Where The Stories Come From

Part 1

I hear him call for me, but I can't put his words into my actions. I'm paralyzed with shock. My head is turned in awe as I witness what I have only read about in stories of fiction. They move quickly crossing over the vast, blue sea with exquisite grace. The few of us slated to escape hide in the life boat behind the starboard side of the ship. "Christine!" My father calls my name only slightly above a whisper so that no one but I can hear him. I move from the center of the boat where I have planted myself after seeing them for the first time. I take a fews strides towards the side of the ship were my father's voice comes from. I reach the rail and get ready to climb over with the aid of my father's hand. I hear the shot of a pistol and look behind me. A body falls to the floor and I see them climbing up the sides of the ship and onto the surface. I move swiftly and take my father's hand. I place one leg onto the rail and get ready to jump when something grabs my waist. I let out a short, high-pitched screech and am pulled out of the grip of my father's comforting grasp.

"Oh no you don't!" a cockney accented man says in my ear.

"Christine!" my father calls out to me. I hear his voice drift away and then the crash of the boat against the water. It's too late.

The man holding my waist begins to run his hands down my waist onto my hips and back up to my breasts. He grabs them and I step on his foot with my heel. He lets go if them and I try to run away. Before I can take another step, two other men grab one of my arms each. They play with me a little calling me such names as "whore" or they peck kisses on my neck as they drag me over to the mast nearest the front of the ship. Since there are two holding me, I can't escape. I don't even fight anymore. My father's small boat got away, so there is hope for me yet. I'm not the only one being taken captive. They've killed most 20 soldiers and sailors, leaving about fifteen of each standing at the mercy of what these pirates decree. One of the pirates holding me takes his free hand and places his visibly dirty hand on the necking of the bodice of my gown and pulls it down, revealing my upper breast. I pull away, causing his hand to fall off. He places his focus solely on lining me up with all of the other soon-to-be captives of theirs are gathered. He places me among the mass amount of men. Once they let go of me and throw me into the mix of men, 3 catch my fall an hide me behind them. Combined with my long stature and the fact that I am wearing small, but still noticeable, heels, I have to crouch a bit to really be hidden. Most of these men are only slightly, if at all, taller than me. I lower myself and back up behind the men and balance myself by holding onto the mast.

I hear the clank of shoes on the wooden planks that line the floor of the ship. I look up and see a man peering above all our military men. I assume he is the captain. As the most extravagantly dressed man here, I think my guess is logical. He towers over some of the men and I assume over me. Two of the soldiers make their way back to me and hide me as best as the can from the enormous man. I don't look up from where I am crouched, now almost onto my knees. I hear him slowly walk around the ship. Each clank makes my heart sink further into my stomach. "Shoot the soldiers. Bring the other men on board." The only words I hear from his mouth are orders to kill. His Irish accent is unmistakable. His voice is low and raspy. The kind I would imagine coming from the mouth of the captain of a pirate ship.

"You've surrendered your weapons?" I ask the soldier standing above me.

"We had no choice," he whispers.

"What was that?" I hear the Irish voice question harshly. When the soldier above me does not answer, I hear the shot of a gun and see him fall down beside me. I quickly scurry out of the way of he body. The soldier to my other side moves away in reaction. The captain pushes aside the men in front of me to reveal the terrified girl sitting and staring in awe. I breathe heavily. I cannot comprehend what I see. "I had no idea we had a woman aboard this ship. Can't kill a woman. 'Tis worse luck than having one join us upon the ship." I stare up at him and begin to slow my breathing. I realize that I should show him none of the fear that resides in me. "Bring her on board." Two pirates take to the aisle that the captain as left for them in between soldiers. They grab my arms and pull me along to the plank that bridges the gap between the two ships. The take me across and I am suddenly submerged in a situation that I had no idea existed outside of books and stories. We cross the bridge and they turn me around to go towards, what I assume, is the captain's quarters. I hear multiple gunshots go off at once and I look back to see over a dozen bodies fall to the ground. I look back foreword and then to the back of the ship, where another dozen sailors are being escorted by gun and sword point to the ship. How pirates took over our vessel still remains a mystery to me. Everything that happened up until this point is a blur. I don't know what happened.

I hear things being yelled at the sailors like "Move it scum!" or "Come on, ye cockroach!" I am so caught up in the moment that I don't even notice that the men holding me have halted. They still hold me by the silk sleeves of my embroidered gown. They turn me around to face the back of the ship where the sailors, now prisoners, are being escorted to the brig, hands behind head. I don't understand why I am not being taken down there as well. I don't argue. Anything I say here can be used against me in a negative way in the long run. The last person to trek across the plank over onto the pirate ship is the man I still presume to be the captain. Instead of following the herd down to the lower half of the ship, he comes straight over to me.

He stares me blankly in the face, our noses almost touching. "Ya' gotta name, missy?"

"Christine."

"And yer last name?"

"Ph-Phillips, sir," I stutter

"Miss Phillips. 'Tis a pleasure to have a woman of such high importance aboard."

"My father is the one of importance. I'm merely his daughter."

He circles around me and tucks his dirty fingers in my hair. I shake my head to get them off. "A daughter," he says as he completes his rotation around around me, "he would pay handsomely to get back."

"You plan to use me for some kind of ransom?"

"We're pirates. It's what we do." His accent makes him a bit difficult to understand. "Now, Miss Phillips, you can either join your sailor friends in the brig, or you may have a room to yerself."

"What do you mean?" I ask thinking he is going to somehow trick me. They're pirates. It's what they do.

"I'll show ye. Lads," he cues the men holding me to let go.

The captain offers me his arm. "I'm perfectly capable of walking by myself, thank you."

"As ye wish, ma lady." He bows slightly in an almost sarcastic fashion. "Follow me, then." He guides me to the back of the ship where there are two joining doors. He bends down and opens them up. "I mean, a room of yer own."

I suppose he wasn't lying. "No catch? Just this room to me?"

"A pirates honor, dreary."

"I suppose I'll take this room then, sir."

"Alright, Miss Phillips. It's yers. Go on in."

I step into the room and look around. It looks nice. There are no rodents in sight, there's a bed, a dresser, and it is quite spacious. It's not bad at all. Whilst looking around, I hear the door shut behind me. I also hear some kind of key turn. The door has been locked. I run up to it and begin to bang on it with both of my clenched fists. I only hear them chuckle. "Get comfortable, Ms. Phillips!" The captain yells back to me. I realize that there is no getting out so long as he has the keys, and there isn't much of a point in trying to get out. Hitting the door won't do much for me. Instead, I walk over towards the large bed and bull back the wine-colored velvet comforter and the sheets and lay myself down upon the pillow. I prepare for a long while of rest for me. Much needed rest.