Pirates of the Nature Coast

The Airport Terminal was busy with early morning arrivals, and no one noticed the two small boys
dressed as pirates.
“How will we find our crew?” asked four-year-old Patrick.
With the wisdom of a six-year-old, Liam pointed to a potted palm tree. “We’ll need to climb the
mast up to the crow’s nest,” he said.
While the boys tried to scale the palm tree encumbered by their kaleidoscopes turned into telescopes, an elderly couple approached.
“Ahoy, Mateys.”
“Mom! Dad! The Grampies are here!” Liam yelled.
After greetings, Dad said, “Let’s get you two out of that tree before security arrives.”
“I’ll run through them with my sword,” said Pat. “ARRRARRG!”
“I’m just thankful your sword is foam,” Mom commented.
On the short journey to the Grandparent’s house, Grandpa said, “I suppose you two would like to go to the Theme Parks.”
“Oh, no,” said Liam, “we have much more fun when we use our imaginations.”
“’Maginations,” echoed Pat. “We’re fierce Pirates, Grandpa. We want to go out on your boat to look for treasure.
“Do you need a nap first?” Grandma offered.
“GRANDMA!!” Liam protested, “PIRATES don’t take naps.
Everybody changed into swimming gear at the house and went to Grandpa’s boat dock. Finally, they were ready to set out.
“What’s that stick for?” asked Grandpa.
“Oh, Grandpa. That’s a mast, and this is our flag,” Liam explained, brandishing a mop handle and pillowcase. “Will you help us set this up?”
“Sure,” said Grandpa, “but I didn’t know that a motorboat needed those.”
Motoring out slowly, the boys were impatient. “Why so slow, Grandpa?” Pat objected.
“We must not disturb the wildlife,” said Grandpa. “Look at the mangroves and see if you can spot any birds.
“Are the mangroves those ugly-looking bushes and trees?” asked Liam.
“Yes, those things may look ugly, but they protect the shoreline and make good homes for birds, fish, and other creatures.”
“Oh, then we’ll look for birds and stuff.”
“Why don’t one of you sit to port and the other sit to starboard,” suggested Grandpa.
After a little white, Patrick shrieked and pointed. ‘SHARKS! SHARKS!”
“Stop screaming, Pat. Those are manatees,” Grandpa explained. “They’re very gentle and if you promise to be very quiet, we can stop the boat, and you can get in the water with them, but don’t touch them.”
Both boys jumped overboard and swam furiously toward the manatees. They stopped when they bumped into something. They popped up and looked into large, gray-whiskered faces that seemed to be smiling at them.
They swam around for a little while until Grandpa said, “Okay, enough for now.”
They proceeded through the river, into the Gulf of Mexico, and then headed out. After a while, Patrick shouted again. “SHARKS! SHARKS!”
“Calm down, Pat,” said Grandma. “Those are dolphins. We can stop and let you look.
Of course, the boys jumped in and tried to catch up to the dolphins. The dolphins turned and swam with the boys for a few minutes. Then, the dolphins whistled, turned tails, and fled. Grandpa and Dad hauled the boys aboard.
“Do you see that fin over there?” Grandpa said sternly. “Well, that is a shark, so we best move on.”
They proceeded toward their destination with Pat stabbing at the water and shouting, “Take that shark! ARRRARRG!”
It wasn’t long before they reached Fisherman’s Island, which the boys renamed Treasure Island. After mooring the boat, the family went for a short swim. The boys were now impatient to look for treasure, so after changing back into pirate costumes and dry clothes, they walked up the beach toward the trees.
“Time to look at our Treasure map.” Liam reached into a pocket and pulled out a lace-edged handkerchief with Magic Marker lines.
Mom looked up and gave the boys an admonishing look. “I wondered where my handkerchief had gone!”
“This looks like the place. See Grandpa, there’s the tall tree. You’re supposed to step four paces to the mound.”
Grandpa came up with his metal detector. “What is that?” Liam wanted to know.
“It’s a Treasure Finder,” said Grandpa.
“Oh, can we try it?” asked Pat.
With Grandpa’s help, the boys plied the detector until they heard a ping. Then, they used their plastic spades to dig and came up with two metal tokens.
“Look! They have writing,” exclaimed Liam. “I can read now. Let me see.” Squinting at the coin, he read, “Good for one D-R-I-N-K at W-A-L-T-S Bar. Where’s Walt’s Bar, Grandpa?”
Grandma and Mom look horrified, but Grandpa smiled. “We can ask at Skippy’s Snack Shack. It’s past lunchtime. Follow me.” Obediently, the boys followed Grandpa and Grandma up the beach to Skippy’s.
The two boys marched up to the counter and clambered onto stools.
“Hello, Mr. Skippy. We’re fierce pirates, and we have tokens for GROG at Walt’s Bar,” Liam announced. “Do you know where that is?”
Skippy smiled and said, “I think I can take care of that here.”
Grandpa ordered mocktails for the adults and shrimp tacos for the family.
While Skippy was fixing the lunch and drinks, Grandpa spoke to two fishermen. “Did you catch anything today?”
One of the fishermen eyed the boys. “No, we think something scared the fish.”
“We saw a shark on the way here,” Liam told him.
“Yes, and I ran him through with my sword. ARRRARRG,” Pat added.
Dad eyed Pat. “Just where did this happen?”Pat looked sheepish. “In my ‘magination, Daddy.”
The fishermen smiled, and Liam said, “We are fierce pirates, and we would like your loot, please.”
“Small tokens only,” Dad clarified.
“ARRRARRG,” said Pat.
The people in the Snack Shack were mostly amused. They gave the boys small tokens like shells, buttons, Lego
pieces, marbles, and more. Only one old man glared at them. So, they decided not to ask him.
“Can’t we make him walk the plank?” Pat said in a loud, carrying voice.
Liam added in a louder, more carrying voice, “Look at him. He couldn’t even get on the plank.”
The room exploded in laughter. Then, mortified, Mom went over to the old man and apologized.
Skippy came out with the lunch. The “GROG” came in coconut half-shells with straws. The boys were very
impressed.
“Oh,” Liam asked, “does this taste as good as it looks?”
“Yes,” said Skippy, “and you can keep the coconut shells.”
The boys were ecstatic.
Mom whispered to Skippy, “What did you give them?”
“Coconut milk and a little simple syrup,” he assured her.
Mom tried to apologize for the boys’ behavior, but Skippy would have none of it. “This is the most excitement
we’ve had here since Walt’s Bar burned down,” he said.
When lunch was eaten, the boys called out, “Bye-bye, Mr. Skippy. Thank you, folks.”
All but one of the crowd smiled and said, “ARRRARRG!”
On the boat ride back to the Grampies’ house, Pat asked, “Dad, when we get back home, can you drive us to
the lake, and then we can be Pirates again?”
“Hmmm, the lake is far away, and look, our house backs onto the forest. So why don’t you two play Robin Hood?”
Delighted, the boys stared at each other. Then Liam asked, “Who’s Robin Hood????”

Beryl St. Jacques

Beryl St. Jacques is a great grandmother, loves kids and dogs, the ecology, horticulture, and agriculture, etc. Her favorite school subjects were English and nature studies, also writing composition stories. She always wanted to be a writer since childhood.
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