Disclaimer: Once again, I own absolutely nothing. If I did own something, do you think I would be here?
A/N: I promise we will eventually meet Phantom, but it is necessary to give boring backstory in everything, even in 'Phantom'. I am trying hard to get to France and the Opera Populaire as quickly as possible though.
…Chapter Two…
The next morning I woke up with sand in my mouth, hair and eyes. I sat up. 'Where am I?' I thought, then I remembered the events of last night. 'Oh no…'it suddenly hit me that I was totally on my own and alone in the world with no money and no friends to speak of. Being that the inevitable loneliness had come crashing down sooner than expected, I began to cry. 'Now stop that,' the rebel thought, but even her voice broke and began to sob. Though I tried not to admit it, I honestly didn't have a clue what to do now. I couldn't let myself believe that though. If I believed it, then I would surely die of fear. It was then that I looked up and noticed a rather large boat docking not too far away. In a stroke of unseen brilliance, I crept up to the dock silently as though the rags that I wore were not there. I hid behind a wooden pillar and listened to the following conversation. "So she'll be here for how long?" a pompous man in a powdered wig asked. He was fat and wore spectacles that would have certainly fallen off of his nonexistent nose if not for his elephant sized ears. "Jes' fer' a couple a' hours," answered who I assumed to be the ships captain. He was taller than the other man, with a bristly red beard and a slurred Welsh accent as a result of too much liquor. "Very well then. I'll be needing a nine pence from you before you shove off then." "Fine, fine." The captain reached into his pocket and retrieved a bulging bag of gold coins. "Here," he tossed the bag to the other man. As the bag flew, a few unnoticed coins jumped out, I had to bite my hand to keep from snatching them and blowing my cover. "Cheers," said the pompous man and with that sauntered off with his stubby nose held in the air. Behind his back the captain suggested to the man that he was number 'one' on his list. The captain then skulked off to one off the bars. As soon as he entered the door I quit watching him and dove at the coins still laying there. I gulped and stood up, glancing around to make sure no one had seen me. No one had, I sighed in relief. Opening my tightly closed fist, I gazed upon my newly found treasure: 3 small, gold coins. What a bounty, well as small as it was, it was more than I had ever seen in my life, which wasn't saying much. I then wondered on how to escape my prison and on to the ship. I looked around again, evidently everyone was taking the liberty of a break at this pit stop, for I saw no one as I walked around to the front of the boat. Yes, I was in luck, as I had hoped, no guards and the gangplank still lowered. I took a deep breath and started up the wooden ramp. It wasn't long before I cast a woeful, pitying look over my shoulder at my once home. After that last look, I climbed the rest of the way up and never looked back until I had made it to the other side of the channel.
