The Spirit Of Slank

The wind was howling, wave after wave crashing over the deck. The wind was blowing at nearly 200 miles per hour, about 173 knots. Tsunami waves, thunder, lightning, the wind so fast you can't stand upright. Then suddenly, an enormous CRACK split the main deck in two. The wood splinters, beams go flying, and everyone is thrown off their feet. To make matters worse, pirates were storming everywhere. The British crew was in chains down below, so unless they were released, to put it simply, they're fucked. Then that damned orphan boy Grempkin referred to as 'Mule' took the wheel away from that fool sailor of mine, Mack, and spun it so hard that the whole damn wheel took off careening out to sea. I did my best to take cover, but that old bat Betty Bumbrake and that brat Molly, Lord Aster's daughter, tried to take my trunk! Sure, it wasn't necessarily mine to begin with, but that's beside the point. I made a grab for the trunk, but the two shoved me harshly, and I went lurching off the deck and into the churning sea. The waves tossed my body like a rag doll. I could barely see a thing, just a torpedo of water swirling all around me. I felt my lungs filling with water. My body went limp. Everything went black. And it wasn't stopping. I couldn't wake up. Black. Black. Black.

And then I woke up. But something was different. I felt lighter. I didn't feel full. And, how was I alive? Or, conscious? And what was I standing on? I looked down. I was... translucent? And still wearing my terrible uniform. It's ridiculous that, even in death, I couldn't even wear what I wanted.

 I walked a few yards. On what, I'm not sure. I'd been carried quite a ways away. From the distance, this hurricane was terrifying. Lightning cracked every three seconds, the ship constantly swallowed by waves, being torn apart by the wind. But then, I saw a little green dot, moving through the coarse sea. It was... Mule?! But how?! How was this possible?! He was navigating his way through the water with an old trunk and a splintered oar! And he was surviving?!\

I decided that if I was going to be dead, I would at least do something interesting with it. I elected to follow Mule. If he could do this, he would surely go somewhere. I floated over to the ship. Everything was havoc. People were tumbling all over the place, people sailing right overboard. I went back to Mule. He was still sailing. What I suppose was hours later, Mule reached an island. He was out cold. In the distance, I could see a piece of the now-demolished Neverland floating ashore about a mile or so away. My beautiful ship. The death of me.

Mule awoke. He seemed to think he was alone; something told me he wasn't. And then, lo and behold, his thick friend, Ted, I think his name was, ran the best he could towards Mule with a relieved look on his face. He had a pineapple in tow and attempted to eat it as is, bless him. Unfortunately, he was followed soon after by Prentiss, the know-it-all, leadership-obsessed, power-hungry 14-year-old orphan who was the bane of my existence whenever I had the displeasure of talking to him or even overhearing him. "I'm the leader! I'm the leader!" Ugh. Leader of what, exactly? He was going to be stuck on a goddamn ship dungeon for a month! Leader of what? Prentiss will be forever burned into my former brain, for all eternity. That will be my punishment. I supposed I deserved it.

I don't appreciate this newfound wisdom.

I overhear the three's rejoicing. Mule has a name now. Peter. As entertaining as 'Mule' was, I'm glad the poor lad finally got himself a name. I wish I was still alive to tell him the orphanage told me his name was Florence.

Peter pointed to something off in the distance. The Wasp. Of course, the Wasp was still in one piece. 'Cause, why wouldn't it be, right? Just my luck.