Author Note:
This tale is based loosely on the famous Chinese legend, Butterfly Lovers, a Romeo and Juliet-like story about two star-crossed lovers. It's not really in character, but we're studying the book right now in class and I wanted to incorporate it into one of my works. Hope you enjoy, reviews are appreciated!
-Irene xx
Molly Hooper stared wistfully outside her window to the vast sea beyond, the twinkling lights of the humans gliding gracefully across the horizon. She longed to be with them, to sail away to far away lands, but elves were forbidden from interacting with humans. And that's what she was: an elf. An elf trapped inside a large, boring castle.
Molly sighed and slumped back onto her bed, the moonlight reflecting her shadow onto the wall. How she wished she was a human, and not an elf! But she couldn't change anything about it...or could she?
She sat upright in bed, her brain whirring. She couldn't man a boat because she was an elf, and a girl, and others would not let her. But if the others didn't know who she was, could it work? Could her dreams come true?
Switching on the light, Molly ran to her desk and began working on a plan.
ooOoo
24 hours later
Molly murmured to herself as she counted off the items. Clothes, food, a flashlight, compass, money...yep. She had everything she needed. Now came the hard part.
She grabbed a pair of scissors and began neatly trimming her hair, until it was just shorter than her ears. Then she changed into the boy robes that she had bought from the store earlier that day, finally tying a bandana around her head to conceal her pointed ears.
Quietly stuffing everything into a satchel, Molly carefully tiptoed out of her room, making sure not to wake her slumbering parents.
With a small creak, she pushed the gates open and make her way across the sandy beach. The land of humans was far away, and she realized she didn't have a plan to get there—until she noticed the boat.
It was a rather larger ship, bobbing slightly against the waves. Molly was confused at first, as elves rarely used the sea for travel. Why would humans be here? Then it hit her: pirates.
She trotted back a couple steps, but something stopped her. This was the opportunity that she had been waiting for. If she could just sneak onboard, chances are no one would harass her. And, she looked like a human boy anyways, so it was all good.
Molly started at a jog, but sped up into a run as she approached the ship. Sherrinford, it read. Grinning, Molly climbed up the rope that had been deployed, just as shouting and yelling broke the serene silence. Molly spotted ten—no, twenty masked pirates running with bags of gold in their hands, chased by an angry mob of elven elders. The leader, a tall pirate with a black cloth over his face, jumped up onto the boat and began to untie the knot securing it to the dock, as the rest of the crew clambered aboard. Molly was swept backwards by the tide of humans, and felt the boat lurch as it began to sail away.
I did it, she thought triumphantly. I'm on a ship!
ooOoo
No one noticed her at first. She blended in well with the others, and nobody seemed to realize that she wasn't supposed to be there at all. The first two weeks were lonely, but exciting nonetheless. She spotted sharks and dolphins, waves as high as herself, felt winds both strong and gentle she was amazed at how different each day was. The sun would illuminate the ocean with a warm glow at day, and the stars would come out with a twinkle at night.
The crew were friendly. They taught her a human card game called poker, and introduced her to a human drink called beer. Molly didn't like the beer very much, it made her slightly dizzy. The only person who didn't say a word to any of them was the captain. Captain Yellowbeard.
Captain Yellowbeard was a mysterious man. He never spoke unless he was giving orders, and nobody knew his real name. Molly learned from a fellow sailor early on not to interact with him, as he was very grouchy.
One morning, Molly had just finished up her breakfast when suddenly a cannonball fired at the ship. The ball tore through the mast, sending it down onto the ship. The sails fell over, and the boat tilted dangerously.
"Man overboard!" Someone yelled, panicked. "We got to get out of here, jump ship now!" Everyone began making their way to the lifeboats.
"No!" Cried Captain Yellowbeard. "Stay here and defend your posts!" But no one paid him any heed. A second explosion rocked the air, and the crew was running for dear life. Molly looked once at the lifeboats, then back at the mast. The sail was caught in the cannons, but if she could free it, she could attack back.
Sprinting across the rough wood, Molly reached the edge of the boat and leaned over, working on the canvas. With a great yank, she pulled it free and jumped down onto the cannons. She had never fired one before, but decided to take a stab at it. There was a fuse on top of it, and a piece of flint and steel chained to the side. It took a couple tries, but Molly finally lit it and it caught fire. She held the flames to the fuse, and covered her ears.
Boom! The world shook as the cannon fired, and Molly slipped off, falling down into the water. Bubbles clouded her vision as she tried to stay afloat, but a wave knocked her down and everything went black.