fantastical secret kept for a lifetime.
As the Pequod plunges into the hunt for Moby Dick, Ishmael discovers the power behind Captain Ahab's mastery of the sea lies within the mysterious skills possessed by Mr. Bulkington. And witnesses Mr. Bulkington's fantastical final destiny. Are some secrets worth keeping to the grave?
2018 Florida Writers Association Royal Palm Literary Award winner for Published Short Fiction.At the start of Herman Melville's American masterpiece, Moby Dick, narrator Ishmael takes pains to describe the appearance in Peter Coffin's New Bedford inn of Mr. Bulkington, who surely hails from Appalachia, and his popularity among his shipmates. After a four-year voyage, Bulkington immediately ships again aboard the whaler Pequod, as her pilot, under the command of Captain Ahab. Ishmael remarks that land must scorch his feet. And here Ishmael leaves Bulkington in a stoneless grave of words. He asks us to imagine that Bulkington represents the best of them, that he sails bravely and far, hand always to the helm, and as all great sailors do, dies at sea. "In landlessness alone," Ishmael concludes, "resides the highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God." While we know that Bulkington sees the events of Moby Dick to their conclusion, Ishmael never mentions him again after the Pequodputs to sea. In Regarding Mr. Bulkington, Ishmael finally loosens his tongue and reveals the truth behind Bulkington's actions and the friendship they build aboard the Pequod before Moby Dick takes his just revenge.
Approximately 37 pages.
INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
**Q - What is The Masters Reimagined?**A - In The Masters Reimagined, ten authors unite to bring something new to the classic stories of literature we all know so well. Masters like James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, Lewis Carroll, Herman Melville, Leo Tolstoy, and Shakespeare inspired the authors of the Alvarium Experiment in their quest to reinterpret, reinvent, and reshape the stories and characters through speculative twists and turns. This is the third project by the Alvarium Experiment, a consortium of accomplished and award-winning authors.**Q - Where should a reader start when selecting a short story to read in The Masters Reimagined?**A - Each story is self-contained and can be read in any order. The reader is free to select any of the stories at random to begin their experience. The book description will explain the premise for each particular story.
