The Lost Earring By Quilvis Medina and Kate Abbruzzese There once was a murderous pirate named Viktor Plankbones who loved to sail the seven seas with his crew. Known for his terrible temper, he frequently lashed out at those closest to him, severing their limbs if they questioned his authority or didn’t obey his cruel commands immediately. It was legend that he murdered most of his crew, so he was sailing with ghosts. But he was so feared, and so respected, that many lowlife pirates still fought to sail aboard his vessel. Once every decade, he would look for new crewmates in his home village, Stantonville. This was how young Felicity George found herself competing to be aboard his ship, the Ragged Bone. Many of the other men competing doubted her abilities as a useful pirate, because she was a “mere female”. But what Felicity lacked in brawn, she made up for in brains, cunning, and swiftness. She knew that she would be an excellent candidate to travel on the Ragged Bone. Standing in the crowd of putrid-smelling wannabe pirates, Felicity watched as the barbarous captain strode onto the deck and announced the challenge to the rancid lot. He declared, “You shall all complete the task, climb to the top of the mast to look out. If you can see the lifeboat in the water, you may continue. But if not, you will be ELIMINATED.” Felicity grinned as she climbed aboard the ship - climbing was her specialty. She had practiced often on her father Papa Henry’s apple farm, scaling trees to pluck the juiciest fruit from the highest branches. She was the first chosen to climb the mast, and suddenly, the anxiety of 100 or so pairs of eyes hit her. With a gulp, she put her hands on the rigging 2
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and readied herself for the climb - when she felt a ghostly presence just to her left. Knowing the crucial task at hand, she continued on, thinking it was just the wind. “On yer mark,” cried the captain, “Get set -- “ he fired a pistol into the sky and a roar went up from the crowd as he screamed, “GO!” Felicity began to climb - climb as fast as she could to the top of the mast, where she stood, looking for the lifeboat. She squinted, the noonday sun beating down on her, and started to panic - she couldn’t seem to spot it in the choppy waves that rocked the pirate ship back and forth. But then, with her attentive 20-20 vision, she was able to spot a red and white circle in the dark sea. She opened her mouth to call out, “Boat ahoy!,” but stopped short when she felt a tug on her pants leg. She looked down, noticing there was nothing there, and said to herself ”What is that?”. She felt another tug, higher up, at her shoulder - more of a
