Imagination

Third Encounter

"Look! I'm a pirate!" Navin yelled. Aviva looked up and saw that he was wearing an eye patch and a red bandana.

"Scary!" she gasped. "Where are you sailing to today, Navin?"

"Captain Navin," he corrected, "I'm sailing to anywhere! You coming?"

"Sure." Aviva stood up and allowed Navin to lead her. He brought her to a gnarled oak tree and climbed up.

"I'll be up top at the look out," he told her, climbing as high as he would dare to go, "You can steer the ship."

"Okay," Aviva agreed. She climbed the tree sat down, and held out her hands as if she were holding a steering wheel.

"No! That's not the steering wheel!" Navin pointed at the trunk of the tree. "There!"

Aviva moved so she could properly "steer" the ship, and then gasped. Protruding from the trunk of the tree was a blurry image of a wheel. She reached out and grasped it, her fingers wrapping around some sort of resistance.

"Did you put this here?" she asked Navin.
He tilted his head, looking thoughtful. Then he responded, "Argh, of course not matey! The ship builder did!"

"Of course." Aviva responded. She continued play-acting, until she noticed something red-colored flying above Navin.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing above him.

"Our flag! Keep sailing. I think I can see a ship in the distance. Bring us closer."

"Aye aye. I think I can see it too." Aviva pretended.

"But you're looking in the wrong direction!" Navin laughed. "There!" He pointed in the opposite direction she had been looking in.

Aviva followed the direction of his hand and nearly fell out of the tree. Sailing toward them over the grass was a ship. Not a big one, but it had sails, a mast, and a steering wheel, complete with a blue flag flying at the top.

"Raise the sails!" Captain Navin shouted and mimed the act of pulling ropes. But as Aviva watched, she could see that he was actually pulling ropes that had appeared out of nowhere.

Aviva looked up at the sound of cloth flapping and was only somewhat surprised to see sails unfurling in a previously non-existent breeze. She looked around and could see that the tree they were sitting in had been completely transformed. She could still see the tree, but superimposed over the tree was a ship.

"Sails raised." she said weakly, trying to cover her astonishment.

"Raise the anchor!"

"Anchor raised." she responded, and felt a thud in the tree as the anchor fell to the deck.

"Then off we go!" Captain Navin yelled.