At last, I boarded a motley-crewed frigate one balmy night.
Whether on a drunken impulse or because of the result of a drunken bet, I cannot say, though drunkenness was most certainly to blame one way or the other. Though hardly pleased with the company I was forced to keep, or the profession I was forced to embrace, I looked forward to the chance to see more of the world than was bounded by Albion's borders.
I must admit, however, that the plundering nature of our voyages contrived to spoil any tourism I might have otherwise enjoyed in the foreign landscapes we visited. My impression of such exotic locations is inextricably tied with images of the local population waving sharp implements in a threatening manner as our ship set sail to the horizon.
When my crew and I next alighted in the port of Bowerstone with the intention of selling our wares to the black market, I grasped by chance and left this chapter of my life behind, with little regrets but quite a few cuts, bruises and monkey bites.
It was there I met a man who was to change my life for the better, and offer me a career that would give me what I longed for most: a sense of belonging, a new family, and a lawfully gained wage. I was about to join the Albion royal army.
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The Life and Adventures of Benjamin Finn
Non-FictionThe Life and Adventures of Benjamin Finn. Being a preliminary, fragmentary, confidential and much unedited first draft of Captain Ben Finn as told by himself.
