Steven gazed up at the albatrosses wheeling in the sky, cawing and swooping down occasionally. Steven assumed those gulls saw a morsel of food on the ground, and dived to catch it before another did.

"Look!" cried Steven as one seagull made a particularly steep dive.

…"Dude, they're just seagulls." said Sour Cream, as Steven gazed at him with glittering eyes.

Steven stopped smiling momentarily at the look on Sour Cream's face. "You don't like 'em?" he asked, slightly put out.

Sour Cream shuffled around a little, and looked back at Steven. "They're a little..creepy, y'know what I mean?"

Steven shook his head.

Sour Cream sighed. "Onion gave me a book once-I guess he saw me looking at seagulls-called 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. This guy gets a dead albatross tied around his neck."

"Was the albatross dead?" gasped Steven.

"Yeah." said Sour Cream. He shrugged. "I didn't read the whole book." He frowned slightly. "It was too hard! The guy was using words from like, hundreds of years ago or something."

Steven thought for a moment, then rocketed for the library. He had to read this new, creepy book. "I like to be scared!" he called cheerily at Sour Cream.

"It's not a horror book! It's a creepy book! There's a difference!" Sour Cream yelled after him.

Soon, Steven had the Rime of the Ancient Mariner in his hands. He opened it eagerly, Sour Cream observing with a pessimistic look on his face.

How a Ship having passed the Line was driven by storms to the cold Country towards the South Pole; and how from thence she made her course to the tropical Latitude of the Great Pacific Ocean; and of the strange things that befell; and in what manner the Ancyent Marinere came back to his own Country.

PART I

It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

"Ooh. It's old-style!" said Steven, propping the book up, and settling his face on his elbows.

With Sour Cream's help, Steven trekked with the mariner. He shared the mariner's joy at the initial good fortune, and was horrified when the mariner shot the albatross. Steven grew unsettled as the now-cursed ship wandered in the equatorial waters, meeting a ship with Death and "Nightmare Life-in-Death". Steven shivered as all the mariner's friends died. Steven's eyes wandered off the page then.

He slid his face off his elbows, to look at Sour Cream, who was texting his friends. After words of farewell on both sides, the two split, returning to their respective homes.

Steven told the Gems about the book he read. Garnet was proud he read a difficult book. Amethyst wanted a retelling of all the scary bits. Pearl praised Steven nervously at first, then as Garnet chipped in, full-heartedly.

That night, at midnight, Steven awoke from dreams full of albatrosses shot with crossbows, and promised himself he would listen to Sour Cream next time.