A Weather Eye on the Horizon

A Weather Eye on the Horizon (5)

i'll keep the pages coming! and try to hang on!

May 29, 1720

Dear little book,

It is strange, but there’s still more talk of pirates. Margaret came over again, but it was not the same. We somehow got on the subject of piracy, and she started talking about how romantic pirates were. I agreed, but warned her not to say that in front of James! We both started giggling. I felt a little strange, though. Will we really have trouble from pirates? I cannot believe that they would want anything from our little island. Why would they come here? It does not make sense. I believe that everyone is overreacting. No pirates will bother us. I am certain of that.

Margaret and I walked along the cliff, even though we were not allowed to go down to the beach. After a while, Grace joined us, much to my annoyance. Margaret did not mind, though. She is the youngest of three children. Her older brother Sam is Luke’s friend, and her sister Martha is twenty-one, married, and has one child. But she lives in America, so Margaret hardly ever sees her, so she does not understand about younger siblings. Grace was not too bothersome, though. And surprisingly, she did not ask too many questions. I do not think she understands all the fuss about pirates; she is too young. It was all Margaret would talk about, though. Why is everyone so worried about piracy in these parts?

May 31, 1720

Dear little book,

Yet more talk! I cannot believe this. Everyone’s been talking about different pirates: Jack Rackham, Bartholomew Roberts, and of course, Blackbeard. I cannot understand why anyone, anyone would risk the gallows just to sail the seas and become rich. Mama tells me it is because of greed, but I still find it hard to grasp. Why would they risk death for that? It seems silly to me. I do not think I will ever understand what some people do in the world.

However, all this talk of pirates has made me realize that this world really is much bigger than I think. There is a lot more to it than just our little island of Barbados, no matter how special this island is to me. There is a huge world out there. However, I am not sure I want to go out into this world.

I do not know what I am trying to say. It is just hard to comprehend that there is a huge world out there. Europe, Asia, the Americas… I have not seen any of them! What have I been missing? I do and I do not want to travel… I do not know.