Hooray! Thanks so much for your reviews! Cookies for everyone! And I
mean, absolutely everyone . . . unless you have allergies or something.
Maybe these are allergy-free cookies. Yes, that's it! *Flings allergy-
free cookies into crowd* Over twenty reviews! Gosh! Maybe I can break 40
someday!
Also, I know I said that I would update yesterday, but a squirrel fried our transformer . . . or our transformer fried a squirrel . . . *shakes head* (transformers, for those of you who don't know, are robots in disguise) and anyway we lost our power for quite a while.
Anyway, usual disclaimers apply, and on with the story!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter five: That's interesting
David awoke a short time later and immediately wished that he hadn't.
He was up in the tree house. Bootstrap must have hauled him up there after he fainted . . . and he had fainted because Bootstrap . . . oh no . . . David sat up and scooted backwards into a corner, regarding the pirate with terror. Bill, for his part, was sitting in a dark corner, looking perfectly normal.
"That was a close one, lad! That car nearly got you!" David pointed a trembling finger at the pirate.
"You . . ." David choked out. "You . . . skull . . . head . . . thing . . ."
"Ye-es," Bill said slowly, looking guilty. "Yes, I can explain about that."
"Explain?!" David tried to scoot back further, but since he was already wedged tightly in the corner, all he was really doing was scrabbling his feet on the floor. He did not want an explanation. He wanted the pirate to disappear in a puff of smoke, never to be seen again. He wanted his stupid, stupid locker to never have started spewing out pirate artifacts. He had also, to be perfectly honest, wanted the skull- head thing to have been a trick of the light, not an actual, factual thing that required explanation.
"I'm not going to hurt you, lad," Bill said gently.
"Skull . . . thing . . . *you* . . ." David said helpfully, flapping his hands.
"Well, as I said, there *is* an explanation," Bill said patiently.
"Like what?!" David snapped, starting to regain control of his mouth.
"Well," Bootstrap sat back and sighed. "I am, or I used to be, part of the crew of The Black Pearl, a pirate ship. Our captain, Jack Sparrow, wanted to find this island where there was supposedly a great treasure. The first mate, fellow by the name of Barbossa, decided he wanted the treasure all for himself, and the rest of us went along with him."
"You mutinied," David said flatly, and Bill nodded.
"Aye, we did. And after getting the location of the island from Jack, Barbossa dumped him off on some desert island and left 'im to die." Bill scowled. "Scummy thing to do. And I told him so! But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, we dumped Jack off on that island and headed to Isla De Muerta. And we found the treasure. And we took it all." Bootstrap paused. "It took us a while to figure out that it was cursed. The more we spent it, the more we began to notice the changes. Food and drink didn't satisfy us. And when we stood in the moonlight . . . well, I'll show you."
"Oh, you don't have to," David hastily began to object in a voice several octaves higher than usual. The pirate ignored him.
Bill stretched a hand out into the large square of dappled moonlight on the floor of the tree house. But wherever the moonlight touched him, instead of looking like a normal (more or less) solid person, he looked like a skeleton. David's stomach lurched unpleasantly.
"That's interesting," the boy said weakly, and Bill snorted, pulling his hand back.
"Don't waste any pity on me," Bill said. David resisted the urge to say, 'I wasn't about to' as Bill continued. "We deserved what we got. And when we found out that we had to gather up all of the old coins in order to break the curse, I sent one of them to my son. We should have stayed cursed for what we did, stealing the treasure and marooning Jack and all."
"Well, I think I can guess the rest," David said after a short pause. "Barbossa didn't like your attitude, so he strapped you to that cannon and sent you down to my locker."
"Yep." Bootstrap shrugged.
"So not only," David said slowly, "are you a pirate, you a cursed, un- dead pirate."
"Yep." Bootstrap shrugged again.
"I hate my life," David groaned, looking up at the roof.
"At least you've got one," Bootstrap pointed out.
"Shut up." David scowled. He slipped down out of the tree house. He would have to check his locker tomorrow. He'd bring the pirate with him. Maybe there was some way . . . could it work backwards . . .?
David crawled into bed, closed his eyes, and failed to fall asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hmmm . . . as I said before, ideas and suggestions are welcome. Press the handy-dandy review button and will give you Orlando Bloom, conveniently shrunk down to pocket-size, so you can take him with you everywhere! All you have to pay is $5.95 for shipping and handling! Especially handling, bwahahaha!
P.S. If you wish, I will also include a magic remote-control, so that you can make him grow and shrink at will!
P.P.S. Not *that* way! Geez, get your minds out of the gutter, people!! *shakes head in disgust*
QueenFrosteen: Yes, the kittens! Bwahaha! Thanks! And I don't *think* so . . .
Billie Jukes: Wow, thanks! *bows* And I totally understand. I wish my parents would drag ME on vacations. Grumble . . . anyway, thanks so much!
Kitty the drunken butterfly: Yes, yes, we shall see . . .
midnights shadow: Thanks a bunch! Wow! I'm not sure where this is going, either. *sighs* But more surprises, definitely . . . bwaha.
Don't forget to do your civic duty and review! :)
~Platy
Also, I know I said that I would update yesterday, but a squirrel fried our transformer . . . or our transformer fried a squirrel . . . *shakes head* (transformers, for those of you who don't know, are robots in disguise) and anyway we lost our power for quite a while.
Anyway, usual disclaimers apply, and on with the story!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter five: That's interesting
David awoke a short time later and immediately wished that he hadn't.
He was up in the tree house. Bootstrap must have hauled him up there after he fainted . . . and he had fainted because Bootstrap . . . oh no . . . David sat up and scooted backwards into a corner, regarding the pirate with terror. Bill, for his part, was sitting in a dark corner, looking perfectly normal.
"That was a close one, lad! That car nearly got you!" David pointed a trembling finger at the pirate.
"You . . ." David choked out. "You . . . skull . . . head . . . thing . . ."
"Ye-es," Bill said slowly, looking guilty. "Yes, I can explain about that."
"Explain?!" David tried to scoot back further, but since he was already wedged tightly in the corner, all he was really doing was scrabbling his feet on the floor. He did not want an explanation. He wanted the pirate to disappear in a puff of smoke, never to be seen again. He wanted his stupid, stupid locker to never have started spewing out pirate artifacts. He had also, to be perfectly honest, wanted the skull- head thing to have been a trick of the light, not an actual, factual thing that required explanation.
"I'm not going to hurt you, lad," Bill said gently.
"Skull . . . thing . . . *you* . . ." David said helpfully, flapping his hands.
"Well, as I said, there *is* an explanation," Bill said patiently.
"Like what?!" David snapped, starting to regain control of his mouth.
"Well," Bootstrap sat back and sighed. "I am, or I used to be, part of the crew of The Black Pearl, a pirate ship. Our captain, Jack Sparrow, wanted to find this island where there was supposedly a great treasure. The first mate, fellow by the name of Barbossa, decided he wanted the treasure all for himself, and the rest of us went along with him."
"You mutinied," David said flatly, and Bill nodded.
"Aye, we did. And after getting the location of the island from Jack, Barbossa dumped him off on some desert island and left 'im to die." Bill scowled. "Scummy thing to do. And I told him so! But I'm getting ahead of myself. So, we dumped Jack off on that island and headed to Isla De Muerta. And we found the treasure. And we took it all." Bootstrap paused. "It took us a while to figure out that it was cursed. The more we spent it, the more we began to notice the changes. Food and drink didn't satisfy us. And when we stood in the moonlight . . . well, I'll show you."
"Oh, you don't have to," David hastily began to object in a voice several octaves higher than usual. The pirate ignored him.
Bill stretched a hand out into the large square of dappled moonlight on the floor of the tree house. But wherever the moonlight touched him, instead of looking like a normal (more or less) solid person, he looked like a skeleton. David's stomach lurched unpleasantly.
"That's interesting," the boy said weakly, and Bill snorted, pulling his hand back.
"Don't waste any pity on me," Bill said. David resisted the urge to say, 'I wasn't about to' as Bill continued. "We deserved what we got. And when we found out that we had to gather up all of the old coins in order to break the curse, I sent one of them to my son. We should have stayed cursed for what we did, stealing the treasure and marooning Jack and all."
"Well, I think I can guess the rest," David said after a short pause. "Barbossa didn't like your attitude, so he strapped you to that cannon and sent you down to my locker."
"Yep." Bootstrap shrugged.
"So not only," David said slowly, "are you a pirate, you a cursed, un- dead pirate."
"Yep." Bootstrap shrugged again.
"I hate my life," David groaned, looking up at the roof.
"At least you've got one," Bootstrap pointed out.
"Shut up." David scowled. He slipped down out of the tree house. He would have to check his locker tomorrow. He'd bring the pirate with him. Maybe there was some way . . . could it work backwards . . .?
David crawled into bed, closed his eyes, and failed to fall asleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hmmm . . . as I said before, ideas and suggestions are welcome. Press the handy-dandy review button and will give you Orlando Bloom, conveniently shrunk down to pocket-size, so you can take him with you everywhere! All you have to pay is $5.95 for shipping and handling! Especially handling, bwahahaha!
P.S. If you wish, I will also include a magic remote-control, so that you can make him grow and shrink at will!
P.P.S. Not *that* way! Geez, get your minds out of the gutter, people!! *shakes head in disgust*
QueenFrosteen: Yes, the kittens! Bwahaha! Thanks! And I don't *think* so . . .
Billie Jukes: Wow, thanks! *bows* And I totally understand. I wish my parents would drag ME on vacations. Grumble . . . anyway, thanks so much!
Kitty the drunken butterfly: Yes, yes, we shall see . . .
midnights shadow: Thanks a bunch! Wow! I'm not sure where this is going, either. *sighs* But more surprises, definitely . . . bwaha.
Don't forget to do your civic duty and review! :)
~Platy