Here we go! I just had a little pirate girl running around my head and I asked her to share her story with me. This is the beginning of what she told me! Enjoy! ^^

Vanessa sat in silence on the floor as the oldest kid in the orphanage sat down on the bed in the middle of the room to start another story like she always did every night. Vanessa brushed her mousey brown bangs out of her eyes and folded her arms around her knees, pulling them tight against her chest. Maybe Rose would tell a story about that girl trapped in an awful tower with the evil witch who was keeping her there. Or, maybe she would tell a story about that boy who got captured by pirates and had to fight them to the death. (She liked that one.) Or, even better…

"Okay, now, settle down," Rose said in her sweet little voice to the noisy kids. She cleared her throat, tucking a lock of her golden hair behind her ear, and folded her hands like always. Her crystal blue eyes looked out over her audience and shone like twinkling stars. "Once upon a time," she started, "there were three children. Their names were Wendy, John, and Michael."

Many of the children squealed in delight, knowing what kind of story they were going to be hearing that night. They soon quieted again, listening intently to Rose. Vanessa just grinned to herself and hunkered down for the story. The stories about Peter Pan were her favorites. She didn't care about the three kids. She didn't even care about the Lost Boys who hung out with the "oh-so-special" Peter Pan. What she couldn't wait for were the pirates. She adored the pirates and looked up to Captain James Hook with the utmost respect. Pan was just a punk who thought he could stand a chance against pirates and somehow managed to cut off Hook's left hand.

She thought back to the first argument she had had with the other boys. They were acting out some of Pan's adventures and were deciding who could be pirates and who could be Lost Boys. They didn't want Vanessa to join because "she was a girl and that wouldn't be fair." That was three months ago when she first came to this stupid orphanage and it still made her clench her teeth angrily. That was when she had a grown-up cut her shoulder-length hair to a pixie cut to look more like a guy but asked her to keep her bangs at eye-level. She had always liked the feel of them sweeping across her forehead so she kept them. She had proven to them time and time again after that that she could handle herself and was often the only pirate to stay alive, leading to a showdown between herself and Timothy, the only red-haired, freckle-faced kid of the bunch who always liked to be Peter Pan. They were pretty evenly matched—fifty-one to fifty—Timothy on top.

Vanessa looked across the room to Timothy and found him looking at her. It was more of a challenging, toothy grin which Vanessa gladly returned. There was most definitely going to be another showdown after this story. If it went too long, it would be tomorrow. Either way, Vanessa was determined to come out on top.

"Vanessa! Timmy!" Rose snapped. "Cut it out, you two!"

The other kids all looked at them, making Timothy look down sheepishly, his cheeks matching his hair. Vanessa only tossed her head with a stubborn scowl. Rose cleared her throat again with a sweet smile and continued with the story. Every time, Wendy, John, and Michael went to Never Neverland with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to go be with the Lost Boys. What was different was what happened after that. One time, Rose told of an adventure with the Indians. Another time was with both Indians and pirates. A third was with pirates and mermaids. She switched it up every time, making a completely different story. Vanessa liked that but she never went to Rose to tell her so, feeling herself too girly whenever she thought about it.

Vanessa's ears perked when Rose said the magic word: pirates. She turned her head back to Rose and paid the utmost attention, hanging on every detail. The only details she ignored were her disgraceful descriptions of Captain Hook. That man was a genius, not a coward. He could come up with the most maniacal (yes, she knew what the word meant—looking it up in a dictionary helped) schemes to destroy Pan and planned everything out to the minutest (she used a dictionary for that one, too) detail. Somehow, though, Peter Pan always won, beating Hook at his own game. Vanessa had always said that if she joined Hook's crew, she would be sure to show Pan who was boss.

The other kids didn't appreciate her enthusiasm, though. They complained that she was too rough in their games and wasn't being fair. She would sneak to the base of the Lost Boys (the kitchen), learn of their plan, and go back to the pirate ship (the bathroom) to plan out with her crewmates how to beat them. The kids who were pirates didn't mind, but the others always complained. Every time, they did everything they could to keep Vanessa out, but, every time, she still managed to get their plans. On more than one occasion, she had kidnapped a Lost Boy and dragged him back to the pirate ship for "interrogation" which usually had something to do with noogies and the bathtub full of water. A stop had been put to the bath tub, but Vanessa still had her ways of interrogation. She always made the kidnapped Lost Boy swear to never tell another soul what transpired (again, dictionary) in that bathroom, keeping "her ways" secret. After every game session (even if they weren't successful), Vanessa pointed her cardboard sword in the air and roared, "Pirates rule! Lost Boys drool!"

Vanessa grinned, hiding it in her knees as she listened to Rose tell about the fight on the pirate ship between Peter and Hook over Wendy. She couldn't wait for the next fight; she was itching for it. She just knew that Timothy was going down.

As usual, however, Peter Pan won and carried Wendy to safety while Captain Hook ran away with the monstrous, ticking crocodile at his heels. Rose finished with a beautiful smile and sent the awed children to bed with a wave of her hand as she got up to go turn off the light. The kids scrambled into their beds in both that room and the room across the hallway. She made sure all the kids were in their beds in both rooms before turning out the lights and going back to her own bed.

Vanessa lay in her bed for hours, simply staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, nor did she want to. She was too busy thinking about the adventures she could have as part of Captain James Hook's crew—battles to the death, sneaking into Indian territory or even the Lost Boys' lair, stealing things out of the joy of it, and even more.

"If I could join his crew," she whispered, looking out the window, "I'd be the best pirate in the world." She got up and went over to the window. She opened the latch very gently, being sure not to wake anyone up, cracked the window open, and slipped out onto the balcony. She looked up to the spring night sky, trying to find the right star. "Second star to the right…" she said softly, searching the stars, "…and straight on 'til morning…" Giving up, she just saluted to the entire night sky and announced with glittering chocolate eyes, "Captain James Hook! Vanessa Hodgens, reporting for duty, SIR!"

Let me know your input about this! Reviews are always welcome!

love~shdw dncr