October 23, 2011

Ahoy, Sea Serpent! - Swim On Through The Bright Caribbean Water And Find Out What Is Making That Sound

Actually, the adventure continues here :)  Go back to Kerri's if you haven't started yet :)

Monday October 24 -the day we've all been waiting for - is finally here!  It's time to Choose Your Own Adventure!  Do you remember those books?  They were totally fun.  Kerri over at Craft Junkie has turned the idea into this awesomely fun bloghop.  I hope you'll all have a wonderful time :)

If you've landed here because you chose swim on through the bright Caribbean water etc... then you know what you're doing and can skip on down to continue your adventure!

But if you've landed here without starting the adventure, please go back to Kerri's blog and start from the beginning.  Each part you read will give you options as to how you want to continue.  Whichever option you choose will determine the course of your adventure.  Don't like where you ended up?  Go back one or more steps, or start over.  I think you'll have a great time following ALL the options until you've exhausted every possible adventure :) - please share your comments!  OK - onward with the adventure!

You have chosen to swim on through the bright Caribbean water and find out what is making that sound...!


The sunken ship sings a siren song, daring you to see what kind of treasure it might hold, but your oxygen is running out fast.  Regretfully you decide that, treasure or not, you dare not take the risk.

You swim on through the bright Caribbean water, determined to find the source of the sound, praying that whatever it is means rescue.  Your chest feels heavy with the weight of the water, and your arms, unaccustomed to swimming for so long, tremble with fatigue.  Doggedly you pull for the surface, dragging the unwieldy oxygen tank.

At last your head breaks through the waves.  You shake salt water from your hair and eyes and squint into the sudden brightness of the sun reflecting off the ocean.  The sound comes again, long and low, like a horn.  But it’s not a horn.  Oh, no.  It is most definitely not a horn.  Your straining ears catch words in the low hum.

“Yo ho.  Heave!  Yo ho.  Ho!  Yo ho!  Yo ho!  Yo ho!  HO!

Deep voices.  Many of them, chanting together.  And words like that can mean only one thing…

PIRATES!

You flail in the water, arms churning like paddle wheels.  The oxygen tank slips from your cold fingers and sinks before you can grab it back.  You search desperately in every direction for help.  Any help!  Anywhere!

But you’re alone in the water.  Drowning or pirates, it looks like you’re facing certain death.  Well, you’re not going down without a fight!

The pirate ship is nearly upon you.  You can see its black flag fluttering in tattered ribbons from the mast.  Up in the crow’s nest, the lookout spies you.  “Man overboard!” he bellows.

The yo-ho-ing ceases at once.  A mountain of a man with a one-eyed ginger cat riding his left shoulder approaches the ship’s rail.

“Be ye friend or foe?” he hollers.

You decide that death by pirate is preferable to drowning.  At least with the pirates you might have a chance.

“Friend!” you call back.

The mountain, whom you assume is the captain, tosses a thick coil of rope over the rail.  You grab it, and with the last of your strength, haul yourself toward the deck.  When you near the top, strong hands grab hold of you and pull you up over the rail onto the deck.  You lie there like a grounded fish, water streaming off you, gasping with exhaustion.

You’re grateful to have been rescued until you look up.  A circle of faces bristling with unkempt beards and hostility glares down at you.

“Kill the prisoner!” shout the pirates.

“Hey!” you start to argue.

“Now, now!” roars the captain.  “Ours is a democratic ship.  We’ll take a vote.  Will the prisoner grace the gallows, or will the prisoner walk the plank?”

“Walk the plank!  Walk the plank!” shout the pirates.

“What kind of vote is that?” you splutter.  “And besides, if this is a democracy, don’t I get a vote?”

“There’s none will call us unfair,” says the captain.  “None alive, anyway!”  He chuckles at his own joke and the pirates laugh with him.  It’s a horrifying sound.

“Then I vote we let the prisoner lead us to sunken treasure!” you say.

THAT gets their attention.

“Treasure?” says the captain.  “What’s the heading?”

So you point them back toward the sunken ship you’d been forced to abandon.  It turns out to be such a trove of gold and jewels that they make you First Mate, which is how you start your life as a pirate.

But that’s another adventure!

THE END!


If you'd like to try another ending, click on your option:


Go Back: Turn And Swim Away As Fast As You Can - Without Bursting Your Lungs


Go Back:  Take The Risk And Swim Down To See What Is Inside The Ship


Start Over

15 comments:

  1. Susanna that is awesome! I like how much dialogue you put in and how funny you made it. These are fun to read :)

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  2. Catherine - my goodness, you're a night owl :) I'm not sure all the choices were up when you were reading. I hope you'll get a chance to go back and see any you missed! Glad you like it. I want to do one for kids and I'm going to be counting on you for a snippet! :)

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  3. Oh, I need to begin at the beginning. This is fun.

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  4. I can do snippets lol. I'll be there. I'll go back and see what I missed. I'm so wide awake when the kids wake up in the night :P

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  5. By the way we haven't posted about a theme this week. It must be Halloween right? I'll let my lot know on Wednesday when I do the Warm Fuzzies post. HAGD!

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  6. Loved the fun Pirate story! Made me smile before lunch :)

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  7. What a cool idea! I've never thought of doing that as a blog post. :D

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  8. Stacy, Peggy, Janet, Catherine, Tina, and Stina - thanks so much for your enthusiasm! It seemed like a really fun idea to me! Did you get a chance to follow some of the threads and choose different adventures?

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  9. Pirates! What a great ending. It's just the beginning of a whole new adventure.

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  10. So I saw this yesterday, and was obedient and backtracked to get the beginning. I love the idea! Were you a pirate in a former life, as you have the jingo down to a tee! The humour is wonderful - a democratic pirate ship, indeed!

    Glad you are signed up for PiBoIdMo, me too!

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  11. What a fun blog hop--I did it last night. A trip down memory lane as I loved those books when I was in middle school!
    Good luck with PiBoIdMo and thanks for your thoughts on my post!
    :)

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  12. This was great! Now I'm off to Kerri's blog to start from the beginning. I don't know if I'm getting dizzy or just seasick, but it's definitely worth it! Julie

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  13. Deborah - I love pirates! ARR matey!

    Joanna - thanks so much for your enthusiasm! Looking forward to PiBoIdMo - maybe some pirate stories :)

    Coleen - so glad you enjoyed it! I'm planning to do one of my own but with a children's story, if you're interested... :)

    Julie - I hope you enjoy follwoing the adventure!

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