Jack had the oddest sensation-he felt so cold, yet he could feel immense heat. The pretty face of the 'orange ball's' floated through his mind, and he grinned widely.
"Look Dad! He's smiling!" a boy said.
Jack's smile fell into a frown. "Hmm?" he said gruffly opening first one eye and then the other.
Faces began to appear before him 4 of them to be exact…Jack's face puckered in thought. He began to move from one face to another in confusion. He blinked his eyes several times trying to clear this preposterous vision from before him. But it wouldn't go away.
"What's he doing Mom?" another voice, this one of a young girl.
"Hush Marie, let the man get his bearings."
Jack could now make out the faces-there were the two children who'd come outside just before he'd fallen…and there was a man and a woman, presumably the children's parents. Jack grunted as he attempted to sit up. He used quite a bit of effort, but could not raise himself on the oddly shaped bed… The man came closer and helped Jack into a sitting position. Jack felt as if his head were bobbing in the ocean and he lifted his hand to perhaps 'balance' himself.
The children giggled and Jacked looked at them curiously. 'Odd creatures…' he thought to himself. The girl's eyes were big and blue. When Jack looked at her and the boy intensely, her eyes got even bigger, and their giggles ceased.
" 'S not nice to laugh at a misfortunate." He said seriously with his rich accent.
The woman stepped in front of the children and spoke quite harshly. "And just who are you?" Her eyes were narrowed.
"Why-I'm Captain Jack Sparrow!" He gave one of his dazzling smiles.
Her heart skipped a beat at how sexy the man sitting on her couch looked. With blankets wrapped around his shoulders, the front of him wasn't covered and she could see his well-defined chest exposed from his unbuttoned shirt. His hair was long and dark and his eyes-she could definitely get lost in them. 'Yes,' She decided. 'His eyes are his best attributes-that I can see…' Attention was drawn to them from the black that lined them. Her stern face was growing quite soft and the ends of her lips were curling slightly into an unwilling smile. Her knees felt like jell-o as he took hold of her hand and kissed it ever so softly.
"And you would be…?" He asked smiling even more seductively.
"Me? I-my name is-my name is-."She bit back a laugh.
"Kate!" A gruff voice said.
Jack turned to his left and saw the man who'd helped him sit up step closer and look sharply at his wife. She looked up at her husband and seeing his look smiled sheepishly, her face flushing a bright scarlet. Then the man looked at Jack skeptically.
"Now then-tell me who are you-really?"
"I told ye!" he said. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow-most fearsome pirate alive!" He grinned cockily. Then he began to hack uncontrollably wheezing and gasping for breath.
"Doesn't seem so fearsome to me!" the boy scoffed peeking around his mother.
The man looked at Jack with a mixture of annoyance and worry. He didn't know who this stranger was, but he had passed out in his yard. As Jack continued to cough and gag, the man ushered his wife and children out of the room.
"Kate, please take the children and um…make some cookies ok?" He told his wife pushing her towards the doorway of the room with the children following.
As the kids followed their mother into the kitchen, they looked over their shoulder at the funny looking man in their living room. Their dad gave them a stern look and they quickly hurried after their mother-the door into the kitchen swinging shut behind them. Only when his children had left the room, did the man return to Jack's side and stood there as he caught his breath.
Jack looked up at him, his once lively chocolate colored eyes looked black and dead like coal. "The lad's right you know…I'm nothin' without me ship…"
The man decided to play along with Jack-maybe he'd hit his head or something… "And where is your ship exactly?" he asked.
"Back at the port…in the Caribbean." Jack looked up at him hopefully. "Are we far from it?"
The man was dubious about the truth of Jack's statements, but continued the little game. "The Caribbean? We're quite a ways away from it I'm afraid."
Jack's face fell. "Oh." He said then sat for a minute thoughtfully. "Well then where are we? Are we in Britain? Or wait-I know! We're in France-aren't we! I thought those architectures looked a bit odd. But if I'm this is France, it explains it!" Jack rushed on when he saw the look on the man's face. "Not implying anything sir!"
"Oh-no! Um-er-Jack-this isn't France… This is the United States of America."
"The Americas?" Jack's eyes grew wide in surprise. "I've 'eard about em…but never actually thought twas this civilized…"
The man's lips twitched. "What year do you think it is?"
"It is sixteen hundred and ninety four." Jack answered solemnly.
The man guffawed, but seeing the seriousness in Jack's face, his face straightened as well. "Uh-you honestly believe that it is 1694?"
Jack nodded. "I swear't on my grave!"
The man scratched his head. "I hate to be the one to break it to you-but you're not in the 17th century anymore…it's 2004, Mr. Sparrow."
Jack's face fell and he sunk back against the odd bed with the back. His eyes held the look of a frightened child, as he pondered his predicament.
"So how did I end up here in this century? I was sleepin' in me pride an' joy, the Pearl and woke up here…"
He jumped up shedding the blankets, and began to pace the room. His gait was unsteady and he swayed about. Startled, the man reached out to help Jack balance, only to find that Jack was quite steady, yet he was stumbling around as if he were drunk. 'Maybe that's it…maybe this is just some drunk who's this desperate for help…' But somehow Thomas Wakefield knew that this man was truly a pirate from the 17th century-and it made him, a grown man of 45-frightened…
