A Grave For Two Brothers

When I first thought about what I might write about for this graven short story, I had always assumed that I would write about a woman. I love reading about women and their stories, so I just assumed that I would be writing about them too. So I was surprised when this grave caught my attention. It's a single grave for two brothers, and the inscription says:

Erected in Memory of

CAPT.

ISAAC TOMPKINS,

aged 27 years and

DAVI

S S. TOMPKINS

aged 19 years,

sons of

Mr. Benjamin Tompkins

and Deborah his wife.

They sailed from Norfolk,

Va. Aug. 24. 1826.

in the brig MARY-ELIZA,

bound to Antigua

and have never since been

heard of.

This grave immediately seemed to me like an extremely interesting prompt for a story, because no one is really sure of how the story of these brothers ends. I think its cool how the two sailed from Norfolk on August 24, two days before my birthday which is on the 26. Because of this little coincidence, I think that I'm going to have the brothers meet misfortune on my birthday. It may be a bit morbid, but I think that would be pretty cool and personal for me, the author.

One thing I love about this grave is that it leaves numerous questions unanswered. Why were the two sailing for Antigua? Was it a business trip or something else? Did the two brothers get along? How long had Isaac been a captain? Was the Mary-Eliza an old ship? Why did Davis accompany Isaac? But most importantly, what happened to the two? As I pondered the latter, I came up with many different ideas. Maybe Isaac's crew had a mutiny? This would be fun to write about, but kind of cliche. Maybe the ship wreaked. Maybe the ship reached Antigua, but the brothers died before they could return home. Personally, my favorite idea is that one of the brothers killed the other. I'm not quite sure why I like this idea the best, but it was one of the last ones to pop in my head. I think that I'm going to have this happen at one point during the story. How this happens, however, is to later be revealed...

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