# 10 Captain
"Tell me," a child asked, climbing clumsily on John Smith's lap. "Please? Please tell me? Tell me? Tell me?!"
"Hey," the man leaned down, kissing the raven haired girl on the top of her head, "Stop shouting and ask me what you want me to tell you."
"Tell me how you became captain."
John smiled, "Alright, but can you sit still long enough?"
The girl shifted looking up at her father. "Yes, I will stay still."
"It's a long story," John teased, "Are you certain?"
The girl put her head on John's chest, "Tell me."
"Well," the man started as he ran a hand through his hair, "I was much older than you are. It was during a very bad storm, and I was on a boat with many men who were trying to keep the boat afloat."
"I thought there was a bad storm when you came here. That's what Mama told me," John's daughter inquired as she yawned.
John chuckled, "Yes, Mama is right. But, I'm telling you the story of how I became captain not when I came to…"
He watched as her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing started to even out as she snuggled against him.
Another chuckle escaped John's lips as he carefully picked her up and carried her to her little bedchamber in the back of the cabin. With one hand he pulled the covers back, quietly pulling them up around her.
"Perhaps another time," he whispered as he kissed her forehead, "I'll tell you the story of how I became a captain another time."