Pirate Chains - Monkey D. Luffy: Chapter 1

Pirate Chains - Monkey D. Luffy: Chapter 9

-          Dream Sequence

It was a warm autumn day, back in Cyral. I got up bright and early that morning, hoping that today would be a good day. My mattress was in the cellar, so as soon as I come out from under my blanket, I realized how cold it was, dusty too. “No matter how many times I clean, this place still collects more dust, doesn’t it?” I asked myself, sighing a little.

I folded my blanket and changed my clothes, brushed my teeth, and started cleaning the cellar again. I had to, otherwise the dust would pile up on me in my sleep and I would get sick. Getting sick was not a good thing to do, it made all the work and abuse hurt a lot more. I went up into the house and started to cook some breakfast. I made an omelet for myself and then fixed my uncle’s breakfast and left it on the table. I decided that the house was clean enough to start my morning search.

I was careless, however. I felt something wet but accidentally took another step. My foot was pierced in pain now but I didn’t dare make a sound. I bit my tongue holding it in. There was a broken bottle of alcohol on the floor and I had stepped on a shard. I pulled it out from my foot, and patched it up. Luckily, the medical kit was hidden close by. Once I did that, I cleaned up the mess. I had put in a lot of cotton balls under the gauze so that I could walk on it without limping. I was used to this.

It was a really sunny day with clear skies. All the stores were just opening. I decided to check around the back alleys. They’re usually kind of abandoned but my pocket watch could be hidden in some of the junk that was there. Unfortunately, the effort was in vain. So that was it for my search of the day.

I knew I would have things to do for my uncle later on, but I would search more if I had time. I went over to Myra’s. She was serving breakfast to the first customer of the day when she heard me come in. “Morning, Rune” she said, only taking a half glance, while still upholding her conversation with the lady she waited on. Once she was finished, she finally got to see all of me, and her gaze directed at my foot just right after. “Good heavens! What happened to you?!” she exclaimed.

I had to keep her from panicking. “Now, I know this looks bad, but it’s not what you think! It was just an accident! I just stepped on some glass…!” I said, trying to make it sound better than it was—that totally failed, but at least she knew I wasn’t lying.

She looked at me and sighed. “No luck this morning?” she asked. I shook my head. She frowned and sighed before moving to the kitchen. She came out with a small bag of meat. She always gave me some to cook at home but would never let me pay her back except when she’s packed and needs an extra hand around the restaurant.

I went out to the forest which was close by to my special tree to say good morning to my mother and father. I talked for a while and everything had just felt right. Then, I went to get some more fruits. All was peaceful until I had gotten back home.

A pickup truck was in the driveway, this could only mean one thing. My face was pale and I felt like I was going vomit, but I knew I had to go inside anyways and face the worst. “Uncle” Douglas was here…

I stepped inside to see that the house was a mess. When they’re venting out frustration, they knock over everything and junk food was lying around too. That, and more bottles and broken shards. I made sure to be careful when getting to the kitchen. I can hear their laughs holler out from the room they would always play poker in. I put the food away and began to start cleaning. I wasn’t even paying attention when I felt a kick from behind which caused my face to collide with the floor. I heard a drunken laugh as I looked up to face Douglas.

“What’re you doing, crouched down on the middle of the floor?” he taunted with his drunken slur. “Praying to your dead parents? Well, news for you: they’re not coming back!” he brayed.