Tattered Tears

Part one:

The Pain Begins

The captain stood there, hands resting lightly on the wheel, staring out at the expansive blue sea. The waves crashed against the hull of my ship, the 'Free Rider'. They were anchored out in the middle of the ocean, it was a dangerous thing to be stationary during times like this but it was necessary.

The boat that the Free Rider's captain was watching finally reached them, lowered its sails and dropped anchor. A rope was thrown up and attached to the ship. A woman quickly climbed up it and jumped onto the Free Rider. She ran up to the person at the tiller, shouting as she ran. "Captain! Captain!" A strong wind was beginning to rise; it caught her long black hair and pulled it from under her hat.

"What news do you have, Ana-Maria?" said the captain softly.

Ana sighed, "Sad news, Captain… He's, he's, he's… He's…" She sniffed and a tear escaped from the barrier of her eyelashes and rolled forlornly down her left cheek. It was joined by two more: one on the right, then another on the left. "He's…" her voice cracked slightly and Ana had to gulp for breath. "He's dead. Jack's gone, dead. I found him two days ago, on the island. He was naked, no sign of clothes anywhere. His hair was grey. Jack was wrinkled, emaciated, unrecognisable!" Ana glanced up at her captain's impassive face.

"Do you not care? Jack was hit by whatever killed Gibbs, Cotton and all the others! Death is coming early to us all, too early!" The tears were flowing freely now. "Jack's dead, Captain! How can you not care? JACK SPARROW IS DEAD!"

Suddenly, the ship and its crew grew silent. The crew stopped scrubbing the decks and going about their business. The timbers stopped creaking. The wind dropped; waves seemed softer. The only sound was Ana's sobs and her gasping for breath.

The pirate's below looked up to where Ana and the Captain were standing. 'Was it true?' they thought. 'Was Jack Sparrow – Captain Jack Sparrow – dead?"

The Captain's hands left the tiller. "Get back to work, you scurvy blaggers!" With that, the Captain moved to the large cabin, entered it and slammed the door shut.