When Children Meet Pirates

An epic poem about two girls, a forest, some pirates, a father and a nanny.

When Children Meet Pirates

 

My name is Effie Punnick,

and I have nothing more to lose

since I chased my employer's daughter into

the clutches of a Pirate's crew.

 

I was given the job

by the employer from Hell

of nanny to two girls

called Nancy and Belle.

 

Their father was a crook,

I knew from the start,

he was a stealer of jewels

and a dealer of art.

 

He knew nothing of love,

and had only one ambition,

to torture the Kingdom's pirates

until they fell into submission.

 

Despite their father's flaws,

the girls were utter joys,

Although Belle was a little stubborn,

And made an awful lot of noise,

 

See, I was employed for a reason,

which I didn't know until my first day.

The girls were intrigued by a forest,

and I was not to let them stray.

 

The Bloodcrow Forest was scary,

and huge and quite close by,

And the rumour in the city was

that Pirates were camping inside.

 

See, they were after something,

and my employer, Mr Pesh,

had let slip that he was responsible

for a catastrophic mess.

 

Mr Pesh was man of law,

and several months ago,

had captures eleven pirates,

and put their severed heads on show.

 

The pirates' rage was worrying

to men like Mr Pesh,

more so because his daughters,

longed to see Pirates in the flesh.

 

So I tried for months to control them,

but Belle could not be tamed,

she'd always dreamt of meeting Pirates,

My bedtime stories were to blame...

 

Before I could stop her,

she escaped in the dead of night,

We feared she might be murdered,

to her sister's cruel delight.

 

I'd neglected mute little Nancy

and failed to see her tears,

Belle had bullied her sister

and become the subject of all her fears.

 

So Nancy didn't care

whether Belle had lived or died,

but I still ran into the forest

to where pirates were rumoured to reside.

 

I rescued twelve-year-old Belle,

who was surprisingly calm.

She said she loved the Pirate camp,

and that the Pirates meant no harm.

 

I told her this was rubbish,

and she'd heard a bunch of lies,

so she screamed and me and kicked my leg

and ran to her room and cried.

 

The following morning saw a terror,

in the form of a Pirate siege,

which began in the Castle's Courtyard

while King Ferdinand made a speech.

Mr Pesh was a raging bull

and punched his daughter in the eye,

As it was Belle who told the Pirates

that he'd wanted more to die,

 

As I ran to safe-guard Nancy,

I watched a Pirate approach poor Belle,

who was being beaten by her father

and being told to rot in Hell.

 

The Pirate wrenched dear Belle aside

and brandished a glistening sword

and plunged it into her father's chest

until he lay dead on the floor.

 

I was relieved that Belle was safe,

but she clasped a Pirate's hand

and at first I was bewildered but then

I saw her smile expand.

 

Could it be that she had met him

during her escapade in the woods?

Could he possibly have loved her?

Could a pirate turn out to be good?

 

I had more important things on my mind though,

All around me, townsfolk were screaming.

I ran, shielding Nancy

from the buildings that were burning.

 

Through all the smoke and licking flames,

we searched for the Pirate and Belle,

we thought we saw them running,

but it was difficult to tell.

 

But soon the smoke began to clear

as did the panic in my head,

and we found Belle and the Pirate

hiding near the Forest's edge.

 

"This is John Lefevre" Belle told me.

"We're in love and I'm running away.

I'm going with him on the Pirate Ship

To find treasure on some exotic bay."

 

Naturally I was furious

and I punched Lefevre in the face

I begged Belle to come with me and Nancy

to some new and happier place.

Of course, she refused my offer.

Love is blinding and harming and alarming.

She wanted adventure and excitement and her Pirate,

but her sister simply needed re-homing.

 

Eventually, Lefevre surrendered

and passed me his young lover's hand.

Belle cried all the way to the station,

where we left for Featherjet Land.

 

We were happy for a while,

me as mother in a cute little cottage.

I got a job as a local teacher

and the girls became my world.

 

But one morning before I served breakfast,

I heard Nancy shriek Belle' name.

Belle had fled in search of her Pirate

and Nancy was never the same.

 

My story does not end hear,

neither does Nancy's and neither does Belle's,

So I'll leave it here and collect my memories

So that next time, I have more stories to tell. 

Reviews

[Holly Mason]

interesting to read
it is more of a story -at least to me
very cute truly
last stanza-hear=here*)
i would read more about this I did get confused with dad he is an art dealer but also a lawyer makes him quite a character*)
thank you for sharing

[NGenieL]

Oh that's embarassing! I'm usually anally retentive when it comes to grammar... damn! Thanks!

[Holly Mason]

do not be ....my grammar is bad really bad I usually so not even point those kind of things out but have been directed into it I do not like it much for I am not a grammar queen so what right do I have to make suggestions or corrections keep it up this was truly adorable

[NGenieL]

Haha thanks! It's a poem-ish version of a book I wrote. I hope to do it again with the others I've written :D Thanks for the encouragement :)

[rnuff]

wow, like the imagery, amazing story.

[NGenieL]

Thank you!