Tommy was being rather fussy as he and his friend Kimmi were carried into the bathroom of his house by his mom. The two had been having fun playing together in Tommy's sandbox, until his mom decided the two were getting dirty and needed to be cleaned.
Kimmi, for her part, couldn't understand why Tommy was being so difficult. "Why don't you like taking baths, Tommy?" She whispered to him. "I thought you and Chuckie got over the whole drain thing."
Tommy whispered back. "It's not the drain. Baths aren't fun because you have to take off your clothes and everything, and grown-ups always make you take them even when you don't want to. We were just fine playing in that sand-box, the sand wasn't getting anywhere it wasn't supposed to."
But Kimmi reassured her friend. "Bath time can still be fun."
"How can it be fun?" Tommy pondered. "Especially when the grown-ups put all that stuff on your hair and then rinse it off?"
Kimmi smiled. "Once we're in the bath, I'll show you. I've learned a few things from my baths with Chuckie."
Didi, meanwhile, set the two toddlers down on some carefully placed towels near the bathtub. "Just sit tight, you two," She sweetly told them, then leaned over the tub to turn the faucet on and get the tub filling up with water. "Soon, you'll be nice and clean again. Then you can go play again together before your nap."
It wasn't long before the tub had filled up enough for Didi to feel that it was suitable for two toddlers. She checked the temperature to make sure it wasn't too hot or too cold. Once satisfied of this fact, she smiled while stripping Tommy and Kimmi of their clothes and diapers. Then, she helped them into the tub so that they sat at opposite ends, facing each other. For good measure, she also placed a few toys in the tub between the two: Including toy boats and a rubber duck.
Kimmi's smile grew brighter as she looked across to Tommy. "You ready to have some fun?" She asked him, pulling one of the toy boats close to her.
Tommy eyed his friend and somewhat hesitantly nodded back. He had no idea what Kimmi was going to do.
Kimmi giggled as she began moving the toy boat around, throwing her voice to sound gruff. "Argh, Captain Tommy! Are ya ready to go hunting?! We're gonna sail the seven seas in search of the greatest treasure of them all."
"Are we playing pirates?" Tommy questioned Kimmi.
Kimmi nodded in approval. "Uh-huh," She briefly broke character. "We can use our imagination, just like when we were playing in the sandbox, or like all the things you and Chuckie do together," Then she began to talk like a pirate again. "Are ya ready, Captain Tommy?"
With a giggle, Tommy replied in his best pirate voice. "Argh! I definitely am, Kimmi."
Kimmi had to resist the urge to giggle again. "I'm not Kimmi, Captain Tommy. I'm Captain Kimmi," Holding the toy boat close to her, she declared. "This be our ship: The S.S. Rugrat."
"How can there be two captains on one boat?" Tommy questioned. "My grandpa always said that when he was on a boat with those guys in that war, they only had one captain."
Kimmi just replied. "We're pirates. Pirates can be captains if they want to be. Now come on, let's get sailing! We've got to find that great treasure." And soon, a magnificent adventure was taking place in the imagination of the two toddlers.
Tommy and Kimmi were standing on the forward deck of their massive wooden ship, watching as the lily white sails flapped against the breeze. The sound of seagulls provided the only break from the silence as the ship bobbed up and down with each wave. The two of them were wearing black pirate hats, eye patches over their left eyes, and of course each had a wooden leg on their right leg.
Kimmi was holding up a well worn piece of paper, pointing to a spot on it as she said to Tommy. "Argh, Captain Tommy. Our treasure be just up ahead. Ours for the taking it be, if we can catch it."
"Aiyi, Captain Kimmi," Tommy nodded and made his way over to a large wheel. He gripped it and began steering the ship to the left and then the right. "Let's go get our booty!"
After about a minute or so of sailing, the pirates spotted something out of the corner of their eyes. Floating on the briny blue was a truly massive creature, the likes of which had never been seen before! It appeared to be a duck of some kind, but one whose feathers were a bright yellow, not unlike the sun. It had a large, orange beak. And beady blue eyes. Instead of quacking, it let out a high pitched squeak. And it was bigger than any duck that had ever been seen before!
Kimmi stood on the deck, peering through a looking glass held in her right hand. "Thar she blows!" She bellowed!
"That be our treasure we seek, Captain Kimmi?" Tommy asked his fellow pirate.
Kimmi nodded back. "Aye, Captain Tommy. That be no ordinary duck. We be the first to ever lay eyes on it. Which means it be ours for the taking!" And she made her way across the deck of the ship. "Man the cannons!"
Several large cannons stationed on either side of the ship's main deck began to fire, shooting off cannonballs left and right! Yet not one of them came anywhere close to reaching the huge duck as it slowly but surely drifted out of sight.
Tommy gripped the steering wheel of the ship, pressing it forward to the best of his ability. He wasn't about to let the duck escape if he could help it!
The ship followed the duck, surprisingly managing to keep pace with it as it bobbed up and down on the waves.
Suddenly, up ahead, the pirates could see what appeared to be mist! As they got closer, the mist turned out to be foam from a raging waterfall cascading over some rocks!
Tommy tried to steer the ship away from the waterfall, but it was as if the ship had a mind of its own. It slowly but surely was being pulled towards the waterfall.
"All hands on deck!" Kimmi bellowed as she rushed to help Tommy steer the ship. They tugged and tugged on the steering wheel with all their might! It seemed like they were slowly moving the ship in the right direction, even as they were coming closer and closer to the waterfall and the rocks!
A shower of water on the heads of both Tommy and Kimmi snapped them out of their scenario of make-believe. They had been alternating on pulling and pushing the toy bot from earlier, making it chase after a rubber duck floating in between them.
Didi smiled. "Sorry to break up the fun, you two. But you're all nice and clean now. It's time to get out." She moved over to one side of the tub, preparing to pull out the drain plug to empty out the tub.
But Tommy and Kimmi shot Didi a pair of pleading eyes, not wanting their adventure to end so soon.
Didi was happy to oblige. "Five more minutes in the tub won't hurt," She decided. "But once those five minutes are up, they're up, and bath time will be over."
Tommy and Kimmi didn't mind. Five minutes would be plenty of time for them to finish up their make-believe pirate adventure. Captain Tommy and Captain Kimmi were not about to be outsmarted by a rubber duck, not if they could help it!