When I was a child, I was fascinated by stories of pirates. I would gaze out at the sea endlessly, occasionally catching a glimpse of a tall-masted ship on the horizon and imagining that it was full of pirates, sneaking through our waters. You see, in our settlement, the pirates had become secretly revered. Our king, cruel and greedy despot that he was, taxed our colony so heavily that had we not been able to trade with the pirates, we could not have survived.


Thus, word spread that the surrounding waters were full of pirates and though at the time, I had little grasp of economic or political issues, I would soon come to learn firsthand of the consequences of so-called "civil disobedience"

The king imposed curfews and limited even further the already inadequate rations and in a matter of months, the town guard had tripled in size. I saw firsthand as the king's soldiers went door to door in their heavy, rattling armor, interrogating the starving people of our town. Often these interrogations became violent.

One night, my father returned home after curfew with a bag of goods. His shoulder was bleeding, and as my mother bandaged him, he excitedly told us that the pirates planned to liberate the town, and it would be happening soon. I went to bed, feverish excitement welling up within me, so wound up I could barely sleep. I awoke early the next morning to our door coming crashing down. I was roughly dragged out of bed by soldiers and taken to the street with my mother and father.

"You were out past curfew last night and you attacked and injured one of the king's guardsmen." My most vivid memory of this incident has always been the sneer of the captain of the guard as he mercilessly delivered the sentence. "Shoot them" he said, as if my family were no more than vermin to be exterminated. I was forced to witness firsthand the execution of my parents and as two shots rang out and I readied myself for a third, I was miraculously spared by some rare stroke of chance.

"Pirates!" Shouted one of the guardsmen. Looking down past the sloping hill of the street, beyond the port, a pirate carrack was approaching rapidly. Crimson sails hung from the masts, a dark flag hanging from the highest, an unmistakably pirate banner.

The commander hardly as much as gave me a second glance as he ordered his men to rally at the shoreline and to bring the artillery. They rode off and I stood, fixated as the pirate ship sped towards the port.

As heavy guns thudded in the distance, I watched, fascinated as cannonballs splashed into the sea, columns of white spray rising up in the air after them. As the carrack drew closer, I could see huge, splintered holes in the hull being opened up by the soldiers' barrage. The ship was rapidly approaching the docks, with no signs of stopping and with an echoing crash, it went careening into one of the king's frigates and soon both were engulfed in flames.

I began to hear more explosions, all over town. Men wearing bright tawdry rags were descending on the port, pistols and rapiers gleaming in the daylight. Steel clashed against steel and the sounds of screaming and more blasts echoed through town. The pirates had cornered our oppressors and were mercilessly slaughtering them.

In a last effort to escape, the sneering captain of the guard and his attendants came galloping up the hill on horseback, now with an intense look of fear upon their faces. I recognized it immediately because not a half hour ago, I had worn the same look upon my face. As they raced up the hill, more pirates seemed to spring out of nowhere. From behind houses and out of the forest on the edge of town scrambled more pirates, surrounding the remaining guard.

The captain of the guard watched as his men were cut down, one by one by the pirates, pulled off their horses and brutally stabbed.

The guard captain threw his arms up in surrender and tossed his sword and his rifle to the ground.

As he surrendered, I watched as a tall pirate approached him. He had a dark beard and long dark hair the color of midnight and wore the hat and the coat of an admiral of the king's navy, only it was crimson and stripped of insignia. He drew his pistol and pointed it at the captain, then with one hand, grabbed him by the lip of his breastplate and pulled him to the ground with a clatter of clashing metal.

I had taken refuge in my house, peering out at the scene in the street from out of a window, but I knew I had to act quickly.

"He will fetch a healthy ransom, I'm sure," declared the leader of the pirates and they cheered in unison.

I climbed out the window and into some nearby bushes, keeping the guard captain in my sights. A fallen soldier's rifle was within my reach and I knew I had just seconds to make my move.

I stepped out from the bushes, leveled the rifle at the captain of the guard and before anyone could react, I pulled the trigger. The explosion sent me reeling backwards and I fell back into the bushes, only to be pulled out, kicking and twisting by one of the pirates.

"Well, well, missy. You've just cost me quite a bit of gold...care to explain yourself?"

I couldn't bring myself to speak, and I shook with a combination of fear and adrenaline. I pointed to where the bodies of my late parents lay in the street, and with a nod, he stood up straight. "That was quite a shot, missy, now what do you suppose I do with you?"

"Take me with you" I half-asked, half-demanded and so, my career as pirate had begun before I had even celebrated my tenth birthday.

Fourteen years have passed and when my adopted father was killed in a battle at sea, I took over his enterprise, as he had trained me to do. Life aboard a pirate ship is vastly different from the mainland and nothing can be taken for granted. I've had to kill over and over since that fateful day many years ago, but I'm careful to protect my soul in taking only the lives of those who would do harm to innocents.

Since our ship was wrecked on the shore of this island, I've come to learn that few can be trusted. Nevertheless, I have peaceful intentions, and only attack those who have attacked me first.