DISCLAIMER: I have and never will be Shakespeare, this is just my imagination running wild, and somehow a few characters got caught in the whirlwind of it all.
The small cellar quickly filled with the constant scratching of my quill across the rough parchment. Rolls of parchments filled up as the days passed by and the nights got longer. Words ran as free as ink, flowing from my quill to the paper, but yet I could not rid myself of the memory of two tear filled blue eyes gazing sadly at me.
"Captain Peter Sutton."
I faced the guard. He was a beefy man with sausage like fingers and a boorish face. His small beady eyes lay almost lopsided on his small head, as they glared at me in a condescending manner.
"Your release is called for in two days." He grunted out, before making his way across the corridor in a heavy gait.
I breathed a sigh of relief, at the thought of freedom. For three months I have sat rotting away in this small cell. Painfully, I stood up and made my way to the cell bars, my palm sliding across the cold stone wall as a means of support. When I eventually reached the end, I grasped one of the metal rods that held me in confinement, and stared at the flickering torch that stood on its fixture in front of me.
Thoughts of Viola rapidly entered my mind. How is she? Is she safe? Is she happy? Viola, the saddened young girl who survived a shipwreck on my ship, but lost a brother in the same one as well; the girl who decided to dress up as a boy, and join the Duke Orisino's court in order to protect her virtue; the girl whose tear stained cheeks and mournful blue eyes haunted my dreams every night.
I attempted to relieve myself of her memory by making an effort to develop her story in words, but I never made it past our farewell. I could never figure out her perfect ending. I had parchments filled out with large X's through them, or they lay crumbled in a small corner.
Sometimes she would fall in love and get married. In others she and her brother, Sebastian, would once again meet - that is if he was alive - and they would journey back home together. Then again there was always the option that she had somehow died in some tragic manner, but I avoided thinking about that.
I sighed once again, but this time out of frustration. I closed my eyes and willed myself to forget the blue ones of Viola and dream hopeful dreams of the beautiful sunshine, the smell of fresh air, and the taste of seawater.
Five days after my release, I stood on the deck of my new ship gazing out at the shimmering sea, recollecting my thoughts before making the long voyage home. The bright sunshine beat down on the crew and myself in an almost joyous manner, however my spirits were somewhat dampened by leaving Illyria without finding out the fate of fair Viola.
A small tinkling laugh made me turn my head and look back the Illyrian shore. A young girl with a pretty face and a dainty mouth walked hand in hand with the Duke Orisino. Her long mahogany hair glinted in the sunlight, as her blue eyes twinkled with joy. She turned her head towards me and caught me gazing at her in utter amazement. Her face, momentarily, filled with confusion before a happy smile spread across her fair face as she waved vigorously towards me.
I felt a small grin growing on my face as I waved back at the vibrant Viola. I turned around and faced the sea once more with a happy smile, finally free of worry and guilt; and with that I cried: "Anchor!"