Keys to the Sea

It was dark in my cabin as I lay still in my bed. All the candles had been put out for the night and the rest of the crew were sound asleep below deck. I would have been, too, if not for my new record for insomnia, unbroken since I first came to this ship.

    I rolled out of bed and slipped out of the lonely room. Exhaustion weighed down my feet, but I did my best to keep my steps light and even so they wouldn’t thump on the boat.

    Finally I reached the ladder on the other side of the room that led above deck. I sighed and hurried up the ladder, thankful that the strong rope wouldn’t soon creak or break, and quickly found myself standing on the ship’s deck, surrounded by nothing but wood, sea, and a starry night sky unlike anything I had ever seen back home.

    I smiled, letting the ocean breeze blow through my hair. Being out here, my thoughts were so much clearer- free to breathe under the fresh air. Drawn to the endless horizon we bobbed on, I wandered to the edge of the vessel.

    I rested my hands on the ship’s rim and felt ice-cold metal. My eyes widened as I picked it up, and as I held it to the moon to see it better, I cursed the Pirate Code and its ban on candles after eight. With the moon full and glowing high in the sky, all it took was a bit of squinting and I could plainly make out the shape of a pirate hook.

    I froze. How did this get here?

    I paused, then rolled my eyes. Of course. “Avery, I know you’re there!”

    As expected, he stepped out of the shadows, the moonlight highlighting his crooked smile and catlike eyes from across the boat. “Yes, matey?”

I glared at him, stalking over. “Pirates don’t really say matey.” I stood right in front of him. “Why are you up? You should be sleeping. We’re pirates.”

He chuckled, but not as confidently as his usual laughter. “Ah, you know how it is. You’re up, too, after all…” He ruffled the back of his hair. “I guess I was just thinking about... how we’re here. If we’re going home. You know?”

I bit down on my cheek. “Yeah… I think about that stuff too, honestly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Didn’t expect that you would, though, Mr. Carefree.”

He burst out laughing. “Do you really see me that way, Rowan?” He threw his arm over my shoulders and turned me to face the sea. “I’m surprised. Never thought you liked me.”

I glanced at his face and saw that his eyes were cloudy and lacked any spark. Completely different than what they looked like when we first got into this stupid pirate mess.

***

I was walking around my neighborhood. It was a nice, sunny June day, and I was excited to get out and get some fresh air after all the spring rain. I’ve always loved summer- the endless green, the shining sun, the warmth on my skin, the t-shirts and shorts and sneakers, and no bad weather to get in the way of doing whatever I felt like.

I was determined to use the stroll as an opportunity to refresh my brain and get inspired by the time I headed home, so I walked slowly and stopped at anything that looked beautiful or interesting. But just as I stooped down to admire a well-painted stone outside someone’s yard, I started to hear people talking behind me. Not really loudly, but I could make out some snippets of what they were saying:

“Look, he’d be perfect…”

“I don’t know. He looks a little weird.”

“Should we go over?”

I hesitated, then bounced to my feet and turned around. “Pardon?”

They both stared blankly at me, clearly stunned that I had noticed them. To my surprise, though, I recognized both of them- one was Avery, the chatterbox with the crazy clothes whose table neighbored mine in the school cafeteria, and standing next to him was the weird kid with the bright pink hair and dark skin who lived across the street from me.

Avery shook his head quickly and flashed his trademark crooked grin. “Hey, Jaden!” He waved while the kid next to him just continued staring at me.

I squinted at them. “Do you two need something from me?” I couldn’t say I was exactly excited to see Avery. He was one of the kids I’m excited to get away from every summer- it just seems like he never stops talking. Does he ever even think about what he says? I’m not sure, but it doesn’t seem like it. I wasn’t eager to get to know my pink haired neighbor, either.

Avery opened his mouth to respond, but the other kid cut him off. “Have you ever wanted to be an actor?” He smiled softly.

“Um… not really… why-”

Avery hurried over to me and slung his arm over my shoulders. “Come on, Rowan!” He winked. “You should try it. It’s really fun! You seem like the guy who’d like to try something new this summer.” I could see in his smile that he was really hoping I would agree.

“Does it pay?” I ventured. I don’t have a part time job yet, after all, but my hobbies don’t pay for themselves.

“If it needs to,” the pink-haired kid replied as he walked over to us. “My name is Jaymin, by the way.” He extended his hand to me.

I quickly took it and shook firmly. “Rowan Cunningham.” I looked at Avery. “Can I see the set?”

His face lit up. “Sure! Just follow me.”

We headed back to my block and headed into Jaymin’s blue house. The only reason it was so recognizable to me was because I’d seen it so often. There was really nothing remarkable about it, with a slightly overgrown lawn and a living room so plain it was hard to believe it was designed by a person and not a Home Depot employee.

As Jaymin quietly led us down the hall, I nudged Avery and whispered, “Who is this guy?”

Avery looked surprised and whispered back, “I dunno. I just met him last week.”

“You’re not friends?”

He shook his head. “Naw… naw. Honestly, he’s a little weird…” He smirked. “But he let me design sets for his new movie, and since he couldn’t find anyone else, I’m acting too.”

“Who are you playing?”

“The pirate captain’s right hand man.”

“Am I playing the captain, then?”

He laughed out loud. “Yup!”

Jaymin turned around, standing in front of a wooden door with some drawings taped to it. “This is our basement,” he mumbled. “The set is in here.”

When he swung the door open, I pushed past Avery to investigate, and I was stunned to find a genuinely cool-looking set; lots of hand painted and handcrafted stuff with obvious care put into it.

I stared at Avery. “You made this?”

“Y-yeah?” He smiled awkwardly. “What did you expect?”

I’d worked with him on a group project once, so what I expected was a half-done and sloppy job. “I dunno,” I said instead. “It’s just impressive.”

Avery seemed to brighten up, a huge smile on his face. Meanwhile, Jaymin nudged me and said, “You should put on your costume so you can test out the script with Avery.” Then he handed me a bundle of clothes.

I nodded politely and headed off to change in the bathroom. On my way out, I spotted a spare script on a countertop, so I grabbed that so I could memorize it while I changed. By the time I was back, Avery had changed into a darker version of my costume, and Jaymin had settled into a bean bag chair to watch.

Jaymin glanced at me and gave a big thumb’s up. Avery grinned, “That looks awesome!”

I started to thank him but then paused. “Is that a… hook?” I grimaced.

He laughed. “Totally! Cool, right?” He dropped into what I’m sure he thought was an epic action pose.

I shook my head. “No, it’s ridiculous. Only cartoon pirates wore hooks.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jaymin nod.

Avery glared. “Someone’s a killjoy.” He took it off and slipped it into his bag.

With that over with, I hurried onto the set. “Can we start now?” I asked no one in particular.

Jaymin nodded, but just as I prepared to say my first line, he stopped me. “I almost forgot…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two silver keys. “Props. You both have to insert them in the treasure chest’s lock at the end of the script.”

I remembered that from the script. We both took the keys and went through the script normally- I was impressed but not surprised by how good an actor Avery was, since he seems like the type. I’m not sure I did particularly well, though, but I’d never even tried acting before, so it was easy to not beat myself up about it.

Anyway, the important part of all this is when Avery and I reached the end of the script. Avery grinned and cried, “Look, captain- it’s the treasure we’ve been looking for!”

I smiled calmly. “At last. We could buy enough food with this gold to feed every one of our families for months.” I reached into my satchell, where I had stashed my key, and Avery did the same. “These keys must unlock the chest.”

Together, we inserted the keys into the lock’s hole. For a second, nothing really happened- not even the chest’s lid popping open. But in that split second, I think both Avery and I knew that something weird was about to happen, and sure enough, all of a sudden it was like we were falling through a pit empty nothing with the destination of who knows where. Someone screamed, and I have no idea which one of us it was. Jaymin was nowhere to be seen.

Finally, we hit ground- wooden, unstable ground. Avery rolled over and moaned while I stood up and tried to regain myself. I looked around and saw that we were on… a boat? It was bobbing gently on clear blue waves, and I even spotted a couple of men swabbing the deck.

Suddenly the two of them notice me. One bows deeply, and the other smiles and calls out, “Aye, Captain!” He leaned against his broom. “What are you doing here?”

“Captain?” I echoed stupidly, as Avery sat up and nudged me.

“Did he just call you captain?” He hissed. I couldn’t explain it, but there was something… excited in his eyes. I nodded, and he grabbed me by my sleeve and yanked me towards him. “Rowan. Rowan, dude- something happened in Jaymin’s movie and now-” his grin was wild- “Now we’re inside it.”

Before I could respond, Avery jumped to his feet. “I’m gonna go ask what the name of the boat is.”

I followed him, and we headed over to the man with the broom. “Ahoy, matey!” Avery exclaimed, saluting him. “Pop quiz- what do we call this ship?”

He blinked, visibly puzzled. “The Key of the Sea, sir.” He spoke slowly but respectfully.

Avery lit up, turning to me. “The Key of the Sea!” He nudged me repeatedly. “Get it? Like the keys!”

I lowered my voice. “Speaking of which,” I reminded him, “we need to find the keys. They’ll take us back home.”

He nodded firmly. “This is gonna be awesome,” he whispered back. “Like an adventure!”

***

Avery and I were quiet. Our eyes were locked on the waves.

“We’ve been here for two months,” I muttered.

Avery nodded. “It’s all that kid Jaymin’s fault.” He glared at the water. “I can’t believe I ever thought this would be cool.”

I took a breath. “We’re still going to find the keys. It’s just taking a while. They’re probably in a temple on an island or something.”

“I guess.”

I was silent for a minute. It was hard to say, but I think he needed to hear it, so I cleared my throat and said, “I know things have been kind of weird, and I can be kind of rude, but I don’t hate you or anything. Just for the record.”

He turned to look at me, and I think he was trying not to look surprised, but his eyes had widened just a bit. Then he chuckled. “I guess it’s kinda my fault we’re on this boat,” he admitted. “Since, like, I’m the one who got us involved with that movie. Do you think he knew that the keys were, like, magic or something?”

“I don’t think it really matters.” I watched a seagull fly across the horizon; it looked like it was glowing under the moonlight. “But I thought I’d mention that even though we’re not best friends or anything, I’m glad that we’re trying to find them together.”

“Same. You’re pretty clever.” He paused. “But if we’re not best friends, what do you think we are?”

I raised my eyebrows, surprised. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it… maybe just family?”

He laughed. “Were not best friends, but we are family?”

I rested my elbow on the rim and my chin in my palm. “I dunno. I guess that when you’re siblings, it’s like… you’re not 100% friends, but you can trust each other, and you’re close.”

He smiled. “That makes sense. I feel the same way.” He flashed me a peace sign. “I guess I’m heading back to bed. Hope you can sleep.” Then he ran off.

I watched him go thoughtfully. I’d never really known him until this except as an annoying chatterbox at school- not to mention a slacker. But now that I’ve gotten to know him a bit better, I can see the reason most of our classmates seem to like him. He’s actually pretty funny and clever, and apparently hardworking when he feels the need to apply himself. And maybe someday I could call him a friend.

But for now, family will do.