A/N: Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've been on FFnet, let alone posted anything. I typed this up as 1) an joint extra credit assignment for English class and 2) as a way to overcome some writers block, so I decided to post it. I hope you like it… and if you don't, read the note at the end please!
Thanks!
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The Lost Ending of the Scarlet Letter
Please Note: The following scenes are an alternate version of the story beginning with Chapter 23: The Procession. These scenes were omitted from the published versions due to financial constraints
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Dimmsdale walked to his platform, his hands shaking with nervous anticipation. He hardly noticed the lack of sleep as he set his notes down and surveyed the crowd. His eyes caught sight of Pearl in her scarlet garb and Hester standing beside her, a shadow of a smile on her face.
With that, he began, the crowd hushing:
"My dear brethren,
I stand before you a fallen man, a sinner."
The people, who had heard the same in many of the young ministers' previous sermons, thought nothing of it, still listened intently,
"For years I have deceived you, preaching from a pulpit based in hypocrisy, but no more! Give me your eyes and ears! There is one among you who has been cast away, forced to live in ignominy…"
Hester took Pearl by the hand and edged to the side of the crowd, overwhelmed by an urge to flee. However, her eyes (along with everyone else's) remained fixed on Dimmsdale, the skilled orator that he was.
"Seven years ago, as Hester Prynne stood on this scaffold, I asked her to divulge to us the name of her partner in sin, the one too weak to show himself, but she refused to relent. She left the man to wallow in his own darkness, with Satan following his steps."
"Now, let this be his final penance…" Dimmsdale said in a lower voice. He surveyed the crowd once again, knowing that some part of him would take pleasure out of the reactions their faces would soon hold.
"… he stands before you!"
The Congregation looked at him, speechless. Hester grabbed Pearl and left the market, heading in the direction of her cottage, where she planned to gather their things and get to the boat. Dimmsdale would meet them there.
"Yes, it is I whom you have sought, who you so longed to persecute, but could not find. Here I am! But know this, I will not remain here in Boston and that I do this because… because I wished not to leave a liar."
With that, the gracious, honorable, and most importantly, beloved Reverend Arthur Dimmsdale stepped down from his pulpit for the last time, walking towards the harbor while his people were left looking after him in a dumbstruck silence.
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Hester and Pearl boarded their ship, The Black Parakeet, and were greeted by the captain and his crew. After watching Dimmsdale's speech in the market and finding great amusement in the reactions of the townspeople after the minister had left, the pirates had decided it was time to leave. When they had reached their vessel, they all agreed that they had acquired a newfound respect for the pretty woman who had asked for passage. What with having to deal with those stiff-necked people they had met and still managing to keep such a secret.
"Ready to go are we Mistress Prynne?" the captain asked
"Almost, we are waiting for one more member of our party…"
"Yes, yes, the minister isn't it? I believe he will be arriving shortly. But hold now, what about that elderly gentleman? We'll simply have to wait until they both arrive…"
Hester had nearly forgotten about the miserable Roger Chillingworth. However, now that the secret was revealed, she felt that he could no longer harm her little family.
"Captain, I must ask that you please keep that man off this ship. He is a fraud and is not a member of my party. He only wishes to do us harm."
"Say no more madam. He shall not set foot upon these decks. Pirates honor."
Hester nodded and the pirate left to inform his crew that the Bostonian physician was banned. She felt Pearl tug at her sleeve.
"Look mother, it is the minister! Strange, he no longer clasps his hand over his breast and oh! His sour face has left him!"
Sure enough, there was Dimmsdale (or Arthur, being more appropriate for his new countenance) striding up the gangway with a rucksack over his shoulder and the smile of an accomplished man on his face. He reached the deck, dropped his bag and looked at them.
" 'Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' My dears, for now, the world is heaven and all is ours."
He embraced them both, and knelt to reach Pearl's eye level.
"Tell me child, do you still think me such a coward to refuse my kiss?"
The little girl shook her head and pecked him on the cheek. Arthur laughed in a way he thought he'd forgotten, snatched Pearl into his arms and spun her around.
"We are free, we are free!"
x
The ship left port at noon, and thankfully, it was a beautiful day. Arthur was conversing with the pirates about various topics and Pearl ran about the deck, wobbling and tumbling as she went, the crew assuring Hester that it was only because she hadn't acquired her 'sea legs' yet. Hester, while keeping an eye on Pearl, was looking out onto the waters with the slight belief that if she watched long enough, the green shores of England would appear all the more sooner.
"You know, my mother always said that if you stared at something too long you'd go blind."
She turned and smiled at Arthur, and he had been smiling the entire trip, as if it was a new experience to him, and he found he enjoyed it. He joined her at the rail.
"I don't think I should ever go blind from staring at such a glorious scene."
"Tell me, Hester Prynne, what's to become of us when we touch land?"
"I'm not certain, I presume we'll first have to find someplace to settle, somewhere exciting and interesting hopefully. I am certain however, that wherever we go we shall be together." Pearl ran up and squeezed in between them. "All three of us."
"If you ever reach land that is…" said a menacing voice from behind them.
Hester and Arthur turned to see none other than Roger Chillingworth standing on the deck behind them, a musket in hand.
So much for pirates honor.
Arthur stepped forward, his arm shielding Hester and Pearl. "You vile being! What business do you have here, with us? Can't you just leave us in peace?"
Cillingworth looked absolutely insane, his face twisting in that evil way Hester had noticed before, but this time, it did not disappear.
"Why am I here? Why am I here?" the physician chuckled, sounding amused, as if he were questioning himself. "I am here, dear Reverend, to see that justice is served upon two sinners who do not deserve peace. And as for my business, why, you are my business! I live for nothing else, and I will see it through!"
He lunged at Arthur, quicker than one would've expected from a man his age. The minister blocked the strike but received a blow to the back of his head with the butt of the musket, sending him sprawling, unconscious, across the floor.
"NO!"
It was Pearl who yelled, and rushed toward Chillingworth in a frenzy not wishing to see the minister hurt.
Chillingworth grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up to his eye.
"You! Pathetic, insolent little devil. You are the cause of all my troubles, you are what has brought me to this madness, and for that, I cannot forgive thee.'
With one wicked motion, he threw little Pearl, kicking and screaming, over the rail and into the sea. Hester watched in wide eyed horror at her daughters' decent, their eyes locking just before the splash and the water swallowed the scarlet clad child.
"Pearl!" Hester ran towards the railing with every intention of diving in to save her when the captain and his crew stopped her. They had heard the fight and come to investigate.
"Dear God" the captain muttered. What kind of man would throw a child overboard? Then he recognized him as the elderly man from town, the one he had sworn to keep away.
"How did you mange to stow away on my ship? Answer me!"
"Why, you foolish scoundrels never think to check your cargo do you? However, it doesn't matter, at least not for you. I believe you have a more… pressing matter to worry about."
Chillingworth raised the musket ad fired at pointblank range into the captains' chest, sending the man backwards over the rail, and granting him the same fate as Pearl.
At this the crew released Hester, some jumping into the water to save their captain and Pearl, while others advanced on Chillingworth, who held up his hand to stop them.
"Angry are you? Understandable gentlemen, it truly is. However…"
The twisted man, wiith hair askew and eyes nearly glazed over, turned and fired into a group of kegs situated on the deck. It took the pirates a second to realize he was aiming at the ships gunpowder supply. It was too late. The bullet hit, setting off a spark near an open container and one after another, the barrels exploded, igniting the wooden ship. The crew scrambled to put it out, forgetting about the insane man now striding up to Hester, who knelt beside Arthur's body, trying desperately to wake him.
"You said you wanted freedom, a new life, well now I have given it to you, my darling wife. I hope it was everything you wished for, and more."
Hester could do nothing but stare, stare at a monster that had just ruined everything that had given her joy in life… for the second time.
"Goodbye Hester Prynne, I bid thee farewell. 'Tis a pity you will never be able to become Hester Dimmsdale."
With that, old Roger Chillingworth walked to the side of the ship, where a single rowboat was tethered. He unhooked it, hung it over the side of the boat and climbed in. Using the pulley system, he lowered himself into the water as if nothing had happened, leaving behind the chaos of a doomed ship.
As he rowed away he heard a shout. He saw Hester pointing and yelling "Get him, get him please!"
A second later, at least ten pirates stood at the rail of the Black Parakeet (which was now at a visible slant in the water) and began hurling flaming debris at Chillingworth's tiny ship. They found their mark and the boat lit on fire.
Chillingworth, seeing no other option, dove into the water; content with simply watching the boat sink.
And sink it did, the water enveloped it, and he watched with glee as the heads of a handful of crewmembers were the only ones to pop above the water.
However, what he failed to notice was the only shark to ever swim into the Chesapeake Bay was right behind him…
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A/N: Well, how was it?
Okay, okay you're probably wondering what the hell I was thinking, or who knows you may have liked it but I'd still like to clarify a few things…
This whole thing started when my friend Cory asked me how the book ended because he didn't want to finish reading it. Not wanting to give it away, I was like "The boat sinks!"
Of course, that didn't happen, and when our class got to the end, I don't know, we just felt kind of slighted, as if it could've been so much better if the boat sank. And with me being one of the few Dimmsdale fans I've found, I didn't want him to go…
So my teacher gave us the task of re-writing the ending, as well as illustrating it so it could coincide with our quarter project. However, where I wanted a happy ending for our trio (them surviving), Cory had different plans (he was drawing the pictures). He drew them before I even started typing and showed them to our teacher. When I see them, I find that the last picture is of a sinking boat with, get this, everyone dying (except Chillingworth in his little boat.) Upon further inspection, I also find this completely random shark, possibly a cousin of Jaws, ready to swallow Roger and his boat whole!
There was also that small fact that we had to try and sound like Hawthore... --
So, I'm sad to say I had to kill them all… (hold's up a sign saying 'Blame him!') Maybe one day, I'll make another version, where they make it to Europe safe and sound...
Please review and tell me what you thought… even if you thought it was dumb and hated it. I'd like to know!
P.S.: If any of you have read any of my other stories and are wondering why I haven't updated… I'm sorry, but I'm working on them as much as time permits.
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