FicWad

I sat in the corner of the small room that I had been locked inside. It wasn't really that bad of a room to be honest. The wooden floors were polished, the windows were clean, and there was a black rug on the floor. It was clean, but it seemed far too empty and kind of unfriendly. A painting on the wall would add so much color and personality to this room.

I sat in silence for a while, still shivering like a zombie. I was really wishing that I had bothered to pack some extra clothes at this point. Unfortunately, I had not packed extra clothes and I was now suffering from that. Too bad there wasn't a blanket lying around somewhere. I would love to cuddle up with one.

Seconds became minutes and minutes soon became hours as I sat all alone in the little room. By this point, I was starting to panic slightly. Had the captain and the crew forgotten that I was in here? And if so, what would become of me? Would I rot away in this little room with nobody but the blank walls witnessing my death?

Just when I thought I was going to start hyperventilating, the door to the little room finally opened once more. I immediately jumped to my feet and had to restrain myself from going over and hugging whoever it was who had just opened the door. It was Pintel. Standing behind him was Ragetti holding something burgundy in his arms.

Wondering what the burgundy mass could be, I craned my neck to get a better look at it. Crossing my arms, I feigned anger as I said, "I thought you had forgotten all about me! I was worried you were all just going to let me stay down here for the rest of eternitny!" Well, maybe not for the rest of eternity exactly. They would most likely find me the day after I rotted away.

"Sorry lassie," Pintel said. Surprisingly enough, he did look a bit sorry. Who would've known that pirates had feelings after all? Pintel went onwards, "It's a big storm out there. We're lucky that the ship didn't flood! Anyways, I think it's lightening up a bit. The captain said you could eat dinner with the rest of the crew down on the lower decks."

Ragetti tossed the burgundy lump in his arms to me. I caught it and held it up curiously. Ragetti explained, "You can wear that to dinner instead of those sopping wet clothes you have on." As Ragetti explained, his left eye twitched and a second later, it popped out of its socket and started rolling along on the floor.

Forgetting about the bundle in my arms, I gaped at Ragetti and his roll-away eye. Following my gaze, Pintel explained, "Ragetti lost his eye a long time ago. It's a long story. Anyways, don't mind him. Put your dress on and then meet us outside so we can eat. I'm starving and I'm sure every other member of the crew is too."

I returned my attention back to the dress and peered at it curiously. It was burgundy and velvet and was a rather beautiful dress. The only problem was that it was obviously meant for someone much bigger than me. The plunging neckline simply wasn't going to work with my small figure. I didn't want to protest and anger the pirates, but I didn't really have a choice in this situation.

As Ragetti made a lunge for his eye, I explained cautiously, "I don't think this dress is going to fit me. It's much too large." I paused and when curiousity got the better of me, I added a question I had been mulling over from the moment I saw the dress, "So who does this dress belong to anyways? Is it Barbossa's wife's dress?"

At my question, Ragetti's and Pintel's eyes expanded to the size of saucers and they both turned to look at each other with astonishment. I was about to ask what was so funny when they both started laughing. They laughed long and hard. When Ragetti finally stopped cackling, I asked in confusion, "What's so funny? I don't get it."

"The thought of Barbossa with a wife!" Ragetti replied, still smiling like I had said the most hilarious thing ever. Still not getting it, I replied, "Doesn't Barbossa have a wife?" Giving me a look like I had gone mad, Pintel shook his head fervently, "No, Barbossa most certainly does not have a wife. Can you imagine Barbossa with a wife, Ragetti?"

Ragetti gave a high-pitched laugh and shook his head as he attempted to clean his eye with one hand. Frowning, I watched the two of them. I didn't see what was so funny about the situation still. I continued, "Well, don't most of the pirates on the ship have wives? I mean, isn't it only natural for a man to grow up and marry a woman?"

Ragetti laughed even harder and Pintel rolled his eyes. Taking a step towards the door, Pintel said, "Really, Bern, do you honestly think any respectable woman would want to marry pirates like us?" I hadn't thought about that until now. But now that Ragetti brought it up, everything made sense. No wonder the pirates weren't married. Women were suppose to marry gentlemen, not pirates.

"Anyways," Pintel said, grabbing Ragetti's arm and shoving him out of the room, "We'd best be leaving so you can change and so we can eat! I'm going to starve to death here." With that, he turned and started out the door. I turned back to the bundle in my arms and then yelled to Pintel, "I'm pretty sure this dress is going to be too big."

Pintel paused in the doorway, shook his hair out of his eyes, and then frowned, "Hm, you're right about that. It does look a little on the big side. Um...why don't you at least try it on? It's the best we've got and you're sopping wet right now." Without letting me protest, Pintel shut the door behind him with a loud click.

Alone in the room again once more, I sighed and rested the dress on the bed as I stripped out of my wet shirt and pants. Naked besides for my lacy white undergarments, I attempted to pull the dress over my head. I was practically swimming in it. The neckline of it was much too low and just about reached my navel, showing way too much of my chest off. One little slip and it would reveal part of my bra to whoever happened to be looking at me at the wrong moment.

I frowned as I decided what to do next. Finally, I decided it would be best just to call out the door to Pintel and tell him about the dilemma. Creeping over to the door, I opened it just a crack and called out, "Pintel? Can you come in here a moment please?" As I peered through the door, I could see all the men gathered at one large table at the end of the room. Most were talking loudly and making wide gestures. They were obviously a rowdy crowd.

Pintel took his time in coming to see what was wrong. With a drumstick in one hand and with his mouth full of food, he said in a blurred voice, "What's wrong, missy?" I gave Pintel a funny look and pointed to the dress. It was pretty obvious what was wrong. I was clutching the bodice tightly in one hand to keep it from dropping.

Finally looking away from his drumstick, Pintel raised an eye as he looked at the dress. Suddenly, the door burst open and Ragetti followed him inside. His eyes widned at the dress and he said, "Wow, you look like a little midget in that dress, girl. We definitely need to find you something else to wear. That dress is gonna fall right off of you at any moment."

"That was my point," I explained to Ragetti with a roll of my eyes. "So can you bring me something else? If not, I suppose I can just put my old clothes back on." I looked to the ground where my wet clothes were sopping on the floor. I didn't really want to put them on, but no way was I going to run the risk of having my dress fall off completely. That would be very humiliating.

Pintel scratched his chin and thought for a moment. Finally, he said, "I don't know if there is another dress on board. I suppose I'd better go ask the captain. I'll be right back. You and Ragetti can just stay here for now." With that said, Pintel got up and sprinted off to wherever the captain was. I watched him go feeling kind of nervous.

Luckily, Ragetti wasn't the kind of guy who would hurt me even if he could. He simply sat besides me on the ground and started up an entirely random conversation, "So Miss Bern, tell me a bit about yourself. Do you like fishing or treasure hunting? Those are my two favorite things to do. Unfortunately, I never seem to end up with much treasure though." He shook his head sadly.

Deciding to be completely honest, I replied, "I've never been on a ship before. There's not much to know about me. I'm seventeen. My name is Bernadette, but you already know that. I guess all I'm really looking for is an adventure. I just want a change from the norm, you know? And if I'm being honest, I want to fall in love."

I supposed most of the pirates would've laughed at me for saying that, but Ragetti was different. Instead of laughing at me, he simply nodded with understanding and replied, "I completely understand where you're coming from, girl. I've always wanted to fall in love with a woman, but none would ever have me. No idea why. Have you ever been in love before?"

I immediately shook my head, "No, unfortunately not. Nobody has ever really loved me either. Sometimes I wonder if I'm unlovable or something. I suppose I won't know for a while though. I mean, it's not like I'm going to fall in love while I'm sailing on a pirate ship obviously." I rolled my eyes and smiled at Ragetti.

Ragetti didn't smile back though. Instead, he looked rather sad. Looking down at the ground, he said, "So you don't think anyone could ever love a pirate then? Are we cursed to be alone for the rest of our lives?" Ragetti's tone was solemn and I almost wondering if he would start crying for a moment.

My head spun as I thought about an answer to his question. I couldn't ever see myself falling in love with a pirate, but maybe that was because I had been raised in such a fine home by wealthy parents. There was no need to let Ragetti know that though. So instead, I told him, "I'm sure there's some special woman out there who could fall in love with you. I'm sure certain women could fall in love with pirates. There's got to be someone for everyone." I wasn't exactly sure about the last statement, but what else could I say?

Ragetti smiled at me and said, "Thanks for saying that." Then he grew solemn again and added, "But not you though, hm?" His question totally caught me off guard. I had no idea what he was talking about. I raised my eyebrow and waited for him to explain. Ragetti went on, "I meant that you don't think you could ever fall in love with anyone on this ship?"

I decided to be totally honest and so I went ahead and said, "No, not really." As soon as those three words were open, the door popped back open and Pintel appeared. Shooting Ragetti a funny look, he said, "Are you two talking about love? Why talk about love? I mean, there are about a million other things in the world to talk about!"

Ragetti and I looked at each other and both blushed a bright tomato red. Deciding to dismiss the topic, Ragetti said, "So Bern, I talked to the captain. He...erm...wants to see the dress." I frowned, but shrugged. The captain could have the dress back for all I cared. I waited for Ragetti and Pintel to leave, but they stood rooted to the spot.

Raising my eyebrows at them, I said, "Aren't you two going to leave so I can change? I'll give you the dress then." Ragetti and Pintel exchanged funny looks and I immediately knew something was wrong. Finally, Pintel said, "The captain wants to see you...with the dress on." He wanted to see me with the dress on? What the hell?

Frowning, I took two steps backwards and crossed my arms across my chest. Giving Ragetti and Pintel frowns, I replied, "No way am I going out of the cabin like this. It's simply improper!" I looked down at myself once more to see how the bottom of my neckline was rested just an inch above my navel and was showing off way too much of my chest.

Pintel gave me a little smile and said, "Sorry, lassie, but we've got no choice. The captain's words are law." Pintel looked me over for a minute and then said, "You have two options. Option number one is where you do as we say and go see the captain. Option number two is that you refuse to do as we say and we force you to go see the captain. Both options end up in the same result. So really, if I were you, I would go with choice one. It's definitely the easier of the two and I really don't want to hurt you."

I frowned and looked at the ground, deciding what to do. I didn't really have any good options in this situation. Pintel was certainly right though; option number one was much better than option number two. Sighing, I tried to take a calming breath before saying, "Alright then. I'll see the captain and I'll let him know exactly what I think of the way he's treating me. Bring me to him at once!"

Pintel and Ragetti exchanged shocked glances at my sudden change in attitude. Shrugging at each other, they opened the door to the little cabin I had been staying in. I was surprised they didn't hold my hand or arm as we headed out of the cabin. But then again, even if I did try to make a run for it, where would I run to? There weren't many places to go in a situation like this. The only escape was to the sea. Escaping to the sea meant drowning for sure.

Hoping nobody would see me, I crept quietly behind Ragetti. Unfortunately, luck was not with me and the two men ended up leading me right by the table where the crew members were sitting. As soon as one of the members of the crew caught sight of me, all the men were staring at me and whistling loudly. It was going to be the longest night of my life.