The Pirates

The two boys jumped from bed to bed, as the ceiling fan creaked and spun lazily through the humid September air. At the height of their leaps, the blades narrowly missed their heads. Liam cried to Martin, “Jump any higher and the fan will cut your head off.”

“I'm not scared.”

“Me neither, nothing can hurt me,” said Liam.

Martin, the taller of the two boys, drew from his belt the ruler that was his cutlass this hot afternoon. He lunged after Liam, thrusting and slashing, chasing him across the stained brown carpet and down the stairs. As he ran through the kitchen, Liam grabbed a wooden spoon from the counter top. This martial parity brought a renewed ardor for the fight. Liam spun and faced his adversary, a duel to the death. Parrying and thrusting, he slashed across Martin's wrist and the ruler fell. With his enemy disarmed, Liam pushed the spoon handle into Martin's abdomen. Falling to his knees, Martin cried, “Arggh, ya got me, Captain Kidd, all the treasure is yours.”

“What about the parrot?” Liam asked.

“You can have the parrot too!”

“I guess I'll need a map to find your treasure,” …