A Mess of Pirates

Michael trudged home. He dragged his feet across the pavement. Three more miles until home. The weight from his backpack seemed to be pressing him into the ground. It appeared that with every step he took, home became farther and farther away. A thud came from when heavy books slapped the pavement of the sidewalk.

“I need a quick nap,” he sighed as he sprawled on the grass. The stars twinkled above him. Just a quick nap, he told himself. A flash of light shined in his eyes before he closed them. God, he needed a car. These walks were going to wear him out. Everyday he woke up at 8:30, walked down to the bus stop (4 miles), went to school, walked to work from school, worked 7 hours, waited for the 10:30 bus to come, and walked those 4miles back to the dingy, dirty apartment he called home.
He needed a car. He was saving up to buy a car-not a fancy one with all the cool gadgets in it, just one that could get him where he needed to go. A rustle came from beside him. Just a squirrel. Too tired to care. Then a sound of a zipper came to his ears. It sounded like someone was unzipping his bag. Wait! Someone WAS unzipping his bag! He shot up. There, digging through his bag was a guy. In a pirate get up.

“Hey!” Michael yelled. The man looked up at him. In his hand was Michael’s English Literature book, which he needed foe homework. The guy ran.

“Hey! Come back!” Michael ran after the pirate. He was determined. He had a paper that was due tomorrow and it was in that book. He wasn’t failing English. The pirate raced down a hill and he was headed for the street full of traffic.

‘He’s trying to cut me off. Like in that James Bond movie. You’re not getting away that easily. I need that book!’ The pirate ran right into traffic. He dodged the cars with skills that only came form someone that had done it before. The honks of horns and yells of angry drivers filled the air. Michael followed him. He imitated the pirate but got knicked by a side mirror on his hand. The pain surged in his hand. He was pretty sure it was broken. But he had to get that book back. The landscape began to change. Trees sprouted out of nowhere and soon they were in a thick forest. The tall trees blocked out any kind of light but Michael could hear the man in front of him. The trees began to thin out and a meadow came into view. The moon hit the meadow with an eerie glow. The pirate was trying to pull something out of pocket as he ran. He yelled something as he held up something to the sky. A door way filled white light appeared 3 feet in front of him. The pirate ran into it and disappeared.

‘Do I want to go into that,’ Michael asked himself. Before his brain could answer, his feet responded by running into the white light. He was weightless for a good second and then… he began to fall. His mouth opened to scream but nothing came out. His arms flailed wildly as flew downward in the white endless tunnel. He was going to die here, in this place. He was never going to graduate college. He was never going to buy that car he had been dreaming of since high school. And the biggest thing was he was never going to fall in love. The bottom of the tunnel came into view.

‘This is it, he thought. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact. Seconds passed but impact never came. He felt himself lying on something soft. He could hear birds and… was that a frog? Michael shot up. His eyes were wide as he looked around a green jungle.

“What the hell?” he gulped. First a white tunnel of death. Now a green jungle. That probably had big man eating animals in it. Suddenly every sound he heard was a growl or the step of a tiger getting closer. Then he heard voices. God, he was going crazy! The voices became louder as they got closer and closer. And then 3 pirates came into view and they were heading in his direction. They seemed to be laughing about something. Then one seemed to notice him and he stopped laughing. His comrades looked over. None were laughing now. All three drew swords and glared at Michael.

‘God. I hate pirates!’