Legends of the Sea

The Pirate King

The Fiercest Captain to

Sail the Seven Seas

THE PIRATE King loomed over us and I suppressed a shudder as I gape.

He stood taller than six feet with leathery skin which stretched over his face from years of being out in the poisoning sun. A great bushy black as night beard clung to his face and fell down to where his giant arms were crossed. His eyes were small and the color of the morning sea and did not admit any joy. A large black hat sat on his head with snowy white feathers rimmed the sides, which contrasted deeply with the rest of his look. He wore a sea green jacket with golden cuffs and worn off-white trousers. They were nearly yellow with age. An orange scarf was wrapped around his shoulder to his torso which a pistol sat by his hip. Peeking beneath his scarf was a brown belt where a long vicious looking pirate sword hung. To finish his look, a green parrot swooped down from above and landed on his shoulder. If you looked up 'pirate' in a dictionary, his picture would be next to it.

"What's your name, lad?" the Pirate King swung his head towards me, narrowing his tiny eyes.

"Uhhh," I nearly forgotten how to speak as I tried to hide my shaky hands, "Romeo, sir."

His eyes searched me and I prayed that he would only find a boy and nothing more. I felt the power in his gaze and then stopped looking at my clothes. The Pirate King grumbled something before heading off.

I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. Flake gave me a weak smile before returning his gaze to the deck.

"That's the Pirate King," Flake answered.

I shivered and continued to mop, "Is he well known?"

Flake stopped scrubbing, "You really don't know anything, do you?"

I bit my retort back and gave him a clueless glance, "The Pirate King is the most known pirate in the world!"

"I typically stay towards land," I said truthfully, shutting out the idea that I am out at sea, "I haven't been this close to the Ocean since my dad drowned."

Images flickered in my brain of the sound of the ambulance, my tears staining the sand and my mom howling into the wind. The empty feeling in my heart began to grow, swallowing up other emotions, but I shut it down. Not now.

"I'm sorry," Flake said, turning to look at me. His eyes were sad and I could actually feel that he was sorry, "I never met my mother."

He looked off and his brown matted hair fell in front of his eyes, "My father never talked about her. But I would do anything to switch places of my mother and father."

A shadow fell across his eyes, he was reliving some dark memories and I didn't dare ask.

"But, here I am, away from my father," Flake continued to scrub, "This could be worse."

〰〰〰

IT DID get worse.

The sun was the real monster on this ship. Without the protection of sunscreen, my skin reeled and was scald by the sun. I had basically turned into a human lobster. I had a more pale complexion of skin (thanks, Mom), but I typically tanned after I burned. I am about to get real tan soon from my red skin.

Flake, on the other hand, got a nice dark tan from only one day in the sun. He barely seemed affected by the harmful rays as I writhed in pain. The only thing I truly wanted to do is to peel off my skin.