How to Become a Captain?

“I pronounce myself the captain of this pirate ship.” My brother Leo raised a stick above his head in a victory pose as he stepped into the old wooden boat in front of the garage. Yesterday, my dad moved the boat out of the garage and promised to repair it so he could take us to the lake.

“I want to be captain, too!” I grabbed another stick from the ground and lunged at my brother. He dodged to the side, then returned the blow, knocking my stick from my hand.

“There’s room for only one captain, Arthur.” He pointed his stick at me, then grinned in triumph. “And that’s me.”

“That’s not fair!” I cried out. “You're stronger only because you're older!”

“Alright then.” My brother hopped off the boat, dropping the stick on the ground. “We can settle this without fighting.”

“Every pirate ship captain needs a hat, an eyepatch, and a parrot. Find those things, and then we compare them. The one with the better set becomes a captain,” he proposed, and I nodded.

“I accept the challenge. You can’t win this one,” I said enthusiastically.

“We'll see,” Leo grinned, walking away and leaving me with the boat.

“Just wait; you'll be mine.” I patted the boat, smiling at the thought of being captain, even though I had no idea where to find any of those things.

I was lost in my thoughts when a magpie that had just landed in our garden near me caught my attention. Since we didn’t have any parrots around, I thought the magpie would make a great replacement.

I approached quietly from behind, trying to move as stealthily as possible. It completely ignored me, pecking at something in the grass without a care. When I was close enough, I leaped toward it, trying to catch it. It dodged easily, without even looking at me, leaving me to land on the ground with a big thud. The magpie looked at me for the first time, then it flew away with a chattering noise.

“Don’t laugh at me; I’ll catch you next time!” I yelled, standing up, glancing at my slightly grazed arm and grass-stained T-shirt. I was holding back tears when a familiar honk sounded behind me.

I looked at the goose pen on the far side of our garden. Emily, my favorite goose, was staring at me with concern. I walked toward her and slipped into the goose pen.

“I’m alright, Emily,” I reassured her, then sat next to her. I hugged her tightly, and she gently draped her neck around my shoulder. She always comforted and protected me, especially from other geese who weren’t happy with me being in their pen.

“I wish you could be a parrot right now,” I said sadly as I petted her head and neck. She answered me with purring noises, hugging me closer. As she did that, I noticed a feather drifting down from her. I picked it up and looked at it. That was when an idea occurred to me.

“You’re the best!” I jumped back to my feet, enthusiastic, startling her a little. I started to collect all the feathers I could find while Emily watched me carefully, ready to protect me from other geese.

“The next time I visit you, I'll be a pirate captain,” I said happily to Emily as I finished gathering all the feathers. I gave Emily a quick kiss on the head and left the goose pen.

I started running toward the house when my dad suddenly appeared beside me, looking surprised. “What are you planning to do with all those feathers?”

“I’ll make a parrot from them. I’m competing with Leo to become the captain of the pirate ship. I have to make a parrot, a hat, and an eyepatch,” I explained to him, and he burst out laughing.

“Why can’t you both be captains?” he asked, and I looked at him, horrified by his words.

“There can’t be two captains on one ship.” I shook my head vigorously.

“Why not?” he asked, amused.

“Because…” I paused, unsure how to respond. Then I frowned. “Having two captains is just wrong.” Plus, I really wanted to beat Leo at this because he was always the best at everything.

“Aye, aye, captain,” he said with a respectful nod. “Your parrot awaits.” He stepped aside, allowing me to enter the house.

I ran into my room and spread all the feathers on the ground. Then I started looking for other supplies I would use. I collected papers, felt-tip pens, colored pencils, watercolors, scissors, and glue, and placed them on the floor beside the feathers.

***

Two hours later, I finally finished everything. I made a beautiful paper hat and drew a big skull and crossbones on it. I used the blue colored pencil for that because I didn’t have the white one, and to be honest, the blue was way cooler anyway.

For the eyepatch, I had to improvise a little more. First, I tried to make it from paper, but I accidentally tore it in half. I tried again, but the shape was terrible, and it kept falling off my eye, so I tore this one on purpose.

After crying for at least ten minutes, I decided to cut the eyepatch from one of my black T-shirts, which was a really great idea because it fit well. If Mom ever discovered this, she would be so angry with me.

The parrot was probably the hardest. Trying to make a parrot from feathers wasn’t as easy as I’d thought. First, I glued small feathers to my hands and even to the floor. I’d like to know what would make Mom angrier—the cut-off T-shirt or the feathers glued to the floor. But on the other hand, I hoped she would never find out about this.

I wasn’t able to model a parrot’s body, so I made a ball instead. I colored the white ball with watercolors, then drew eyes and a beak with felt-tip pens.

I put the hat on my head and the eyepatch over my eye. Then I took my parrot proudly in my hands and smiled at it. “Emily Junior, we are ready to meet my brother.”

As I ran from the house, I realized that wearing an eyepatch wasn’t very practical. I bumped into the door twice and then tripped over the toy car I had left right in front of the entrance door. Maybe I should have put it back in my room, as Mom had told me to do before.

When I returned to the boat, Leo was already there, lying in it and looking at the sky. I immediately noticed his big plush parrot, sitting beside him. It had almost lifelike blue and yellow plumage and a majestic black beak. I had never seen a plush parrot as beautiful as this one.

“Oh, you're back. Finally!” He rose from the boat, putting a big black hat with a picture of a white skull and crossed bones on his head. Then I noticed a precisely made eyepatch over his eye. Both were absolutely stunning. I clutched Emily Junior firmly in my hands.

“Where did you find those things?” I asked, angry.

“I borrowed them from Josh.” He pointed to our neighbors' house. “His parents bought him the pirate costume for Halloween, remember?”

“That’s why you proposed this competition!” The realization of his betrayal hit me hard. He had planned this from the beginning. I was never supposed to win. I felt a lump form in my throat as I tried to hold back my tears.

Leo walked toward me, wanting to say something, but Dad’s voice cut in and interrupted us.

“Ahoy, captains! How's the competition going?”

“I think we have a winner.” Leo grinned in triumph, tapping his hat.

“Really?” Dad raised an eyebrow, surprised. “Both of your pirate accessories are amazing. I’d say it’s a tie.”

“You can’t be serious. Look at his ugly feather ball,” Leo cried out, pointing at Emily Junior. “My things are way better!”

I lowered my head and hugged Emily Junior protectively.

“They are great, but Arthur’s are original, which makes them just as great as yours,” Dad explained. I looked surprised at him, then smiled proudly at Emily Junior. Leo frowned.

“If this is a tie, who will be captain then? We can’t both be captains!” Leo protested, and Dad started to laugh.

“I’ve heard that before.” He looked at me with a slight nod, then looked at both of us. “Well, if you think you can’t both be captains, I have other competition for you,” he said, pulling something from his pocket.

“What is it?” Leo and I asked almost in unison, excitedly.

“I hid a pirate treasure somewhere, and this is a map to find it.” He showed us two small plastic bags, each containing at least twenty small pieces of paper, then he smiled broadly.

“Of course, you have to put the map together first.” He handed each of us a bag. “Whoever finds the treasure becomes a captain.”

“That’s so cool! At least I’ll win fairly.” Leo sat down on the grass, pulling all the paper pieces from the bag. I did the same, determined to beat him at this.

“Have fun.” Dad smiled at us, then he left.

After a few minutes of struggling to put the pieces together, I looked desperately at Leo. He was frowning at the pieces, having the same problem I did. I felt immediately relieved.

“Some of the pieces are missing,” Leo said without even looking at me. “I think we have to put all the pieces together,” he added with a sigh.

“I won’t give you my pieces!” I cried out, hiding the pieces back in the bag.

“But you have to. Otherwise, we won’t be able to find the treasure or become the captain.” He shrugged resignedly, then continued. “Look, I hate it too, but we have to work together.”

“Why should I believe you? You’ve betrayed me once!” I reminded him, and he looked ashamed.

“I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted to be the captain of the ship,” he said apologetically. Then he stood up and walked toward me, taking his paper pieces with him.

“Do you want to switch our pirate accessories?” he asked, grabbing his parrot and taking off his hat and eyepatch. “The eyepatch is amazing because you can actually see through it.”

He handed me all his accessories. I took his hat and eyepatch hesitantly, then gave him mine. I looked at his parrot, but I shook my head.

“I’m good with Emily Junior,” I explained, and Leo smiled.

“Okay then, Emily Junior is cooler than my parrot, anyway.” He sat next to me, setting his bag with paper pieces in front of us.

“So, can we solve this together?” he asked, and I just nodded, placing my pieces next to his.

***

After a few minutes, we easily put the map together. We followed it and found the treasure behind the shed, under the rhododendron bush. It was well hidden beneath the rocks and leaves. We would probably never have found it without the map.

It was a small chest, and when we opened it, there were many chocolate coins inside. We brought the chest onto our boat and divided the coins equally.

Leo took one of his coins, unwrapped it from its golden foil, and tasted the chocolate.

“This treasure is the best, Captain,” he said with a mouthful of chocolate. I smiled at him and grabbed one of my coins, then put it in my mouth.

“It is, Captain, but I think we’ll find even better treasures...” I popped another coin into my mouth. “…together.”