Pirates

Janice Van Cleef is an eight year old girl with a wild imigination. Her ferry ride to Amsterdam to visit her Daddy turns into a nightmare when she realises that nasty Pirates are lurking on board.

When I catch the ferry, I like to pretend that I’ve travelled back in time to the Caribbean and I’m sailing on an old, rickety pirate-ship.  I walk around the deck, staring at the passengers, trying to guess who nasty Pirates are and who are the good guys. Some people get all fidgety when I give them inquisitive looks; they are the Pirates. Other people smile at me; they are the good guys.

            

Mummy and I are travelling to Amsterdam today. It has been almost a year �" two hundred and eighty-seven days to be exact - since the last time we clambered on board a pirate ship to visit Daddy.  Today is lovely. The sun is like an electric melon hovering in the sky. I bet if I reached out and tasted it though, it wouldn’t be quite as juicy. My school teacher, Mrs Snodgrass, says the sun is the hottest thing in the solar system, so the chances are it would probably sizzle and spit like burning butter if it touched my tongue.

            

‘Janice sweetie, please wait outside the shop entrance for me. Mummy needs to buy some            new earrings.’

           

New earrings? She already has a treasure chest full of them at Charlie’s house, so why does she need any more? Then it struck me. Mummy must be a Pirate. I better not let her know that I’ve discovered the truth about her or she will make me walk the plank! I wouldn’t fancy that. It’s not that I can’t swim, Mrs Snodgrass says I’m one of the best in the class, it’s just there are probably tons of hungry sharks swimming under the waves  who are ready to guzzle and gobble me up.

            

A few minutes later, Mummy strutted out of the shop swinging a burgundy carrier bag. Her face was painted with the all too famous shopping smile.

           

‘Come on Jammy-Jan. Let’s go and have a stroll along the deck.’

            

Grrrr �" I hate it when she calls me that. Just because my hair is red like jam doesn’t mean she had to invent me such a silly nickname. Besides, if she tasted some of my strands, I could bet all the jewels in her treasure chest that it wouldn’t taste as sweet as that gooey red stuff.

         

It was really sunny when we walked along the deck and the air tasted crisp and clean. All the passengers must’ve been really happy too because their eyes were round and bright like full moons and their mouths were bendy like bananas.  Maybe they were cheerful because the sun was smiling, or perhaps it was because they were off to visit their Daddies as well. An old man with a swirly white moustache was hunched on a bench scribbling furiously on a piece of scrap paper. I urged to ask him what he writing about but eventually thought better of it �" Mummy doesn’t like me talking to strangers you see. She says they can be dangerous. That was when I remembered something �" Mummy is a pirate! It suddenly felt like there were a million dive bombers in my belly. Oh no. I am holding hands with the nastiest and scariest Pirate in the whole of the Caribbean.  I bet this isn’t even her real hand. It is probably artificial like a robots or something, disguising her curly, sharp and shiny Pirate hook.

            

‘Are you alright Janis? You seem very quiet.’

            

‘Yes Mummy. I’m just a little sleepy. That’s all.’ I lied.

            

‘Well how about I get you some ice cream. That will wake you up won’t it?’

            

‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’

            

‘Yes what?’

            

‘Yes cheese.’

            

‘No.’

            

‘Yes peas.’

            

‘No Janis.’

            

‘Yes please.’ I droned.

            

‘Now that’s a good little girl.’

            

I danced like a ballerina all the way to the ice cream shop. Well, nearly all the way anyway. Mummy made me walk by her side after I skipped onto a man’s toe. It wasn’t my fault though; his feet were like train carriages. Maybe he was secretly a clown like the one my best friend Ruby had for her birthday party last summer. That would make sense wouldn’t it?

            

‘Now what flavour would you like sweetie? There is chocolate, mint, vanilla, toffee. Oh look they have strawberry. You like strawberry don’t you?’

          

My feet were glued to the floor. I had just spotted another Pirate. The older, spaghetti haired man at the ice cream counter was smiling so he must’ve been a goodie, but the younger, spotty man by the scooping tubs looked really angry, so he must’ve been a nasty Pirate. I squeezed Mummy’s fingers only to remember that she was the scariest baddie of them all. That’s it, I’m doomed.

            

‘What’s the matter sweetie? You look like you’ve just seen a Dementor?’

            

No, not a Dementor. They aren’t real. But Pirates, well, they seem to be everywhere at the moment.  I jabbed my finger against the glass and pointed to the first flavour I saw. The spotty Pirate trudged over and scooped out a yellow coloured piece of ice cream, dolloping it on top of a crusty cone.

            

‘Mmm citrus flavour. I think you will like that.’ Mummy said encouragingly.

Wow. She was right. It tasted delicious. The sweet, sugary flavours exploded over my tongue as I licked and lapped the ice cream.

            

‘Be careful darling. Look, you’re getting it all over your chin.’

            

I mindlessly wiped my sleeve and dug back into my ice cream.

            

‘Now look what you’ve done you silly-billy. You’ve got it all over your clothes.’

            

‘Sorry.’ I scoffed -my mouth half full with the melting yellow magic. Pirates might be scary but they really do make the tastiest ice cream in the whole wide world. Then a horrible thought hit me. What if the reason it was so tasty was because the Pirates had poisoned it? I remember watching a film with Ruby after school once where there was an ugly old witch who poisoned this beautiful princess with a toxic red apple. Maybe I’m going to die in a minute and the only way I can wake up from the pirate poison is if a handsome prince gives me a big, sloppy kiss? Ergh, I think I would rather be dead. Can you imagine that? Having a big sloppy kiss from a boy?

            

‘Mummy, I don’t think I want this ice cream anymore.’

            

‘What’s wrong? Is it the flavour?’

            

I studied the ice cream, twirling it around in my fingers. Maybe if I looked hard enough I could see the poison. It looked normal, but then again I didn’t know what poison looked like. They hadn’t taught me that in school yet. If only I was a year older like Ruby then I would probably know what to scan for.

            

‘Look, if you don’t like the flavour then I will buy you another one and I will eat yours. How          about that?’

            

‘It’s not that Mummy. I just �" I just don’t want to get poorly that’s all.’

            

‘Don’t be silly. You’re not going to get poorly if you eat a little bit of ice cream. It’s only when you eat it all the time when you start to feel sick.’

            

I eyed Mummy suspiciously. Maybe just this once I’m going to trust a Pirate. And with no more hesitation I gobbled my ice cream, making sure to not get any around my mouth because I didn’t want to end up using my sleeve again. When Mummy was sipping her coffee �" that is this horrible brown potion that tastes like squashed up dead slugs - I thought of a brilliant idea.

            

‘Look Mummy I’m a Unicorn!’ I shouted, placing the cone against my forehead and cantering around the restaurant.

            

‘Very good sweetie pie, but will you come and have a sit with Mummy because I want to             have a very special grownups conversation with you?’

            

My heartbeat became loud and heavy, like an old Grandfather clock chiming the hour. What have I done wrong? Mrs Snodgrass must’ve told her about the time when I accidently said the poo word. It wasn’t my fault though. Ruby’s horrible friend was being really nasty to me in the playground so I had to say something. Didn’t I?

            

‘It wasn’t my fault Mummy. I swear it. I swear it.’

        

‘What do you mean? I haven’t even said anything yet?’

‘Ruby’s friend wouldn’t let me play with the skipping rope. I didn’t mean to call her a poo brain. Honest’

‘Janice. I didn’t even know about that incident. How many times have I told you not to call people names? You should talk to one of the teachers if someone isn’t being very nice to you.’

‘Sorry.’ I said. My eyes shifting towards the floor.

‘What I would like to talk to you about is Mummy’s friend Charlie.’

‘He isn’t your friend.’

‘Pardon?’

‘He isn’t your friend because I’ve seen you smooching. You only smooch a boy if he’s your boyfriend.’

‘Well. Okay then. Mummy would like to talk with you about her boyfriend. I know you found it a little bit difficult when we first moved house to live with Charlie. But you’ve made lots of new friends at your new school now haven’t you?’

‘I still don’t like Ruby’s classmate. She’s horrible.’ I folded my arms. Just thinking about Natasha makes me angry.

‘Well, the situation is darling. Charlie and I are getting married �" Now that doesn’t mean I won’t love you any less. You’ll always be my special little Jammy-Jan.’

Mummy leaned over the table and ruffled my hair. I wriggled my head in protest. Mummy is acting really strange. I hope this isn’t one of her nasty Pirate tricks.

‘Does that mean Charlie is going to be my new Daddy then?’

‘Yes, and no. It just means that from now on, you will be having two Daddies. I will still be taking you over to Amsterdam to visit your first Daddy, because he loves you very much. We all love you very much.’

‘Do you still love Daddy? I mean my first Daddy?’

Mummy started rubbing a sugar sachet between her fingers. She opened her mouth to speak but it hung open like a fish.

‘I want you to love both my Daddies.’ I said.

‘Yes �" Yes I do love your first Daddy. It’s very complicated, but yes, I do love him. I love him because I love you.’

Mummy’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears. She leaned across the table to give me a kiss but I quickly dodged it. She doesn’t make any sense. Pirates are just so confusing.

‘So are you okay with this decision. For Charlie and Mummy to get married?’

            

‘Hmm, okay then. Just promise me one thing Mummy.’

‘What’s that sweetie?’

‘Promise me that Charlie isn’t a Pirate.’

Reviews

[James Winter]

A very nice, light-hearted story! I sense Jan and her age, even better I feel for the way she thinks; you portray a child's way to view the world very well and the way her thoughts flutter from one thing to another. One moment she's spotting pirates, the next she's more interested in getting sweets. It keeps it very light-hearted, even at the end when the mum tries getting grave and speak to her about something that will affect her life - the fact Jan listens but mostly want to continue her pirate fantasy is both somewhat sad and something that made me crack a smile.

I would suggest you decide whether or not the story is written in present or past tense; you slip between the two from time to time and it can make it a bit difficult to read, because one comes in doubt whether Jan is merely thinking back in time or it's an actual slip up. Another thing is Jan's fantasy world; as said it is lively and very easy to believe, but it can also get a bit fluttering at times in the sense that I'm not sure in what direction the story is going. If the structure was a bit more clear, or if there were some more hints to what would happen in the ending (without revealing everything, of course), that would be lovely.

You have some very nice descriptions and a good wrap up of the story, so all in all a very pleasant, lively read!