Chapter 2

" Set the sail, hurry you scabbers dogs!"

The crew quicky pulled the long thick ropes. The sail moved toward the right and the ship slightly turned.

" Captn'," called Gibbs. " Tortoga is not far away, we should be there in aboutn' hour, sir,"

Jack grinned, showing off his gold plated teeth. Eric watched his father angryly and hen rolled his eyes. eric knew what he would be alone soon, so after breakfast he went into the smelly cabin, which he shared with the rest of the crew, and pulled his journal out from under his ratty matress.he held it to his chest and looked out of the window, staring hopelessly at Tortoga,that wasn't far away now.

The ship came to a sudden stop and several pirates hopped from the ship and tied some ropes to the jetty. As soon as the pirates set the ramp, Jack stroad down triumphantly, holding his precious bottle of rum in his hand. As Eric's eyes felt like he was to cry, he looked away and sat on his bed. He opened his journal to his first entry. It told of how his awful crew mate had stole his formor journal and thrown it overbored. And then how the very next day he had strangly found a brand new one under his pillow. It said nothing on it nor who it was from.

Eric skimmed through the jornal and found a fresh page. He pulled out his ink and quill and began to write. His words were harsh and angry. The more he wrote the worse it made him feel. It wasn't long until he couldn't take it anymore and totally broke down. He threw his belongings on the floor and lay down on his bed, and fell asleep.

He found himself in a dark, smokey room and called out, only to hear his own echo. He turned around and saw a mysterious mirror. He gazed into it and saw his own relfection, but it seemed different. Although it was Eric, it was more devious and gave Eric a chill down his spine. Eric cocked his head at the mirror and the reflection did the same, of course. "What am I so afraid of?" he said aloud and turned away from the mirror, "Its only me." The room echoed with laughter. Eric spun around to see the same reflection grinning at him. The image stopped laughing and looked at the shivering boy. "Eric, Eric, Eric. What strange things you say! Isn't the only thing to fear in this world ourselves? The actions we take, the choices we make, everything we do will eventually lead to our own death. Isn't our conscience the real enemy? After all you made this dream." The reflection shook its head and stared at Eric. "You have to get out. You don't belong here." Eric stood up. "You think I don't know that?! But i'm stuck here! I've been condemed to the life of a pirate." "Find a way..." As soon as the mirror had appeared, it was gone.

Eric's eyes shot open to his cabin surroundings. He rubbed his eyes and looked through the window. Tortoga had quieted down and most of his shipmates were sleeping all around him, their shirts stained with rum. He left his quarters and looked around the deck. As he leaned on the railing of the ship, he thought about his dream. "Even though it was just a dream, it was right. I don't belong in a place like this. Its foolish for me to exist in any of these mens' eyes."

He ran back to his cot and found a small suitcase which was pilaged from some small town a while back. All of his belongings were stuffed into the suitcase and he hid it under a pile of blankets. "Thats everything." he whispered, and headed off to the kitchen.