✔️ 𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋, ᵗʳᵉᵃˢᵘʳᵉ ᵖˡᵃⁿᵉᵗ

🪐~I'm Still Here~🪐

🪐Lucy's POV🪐

Jim and I sat side by side on the edge of the ship, hanging off of swings. Jim was struggling to scrape off a barnacle, while I do it effortlessly.

Mr. Silver watches from above, his hands resting on the railing. "Put some elbow in it!" He yells, pointing at the ship. "The lassie is out doin' you Jimbo!" Silver mocks with a bellowing laugh.

Jim managed to scrape the barnacle off, and glared at the cyborg. Both of us look at the side of the ship, and sigh in defeat upon seeing the many more rows of barnacles.

I am a question to the world
Not an answer to be heard
Or a moment that's held in your arms

The first thing Silver tried to teach us was how to make a good, sturdy knot. Jim figured it out before Silver even finished showing us how. I wasn't so lucky. As Silver would repeatedly show me how to tie the knot, my focus would switch to my brother, who was wandering aimlessly around the deck of the ship.

Eventually, Silver just told me to go and that we would try again another day. I climbed down to the deck and walked next to Jim to see if he would notice me. He didn't acknowledge my presence, so I contented to walking beside him in silence.

And what do you think you'd ever say?
I won't listen anyway
You don't know me
And I'll never be what you want me to be

Jim and I had to scrub the deck a lot. It was tiresome work. My hands and knees would be raw after spending so much time on the hard wooden deck. I didn't mind. I would make loops out of the soapy water.

Silver would stand watching over us. Whenever Jim confronted him, Silver would just give him a bucket of soapy water and point to where he had missed a spot. I just sighed and continued my work, trying to get it done as fast as possible so I could lie down and give my aching body a rest.

And what do you think you'd understand?
I'm a boy- No, I'm a man
You can't take me and throw me away

Jim would often stare at nothing while we worked. It would make me feel forgotten. But he would always do something to make it up to me and show me that he did care. [Awww, thank you, Jim.]

Like one night, when we were peeling potatoes, I lost focus gazing at Jim, who was again staring at nothing. I accidently sliced my thumb with the knife. When I gasped and the knife clattered to the floor, he snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked, coming over to check on me. "I'm fine. The knife just slipped," I said through clenched teeth. The cut really stung, but I was trying not to show it.

Jim could see right through my little white lie. "Let me see it," he demanded in a soft voice. I had been hiding the cut behind my other hand. I shook my head.

"Really, I'm fine," I urged. I really didn't want him to think of me as a weak little girl who needed to be taken care of and coddled. [Don't. Give. Me. That. Look.] But when he saw a large drop of blood sliding down my wrist, he gently grabbed my hand and started to examine my sliced thumb.

"Jim, really, I'm fi-" "Shh," he shushed me. I shut my mouth and stared along with him at my thumb that now had a little red trail slowly traveling down my hand and past my wrist.

He gently squeezed my thumb, causing me to gasp and involuntarily jerk it away from the pain. His hold was steadfast, however. "Looks like you got yourself pretty deep there," Jim stated. He pulled the edge of his shirt out of his pants and used it to wipe the blood off of my thumb and hand.

"Your shirt," I protested. "It'll wash out," he dismissed my concerns. After wiping my thumb clean, he pulled a bandage out of his pant pocket and applied it to my thumb, covering up the cut completely. "There you go, all better," he smiled.