I walk along the path I always have leading from school to home balancing on the curb between the sidewalk and the gutter. I never miss a step more out of practice then anything else. The path winds until I take a shortcut and break from the road down a hill into a dirty patch where no grass grows. Except for a stranded overturned grocery cart and a stream running under a bridge covered in graffiti, there isn’t much to look at. I watch my feet leave foot prints in the soft dirt, occasionally looking up to see if anyone is around I don't want to run in to. Clouds sail across the sky like pirates looking for treasure. I wonder what it would be like to be a pirate on a cloud and I run through my mind and as I always did a day dream to help me pass the time on the walk home from school. This was a habit I have had for as long as I can remember.
"Captain!" one of the crew yells "It’s coming quick. It’s almost on top of us!"
I decide that he is my first mate and that I trust him
"Bring her around quick as you can," I say calmly as though the situation is simple and routine "load the guns!"
My trusted first mate nods and starts shouting orders, and the men start heaving ropes and rushing about
the boat swings quickly and I find myself face to face with a gigantic fire breathing squid
"arg!" is all I manage to say
my trusted first mate sees my shock and springs into action
"fire the cannons!" he shouts
he grabs me by the collar of my shirt and jacket and shakes me a little
and then says very clearly but quietly enough that only I can hear
"captain I will follow you from this world into the next, but you need to pull yourself together and prove to the rest of the crew you are who I know you are"
I nod and he lets go.
I run and grab the largest harpoon that is in sight. I lash a rope around it as tightly and as quickly as I can
"Captain!" one of the crew yells "It’s coming quick. It’s almost on top of us!"
I decide that he is my first mate and that I trust him
"Bring her around quick as you can," I say calmly as though the situation is simple and routine "load the guns!"
My trusted first mate nods and starts shouting orders, and the men start heaving ropes and rushing about
the boat swings quickly and I find myself face to face with a gigantic fire breathing squid
"arg!" is all I manage to say
my trusted first mate sees my shock and springs into action
"fire the cannons!" he shouts
he grabs me by the collar of my shirt and jacket and shakes me a little
and then says very clearly but quietly enough that only I can hear
"captain I will follow you from this world into the next, but you need to pull yourself together and prove to the rest of the crew you are who I know you are"
I nod and he lets go.
I run and grab the largest harpoon that is in sight. I lash a rope around it as tightly and as quickly as I can
I lash the other end of the long rope to the mast of the ship. I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I open them only so see a wall of flames rushing towards me I duck behind the mast. The mast is badly damaged and the sails are severely singed, almost entirely dissolved. Defying all reason the rope that I had tied is still in one piece. I don't know if I can trust it in fact I’m pretty sure I can’t but I have no time. My first mate was right I need to show them I’m a captain worth following into battle. I turn to face the beast his monstrous tentacles stretching and wrapping around the burnt but hardy hull of the ship.
I run from one side of the deck to the other leaping and pushing off from the edge of the ship. I fly through the air, but not over water. I see below me a light blue that plummets down forever. Clouds make it clear beyond any self deception that we are impossibly high in the air. I land on the head of the beast but my footing is uneven and the skin of the beast is too smooth. I slip and begin to descend. I frantically try to halt my progress I know wouldn't end with a splash and a quick swim to the surface. I know if I fall off, it’s for keeps. Just before I give up hope the rope running from the mast to the harpoon in my hands becomes taught and I come to an abrupt stop. I dangle above the clouds and the light blue nothingness. I climb the rope until I reach the top of the ugly bulbous head of the squid. The rope snaps. I reach for the nearest thing to grip. My fingers latch around the beast's eyelid and I feel its whole body wince under my tiny grip. I pull myself up, give a fatal push to the harpoon straight down and then…
And then I knock on the front door because I forgot my key. My daydream fades away. I start to think about the homework I need to complete before I’m allowed to play video games. no answer, I look down from the stairs in front of our second story apartment at our parking space I hadn't even glanced at on my way up on account of the fire breathing squid I had almost fallen off of. No car.
I set my book bag next to the door and climb down the stairs and walk over to the playground area where I usually waited when my mom had to stay later at work. Sure I’m a little old for a play ground but is there such a thing as to old? I didn't know and it never occurred to me to ask myself. I sit down on the far left swing and drag my feet as I come forward; each time I swing making twin ditches with each foot. I go over the assignments I need to complete. There is the grammar assignment that I frankly do not look forward to, not that I mind grammar assignments they are just hard to focus on especially with a mind full of pirates. I have math and history. I sit there swinging digging in with the tops of my feet to make the trails under them deeper.
The thought comes to me I never gave my trusted first mate a name. After all that he did for me the least I could do was give him a name. I mull over a few names and finally settle on William shanks. I go further and develop his character a little bit more. He was from a small sky island which of course would appear to someone beneath it to be a cloud. William shanks was born on a small island and was dropped into a storm cloud when he was young. A terrible accident when his mother was thrown by a gust of wind nearly falling from their small island. It was unsure if the cloud would hold the weight of the small child. He slowly sank into its dark and troubled vapors. A world of chaos and lightning swirled around him. It is uncertain how exactly he returned to the island but his hair was white and his eyes crackled with static from then on.
He grew and felt a longing to fly to float on the skies as he had always dreamed of. He saw the first pirate ship that came by as an opportunity and has been my first mate ever since. I decided that instead of Captain Jake, instead I would be Captain Andre the second. Most would address me as Captain occasionally my full title but William shanks my right hand man would always call me Andre.
I hear the rolling tires of the 97 ford torus my mom drives pull through the parking lot. I pick up my now filthy feet and march in the direction of my apartment. I come around the corner. I see my mom and resign myself to the agony of home work.
"How was your day?"
"Good" I respond
"Mr. you know that 'good' is never the answer I’m looking for"
"what did you do today"
The first thing that comes into my mind is a fire breathing squid but somehow I say
"I got a B on my physics test."
I run from one side of the deck to the other leaping and pushing off from the edge of the ship. I fly through the air, but not over water. I see below me a light blue that plummets down forever. Clouds make it clear beyond any self deception that we are impossibly high in the air. I land on the head of the beast but my footing is uneven and the skin of the beast is too smooth. I slip and begin to descend. I frantically try to halt my progress I know wouldn't end with a splash and a quick swim to the surface. I know if I fall off, it’s for keeps. Just before I give up hope the rope running from the mast to the harpoon in my hands becomes taught and I come to an abrupt stop. I dangle above the clouds and the light blue nothingness. I climb the rope until I reach the top of the ugly bulbous head of the squid. The rope snaps. I reach for the nearest thing to grip. My fingers latch around the beast's eyelid and I feel its whole body wince under my tiny grip. I pull myself up, give a fatal push to the harpoon straight down and then…
And then I knock on the front door because I forgot my key. My daydream fades away. I start to think about the homework I need to complete before I’m allowed to play video games. no answer, I look down from the stairs in front of our second story apartment at our parking space I hadn't even glanced at on my way up on account of the fire breathing squid I had almost fallen off of. No car.
I set my book bag next to the door and climb down the stairs and walk over to the playground area where I usually waited when my mom had to stay later at work. Sure I’m a little old for a play ground but is there such a thing as to old? I didn't know and it never occurred to me to ask myself. I sit down on the far left swing and drag my feet as I come forward; each time I swing making twin ditches with each foot. I go over the assignments I need to complete. There is the grammar assignment that I frankly do not look forward to, not that I mind grammar assignments they are just hard to focus on especially with a mind full of pirates. I have math and history. I sit there swinging digging in with the tops of my feet to make the trails under them deeper.
The thought comes to me I never gave my trusted first mate a name. After all that he did for me the least I could do was give him a name. I mull over a few names and finally settle on William shanks. I go further and develop his character a little bit more. He was from a small sky island which of course would appear to someone beneath it to be a cloud. William shanks was born on a small island and was dropped into a storm cloud when he was young. A terrible accident when his mother was thrown by a gust of wind nearly falling from their small island. It was unsure if the cloud would hold the weight of the small child. He slowly sank into its dark and troubled vapors. A world of chaos and lightning swirled around him. It is uncertain how exactly he returned to the island but his hair was white and his eyes crackled with static from then on.
He grew and felt a longing to fly to float on the skies as he had always dreamed of. He saw the first pirate ship that came by as an opportunity and has been my first mate ever since. I decided that instead of Captain Jake, instead I would be Captain Andre the second. Most would address me as Captain occasionally my full title but William shanks my right hand man would always call me Andre.
I hear the rolling tires of the 97 ford torus my mom drives pull through the parking lot. I pick up my now filthy feet and march in the direction of my apartment. I come around the corner. I see my mom and resign myself to the agony of home work.
"How was your day?"
"Good" I respond
"Mr. you know that 'good' is never the answer I’m looking for"
"what did you do today"
The first thing that comes into my mind is a fire breathing squid but somehow I say
"I got a B on my physics test."
No comments:
Post a Comment