Lost City of Atlantis (POTC 6) + Shorts

A Sailors Christmas

Narrator's POV
1728
After Curse of the Black Pearl

Jack stood at the helm of the ship, steering the Pearl straight and true through waters that he knows like the back of his hand. Sailing on the horizons to a landfall rendezvous, where he and his crew were searching for a heading. He ordered the sails to be trimmed, and he hummed a song that he had recently learned in a tavern.

He has sailed through doldrums, typhoons, and hurricanes. Water has always been on his brain. He heard footsteps approach him on the wooden deck, and he peered over his shoulder to see Annette walking up to him. She stood beside him and they both turned their gazes to the open ocean, while the sun was dancing on the waves. Then, she asked where their heading was for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Jack scoffed, "Christmas? Me dear, we don't celebrate Christmas on the Pearl."

"Christmas is better suited for the mainland anyway," she told him. She enjoyed the Christmas holiday, and she didn't want to miss it. Especially since it is the first holiday without her father.

"I barely enjoy keeping a calendar on board," Jack said, looking down at his compass and adjusted course.

Jack wasn't kind to the idea of traveling to shore for the holiday, but Annette was persistent. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she was not going to let Jack take it away from her. It's a time for pirates to come together to drink, dance, and celebrate with a giant party. She said, "it is a day. Give it to your crew, they deserve a break."

Jack frowned at her, "since when have you been considerate?"

Annette shrugged, "for short bursts of time, I can be quite nice."

"How about this... how'd you like to spend Christmas on Christmas Island?" Jack asked. He had been there a few times with his father when he was a child, but he hadn't thought about the island in years. But, he thought that Annette would really like it if she was insistent on celebrating Christmas.

"Where is it?" Annette asked. She had never heard of the island before, but it sounded intriguing to her.

"Across the sea, depending where you are," he answered vaguely,

"And where are we?" Annette did not pick up on Jack's joke.

"We are quite close," he said.

"Christmas Island? That sounds... uh, good."

"We can hang stockings on a great big coconut tree," Jack emptily suggested with a snicker.

Annette asked, "what is a stocking?"

Jack turned around to get a good view of her face so he could sense if she was lying. He did not understand how someone who was so persistent on celebrating Christmas did not know what a stocking was. He explained, "the big sock for Father Christmas to give gifts to good little... children."

"Who?" Annette asked cluelessly.

Jack was even more flabbergasted that she didn't know who Father Christmas was. He began to question himself. He must be a bigger fan of the holiday than Annette. He said, "Saint Nicholas... Sinterklaas... Weihnachtsmann... I could keep going."

"Oh! Papa Noël?" Annette asked. As a child, her father told her stories of Papa Noël, and insisted that he was real but because they were always traveling, he never knew where Annette was so he couldn't bring her gifts. Of course, Annette soon grew out of believing in Papa Noël. However, after the zombie pirates from the mythical Aztec gold curse, she began to rethink a lot of the legends and myths.