The Well-Read Pirate

Far away, across nine oceans and past nine islands dotted with palm trees, somewhere amid the turbulent waves a boat was bobbing. It was no ordinary fishing boat, it was a huge pirate ship full of fearsome pirates. They wore hats, like all true corsairs, and some even had eye patches and wooden legs.

They were all so terrifying that the other ships would go miles out of their way to avoid them.

All but one, that is. They called him Theo. He didn’t have a pirate name, or an eye patch, or a wooden leg. In fact, he didn’t even have a hat. But what he did have was a head full of stories he had discovered in stolen books.

He was the only one of the crew who could read. Several times, he had tried to teach the others to read, but they always just responded with laughter and told him that real pirates don’t read. They said that he should find something more pirate-like to do, like play cards. But the only thing Theo really felt like doing, deep down, was reading books. So often he would sit alone on the deck with his nose buried in an adventure story.

One day, Theo was interrupted from another exciting tale by a sharp tap on his shoulder. It was the captain himself.

“You know I can’t stand my crew loafing about. Your fairy tales won’t get us anywhere, but peeled potatoes will! We’ll be needing all the strength we can get to reach the treasure. So get moving, lazybones!” the captain commanded.

“Hurrry up now! To work, to work, hurrrry up now!” squawked the green parrot perched on the captain’s shoulder.

On his way to the kitchen, Theo wondered what the treasure…