Drabble: 'Give Him An Inch'

[dwgm]

Here's my entry for the drabble theme of the week, angsty and unbetaed, but exactly a hundred words...



~ Give Him An Inch ~


The blade'd been broken, but it'd been deadly sharp and only an inch away.

Yet the moment was too sweet. He'd had to gloat. "Heady tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand."

"You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow!"

Lord, that was rich, coming from Jones. "Cruel is a matter of perspective," Jack had replied, with gentle malice.

"Oh, is it now?"

The scene played behind Jack's eyes, over and over, on the way to Tortuga. Almost as bad as the Locker.

One inch to immortality, and happily ever after.

Might as well have been a mile.

~.~

Comments

[peladonww.livejournal.com]

Oh nice one!

[p0wdermonkey.livejournal.com]

Personally, I still think Jack never really wanted to captain the Dutchman - he just wanted to want it because it seemed like a neat way out of his fear of death / the Locker.
But your take on it here really makes sense. It figures that he'd feel bad about losing Liz and Will their 'happy ever after'. Poor Jack!

[salr323.livejournal.com]

Oh this is great. You know, I've often wondered whether Jack regrets not getting his immortality, or if he feels that he had a lucky escape in the end...

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Aww, the last two lines were perfect.

[pink-bagels.livejournal.com]

Nice little shot of lingering regret there :P. Well done!

[honorat.livejournal.com]

You know, that minute of gloating is always one's downfall :D But I like how your last line gives Jones the lie. There are some lines Jack just won't cross. He could have claimed his immortality, but a sense of honour remains a horrible nuisance for that pirate. Nicely done.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[justawench.livejournal.com]

For some reason, this reminds me of Elizabeth chaining him to the mast. Once again, circumstances conspire against him choosing his own ending.

Nice drabble!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I think you're right that he didn't really want to captain the Dutchman. I don't think he'd beat himself up for it for too long, but I can imagine him feeling something of an obligation to Will and Elizabeth for blowing it at the crucial moment. Could lead to all sorts of interesting developments.

Thank you so much for the feedback!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Exactly what I was wondering. I also wonder if he feels some sort of obligation to Will and Elizabeth for blowing that crucial moment. It's an interesting, and complicated, element of the story.

So glad you liked it! Thank you for the feedback.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Love that icon, btw.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you thought it worked.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! You have to wonder if that moment of hesitation that went so terribly wrong haunted him in various ways. Nancy commented at BP Sails that In the end the good man won out over the pirate and he's going to have to square with that someday, and I can totally see Will saying that to him later, can't you?

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Jack forgot his own rule about the opportune moment.

Thank you for reading and commenting -- I'm glad you liked this one!

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

Jack shouldn't regret that delay too much- as it was Will's destiny to be the Captain of the Dutchman, things worked out just as they were supposed to. And, there's always that Fountain of Youth to grant immortality sans any responsibilities.

But I can believe he felt like this for a little while. Nice work!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

I expect Jack would eventually assuage any discomfiture or guilt by siting that destiny thing -- what's a poor little pirate to do in the face of Calypso's will? And sure there's the Fountain of Youth, but I think there'd always be a bit of guilt about Will and Elizabeth's fate. After all, it was his fault they were involved with Davy Jones in the first place.

Glad you liked this -- thanks for letting me know!

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

> After all, it was his fault they were involved with Davy Jones in the first place. <

But again, there's that Destiny argument. It covers a multitude of sins!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

But was Will's destiny sealed before Jack chose to make his deal with Davy Jones?

[torn-eledhwen.livejournal.com]

Lovely.

[sharklady35.livejournal.com]

Who's to say it wasn't? Jack can certainly tell himself that, anyway.

I would certainly want him to find some means to remain his happy, hopeful self, certain that any setbacks he encounters are only temporary.

The saddest Jack fics, IMO, are not the ones where he dies, but the ones where he's robbed of that essential opptimism.

[slashfairy.livejournal.com]

that's a grand insight into that moment.

enlightening comments to it, too.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

It's pretty obvious he was able to come to terms with it, for the most part. He looked pretty content headed out toward Florida in that little boat. That's Jack: the past is past, and that horizon is always calling.

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[geekmama.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you felt it worked to expand on that scene.