Welcome to the life of a pirate

Good evening dearest reader

Once upon a time, a captain was mutinied by his own crew members and forced to walk the plank into the sea, where he swam to a nearby island. But make no mistake, I'm not talking about the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow.

My name is Elizabeth Collins, born in 1928, and I'm the daughter of the renowned Regency romance author Georgina Buckingham. I never knew my father, and my mother never spoke of him. I was educated at boarding school for most of my life and spent my free time with my close friends Alice, Charles, and Dudley, as well as my loyal dog, Beau.

During one of our school breaks, we entered my mother's library despite being warned not to do so a million times - we did it anyway. After all, we're children, and what's life without a little mischief? We searched section after section of the library, shelf by shelf, oh how enormous it was, until we grew weary. The object of our desire was my mother's latest, yet unpublished, novel. As always, we wanted to be the first to read it before anyone else, even her publisher. But it seemed this time, my mother wasn't going to make it easy. It became a challenge we were willing to accept.

'Guys, I found it!' Alice frantically screamed, a rush of excitement coursing through her veins as her face turned red from jumping up and down like a kangaroo.

I rose from the fourth drawer of my mother's writing table as the four of us leaped onto the comfy couch positioned in front of the fire.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' Dudley asked Alice, who gave him the side-eye.

'Light the fire,' she replied.

'We do that every time; why won't you two ever light the fire?' he whined.

'Aren't you supposed to be strong and masculine?' I chimed in, mimicking Dudley's habit of showing off his arms to the other girls.

Alice and Charles laughed; they couldn't get enough of it.

'Well, today I'm tired,' Dudley excused himself. 'I guess we'll just have to read in the cold.'

Her face dropped, 'No, I found the book; I'll read it out loud, but I'll only do so in a warm room,' she said.

I raised my arm in agreement.

Charles walked off, before tapping his younger friend and whispering, 'Why bother, it's not like you can ever win.' He smirked, meanwhile Alice looked pleased with herself.

A little while later.

We were now gathered together. I sat to the left while Charles sat the right of his sister meanwhile Dudley being Dudley decided it was best for him to hog all the warmth the fire had to offer as he sat on the floor his toes daring it to burn him.

A little while later, we were now gathered together. I sat to the left, while Charles sat to the right of his sister, meanwhile Dudley, being Dudley, decided it was best for him to hog all the warmth the fire had to offer as he sat on the floor, his toes daring the flames to burn him.

'I believe now would be the right time to open the book, Alice,' he said calmly, his voice soothing the tension, anxiety, and impatience in the room. 'I do believe Dudley will burn himself from impatience.

'It won't open,' Alice said.

'What do you mean it won't open?'

'It's glued to the page—literally. I took the book from her small arms and tried with all my might, but, like she said, 'It won't open.' Charles smiled at us, and Dudley gave us a death stare. We all knew better than to joke about any matters involving my mother's stories; he loved them and was like a child who couldn't part with his blanket. And so, without a word more, we gave him the book to give it a try.

As he tried, suddenly at the other side of the house, Beau began to bark aggressively, sensing we were in the forbidden room. It was as if he knew the louder he barked, the quicker we had to calm him down to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. I leaped to my feet when the patting on the door began. I moved twice as fast as normal, but my heart said, 'Hold on to your hat!'

When I opened it, he went silent. He bolted toward Dudley and grabbed the book with his teeth. It was bad enough that he couldn't open the book; now he had to chase Beau around the library. Meanwhile, saliva drooled all over the wooden floor as the young dog seemed to enjoy himself, before he bumped into one of the bookshelves, knocking the book out and leaving it fully open.

As Alice and I rushed to Beau's side, the ground trembled beneath our feet. The book burst into a radiant glow, levitating in the air as words materialized, proclaiming, '1811.

It was then that we realized we had tampered with forces beyond our understanding. I began to suspect that what I thought was my mother's novel was actually a mythical object – a grimoire, perhaps. But why my mother would have such a thing, I couldn't fathom. The book seemed to be pulling and pushing everything in the library, with books flying from shelves to walls. Soon, it began to draw all five of us toward it. Just when we thought we'd be sucked into the magic grimoire, the shelf Beau had bumped into slid wide open, revealing a large, glowing light. And, well, you can imagine what happened next.

In the blink of an eye, we plummeted into the abyss, surrounded by darkness. My heart racing, I felt my soul rip free from my body. Resigned, I closed my eyes, surrendering to the fate that awaited us all.

Down, down I plunged, the darkness of the abyss swallowing me whole. Above, Charles and Alice's desperate faces faded into the distance, their cries muffled by the crushing weight of the water. Dudley thrashed about, his struggles futile against the merciless tides. I surrendered, the icy grip of the sea closing in around me like a vice. My lungs burned, my head spun, and my body grew heavy, sinking deeper into the dark depths. Just as all hope seemed lost, a blast of the ship's horn pierced the water, and two shadowy figures burst into the depths, their powerful strokes propelling them toward me. Strong hands grasped my limp form, hauling me upward, toward the faint glow of light above. As we broke the surface, I coughed up water, my vision blurring. The next thing I knew, I was lying on deck, my rescuer's faces a blur as the world faded to black.