Adrielle/Creative writing/Short stories

Below are some examples of creative writing, written by Adrielle (who is also known as Ezmerelda_M, or AddyRielle). These pieces have been submitted as contest entries on the Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates Forums over the past three years.

Snowed In!

Adrielle yawned and climbed out of her fancy bed and into the cold morning air of her estate. She wondered why it was so dark at this time of morning. Wandering over to her window, she noticed that it had been snowing - a lot! The whole window was covered in by deep white snow. Adrielle was trapped inside her large and well-furnished house! Adrielle sighed. She was slightly concerned, but more than slightly hungry, so she headed down the hall to her kitchen to get breakfast.

Adrielle did not keep a well stocked pantry. Finding a plate of chocolate chip cookies, she gormandized them quickly, and was happily fed. Gazing around her kitchen, she decided that she was unhappy with the arrangement of the four stools that stood around her bar. Some time later, after rearranging them more than a dozen times, she was finally satisfied with the layout of the room. It was then time for a bath, so Adrielle headed upstairs to the bathroom.

A short time later, Adrielle was warm, clean and dressed. She headed into her upstairs parlor to take tea and cake with her dollies. Adrielle frequently had dolly tea parties. She would sit with her dolls on her sofa, and pour each a cup of steaming hot tea, and serve each a piece of cake. Of course, the dollies would refuse to drink their tea, and would never touch their cake, but Adrielle would not let these tasty treats go to waste.

After the tea party, when her dollies had fallen asleep in a pile on the sofa, Adrielle decided that it was time for her to clean and tidy her home. As means of procrastination (she did not want to have to do any of the difficult or dirty cleaning jobs) she sorted her trinkets alphabetically, by color, and then by date acquired. By the time she had finished, it was time for lunch. Adrielle headed downstairs to grab some hot soup from the top of her pot belly stove.

The soup tasted slightly unusual, as she had added caramel, cocoa and rum in order to make it better. Adrielle sipped it in her downstairs parlor - a room which also held her crate collection. While admiring her collection, Sir Hiss, Adrielle's serpent-shaped friend suggested that Adrielle should make a maze! Adrielle had long considered this possibility, and decided that since she was snowed in and stuck inside, today was the perfect day! Finishing her soup, Adrielle jumped up and began shifting crates around. It wasn't long before the maze was complete. Adrielle and Sir Hiss started at one side and tried to get to the other. It was tough. After a while, they decided that it was impossible and had become boring. They decided to build a cratey fort instead!

Later, in their fort of crates, Adrielle and Sir Hiss lounged, dressed up in their favorite regal clothing, complete with crowns. Both were sleepy, but neither wanted to go to bed. The pair decided to have a quick game of poker. Sir Hiss won as usual. Adrielle sighed and climbed up onto the sofa with her cats for a snooze, as Sir Hiss gloated and gathered up his winnings.The day had been so much fun, they hoped they would get snowed in again tomorrow!

Adrielle on Viridian

A day in the life of Adrielle of Viridian!

This short story by Adrielle was written as an entry into Section One (DAY): A Day in the Life of.., part of the Gothic Dawning events held on the forums in October, 2009.

It was nine o-clock in the morning when Adrielle awoke. The blindingly bright eye of Apollo shone through her window, much to the displeasure of her cat, Black Pearl, who lay with her tail over her eyes to block out the light. Adrielle rolled over in her pretty pink and white rowboat bed, almost crushing her serpent, Sir Hiss, who was curled up asleep beside her. He slithered out of the way, and looked at Adrielle, displeased.

"It's time to get up, Hissy. You can stay here if you like, but I have to go", Adrielle said, looking at him sympathetically.

Sir Hiss did not wish to miss the fun. Nor did Black Pearl, who gave a yawn and got out of bed behind them.

The first major choice that Adrielle had to make that day was what she was going to wear. She inspected her wardrobe, seeing clothes of violet, purple, yellow, persimmon, aqua, blue, red, and lime. After several pained expressions, and an eventual inability to decide, Adrielle just wore them all together. She looked like a clown, but she felt gorgeous anyway. After all, her favorite color was rainbow!

Looking spiffy, Adrielle headed down to the docks. It was not long before she had joined a circle of pirates, and was challenging people to sword fights. After some wins and some losses, it was time for lunch. Adrielle and Black Pearl ate some pumpkins and herbs from her garden. Sir Hiss liked cake and salad.

After lunch, Adrielle checked the notice board for any interesting pillages. To her delight, there was a ship going to the Cursed Isles! Adrielle applied immediately, and was hired aboard the ship. The trip was fun, and filled most of the afternoon. Walking home afterward, Adrielle and Sir Hiss giggled as they remembered how Vargas the Mad had tried to taunt them, and Sir Hiss had hissed!

Soon, Adrielle and her two companions reached the steps of their glorious estate. The sun was setting, and the moon rising. Sir Hiss yawned, and Black Pearl did too. After a few drinks at her private bar, Adrielle staggered upstairs to her rowboat bed. As she walked into her room, she was disappointed to notice that three of her cats (including Black Pearl) had made themselves comfortable on her blanket. They did not look like they would move. They were so cute, Adrielle decided not to disturb them. She left them there, and went to her other bed, the one she called "the genie one" (as it had a canopy), and got comfortable, ready to sleep. Sir hiss liked this bed much better than the rowboat one. He liked to slither up and sleep on top of the canopy, while pretending he was out in the jungle (however, he was warm and a lot more comfortable than he would be in the jungle, as Adrielle had tossed some pillows up there for his comfort).

As Adrielle drifted off to sleep, she thought about how lucky she was, and about the amazing life she had. Sir Hiss thought about cake and salad.

The end!

By Adrielle, October 2009.

Scene is Set... Again! Entry

This short story by Adrielle was an entry into the Scene is Set... Again! contest, which was held on the forums in 2009.

It was eight o'clock on the night of Apollo's shack party. Apollo had decorated his humble abode for the event with lanterns, and his guests had just started to arrive. Apollo was sure he had remembered to invite every one of his friends, and he was excited and grinning a sunny grin. It was not long before a small group of Apollo's friends had gathered at the shack.

All was going well. There were tournaments and card games of all kinds taking place, when suddenly they were disturbed by an ear-piercing whistle. Someone had sent Apollo a petition. Apollo groaned. He had been dreading an interruption such as this. Reluctantly, he went to read what the petition said. It read:

"Dear Apollo, Sorry to disturb you - I know you are working really hard being an OM, but I really need help. Please visit me ASAP. It's life or death!" ~MMM

Apollo was intrigued. He told his friends about the petition, and they all agreed to come along for the ride. They left a "BRB" message for any late guests who might arrive while they were gone, then they hurried to Apollo's sloop, the Merry Sunfish.

They set sail. It didn't take them long to reach the mysterious atoll where MMM had petitioned from. Apollo put into port, and the crew of the Merry Sunfish went ashore. A strange mist surrounded the isle - like nothing any of them had seen before. Apollo shivered. Although none of them would admit it, they were all scared, sticking close to one another as they crept across the sand towards a pathway into the trees.

The pathway was narrow, and the trees formed a dense jungle on the small isle. Cronus soon spotted a clearing and a light up ahead. The group gathered speed - the light seemed to signal safety. They spilled into the clearing, and looked around. The light sat atop a tall totem pole, carved with pictures of horrifying beasts. A caped, wigged figure stepped out from being the totem pole, making the group recoil in fright.

"Ahoy!" Cronus said. He couldn't stop the quiver in his voice. "We are here to help you."

The figure laughed a crow-like cackle. "Help me?" He asked, in a husky voice, "You are the ones who will need help! I thought I would only be seeing lovely Apollo here tonight; how nice of him to bring some hearties to share in the fun!"

The figure's tone was menacing, and the OMs were concerned. Apollo wanted to ask what the figure meant, but he was too afraid. Nevertheless, the figure soon explained.

"You see, you are all now cursed!" He laughed evilly, and there was a flash of lightening from the sky above. The OMs cowered and began to back away.

"This map is all that can save you!" The maniac shouted, thrusting the map into Demeter's hand. Demeter read the note on the top of the map aloud:

"Ye have been cursed by the Magical Mystical Man (MMM). Please follow the map to reverse the curse, or die trying."

MMM gave another frightening laugh, and the OMs ran for the safety of their Merry Sunfish.

Once safely aboard, the OMs crowded together in a mass of frightened chatter. It was decided that this was a hoax - there were no such things as curses. They decided that MMM should be banned for threatening OMs. Nemesis grabbed out her pointy ban-stick and prepared to do the deed. To her disappointment, however, her attempt failed - "No such pirate". They all agreed to go home, and decide what to do when they were safely there.

Apollo issued an order to set the vessel to sail, and they were soon on their way. They hadn't been sailing very long when Nemesis noticed something odd about Hera. She seemed... shorter than usual. Nemesis blinked, and was just about to say something when Demeter gave a scream. Everyone ran to see what was wrong. It was blatently obvious, yet unbelievable. Endymion had changed into a sort of half-fish, half-person! He was swimming in the bilge water! The OMs were afraid. They suddenly found themselves believing in curses.

Returing to the upperdeck, Apollo noticed something odd about Cronus. He had grown a feathery parrot tail! Apollo also noticed that the moon looked amazingly pretty all of a sudden. It was not long before Demeter screamed again. Hypnos, it appeared, was also cursed. He had transformed into a sleeping tortoise, and was drooling on the deck!

Within several minutes, it was clear that there was something majorly wrong with the crew of the now not-so-Merry Sunfish. Nemesis had grown a lizard tongue, and was running around the deck like a skink. Her eyes darted back and forth. She even caught and ate a bug!

Demeter had become paranoid. She thought everyone on the ship was conspiring against her. She took the map that MMM had given her, and wouldn't trust anyone enough to let them see it. Thalia was weirdly aggitated, and wandered up and down the deck muttering to herself about elves and having to save sea turtles. Cronus had transformed completely into a parrot, and was circling over the deck screeching inane phrases. Clearly, he did'nt know how to speak parrot, but he communicated his alarm perfectly clearly.

Hera shrunk into a doll, and her eyes became buttons! Hypnos remained a tortoise, and continued to sleep and droll on the deck, while Endymion had, by this stage, completely changed into a large silvery-coloured fish. Meanwhile, Apollo marvelled at the shininess of the moon, and wondered whether he could touch it. Demeter recharted the ship to the first point on MMMs map. She didn't trust anyone on board. They were all trying to trick her.

The ship took a while to reach this destination, as most of the crew were lazing and panicking rather than doing their duty aboard the ship. Demeter considered that this was deliberate. It vexed her, but she knew she had to follow the instructions on the chart (She had forgotten why. One of the others had surely wiped her memory. It was all part of the conspiracy, she thought).

Once at the island marked on the map, Demeter prepared to go ashore and complete the first instruction. It was written beside the point on the map, and read:

"Go ashore. Collect toy chest. Proceed to the second point on the map".

Demeter whisked ashore, leaving behind the shrieks and mutterings of her cursed crewmates. She quickly spotted the toy chest on the sand, grabbed it, and whisked back aboard. As she headed over to the helm to chart to the next leg of their journey, Demeter became aware of Hera staring at her. Those doll-eyes freaked Demeter out. She just knew that the doll was spying and plotting. Demeter picked up Hera and tossed her into the toy chest with the other toys, then proceded to chart the next leg of their journey.

They sailed, and soon put into port. The next stop on the map had this instruction written next to it:

"Go ashore. Collect as many pineapples as possible. Take them back to your vessel."

Demeter looked at the crew with distrust. She decided to go ashore alone. Collecting pineapples was easier than she had thought, and this made Demeter extremely suspicious. The pineapples were conveniently in crates, ready for her to whisk them aboard. Looking around paranoidly, Demeter grabbed the crates. There were five in all. She took several trips to whisk them all back to the ship. All the while, she kept a wary eye out for anything suspicious.

Once she had brought all the crates aboard, Demeter checked the map again. There was no course to chart. The map simply said to follow the comet to the Dreaded Atoll. Demeter was more suspicious than ever. She looked around at the other members of her crew. Apollo leant next to the crates of pineapples. He had one in his hand and was admiring it, lovingly. He was mystified by the way its prickled skin shone in the moonlight. Thalia was still wandering around the ship, talking to herself madly about sea turtles. Cronus was flying up and down shrieking nonsensical phrases, Endymion was now in a bucket of water on-deck, and Hypnos still dozed and drooled by his carpentry station. Hera's button eyes watched from inside the toy chest.

Suddenly, Thalia tried to take the helm. She wanted to save the sea turtles from the evil elves! Demeter had been waiting for an act of sabbotage such as this! She was determined to stop the conspirator. She grabbed the bucket of water from the deck and tipped it over Thalia. Poor Endymion came splashing out. Thalia picked up Endymion and used him to slap Demeter (much to Endymion's dismay), and then the two lasses got into an all out swordfighting duel on-deck!

Just when things were getting hairy, Cronus gave a screech, directing attention toward a comet in the sky! Demeter knew the comet pointed to their desired destination. Fending off Thalia with one hand, and navigating with the other, Demeter managed to get the ship to its destination; a small, desolate isle. The ship put into port, and all of the misshappen OMs went ashore, along with their pineapples and toy chest.

The MMM walked toward them on the beach.

"You made it! I'm impressed!" He said. "The curse will now be lifted!"

Another bolt of lightening struck, and the OMs were back to their old selves! They were overjoyed, but curious. Who was MMM? As he turned to leave, Nemesis sneaked up behind him, and stole his wig! The figure tried desparately to hide his face with his hands, but it was unmistakable. It was Hermes!

It turned out Apollo had not remembered to invite all of his friends to his shack party after all. Hermes, hurt that he had been snubbed, had gone to visit Vargas the Mad, who had loaned him a book of curses in exchange for the promise of five crates of pineapples. Hermes assured the OMs that he was really sorry. Apollo explained that it was all a misunderstanding, and the nine OMs all sailed back together, crammed onto Apollo's sloop. They rejoined the party - many more guests had arrived, and everyone was having a great time. Apollo, Nemesis, Demeter, Thalia, Endymion, Cronus and Hera, however, felt like going to sleep!

By Adrielle, 2009

Disaster in the Sorting Basement

This short story was written by Adrielle as an entry into the Take Your Pirate to Work Day contest, which was held on the forums in 2009.

The drive into work on Take Your Pirate to Work Day was the longest I've ever experienced in my life. My pirate, Adrielle, is sweet, but she didn't seem to understand that the real world is not quite like the world of Puzzle Pirates.

"Attack that one! It's green! Why aren't ye attacking anything? Yer no fun, Ezmerelda!" Adrielle cried, as we made our way through the High Street traffic.

By the time we got to the retail centre where I work, I was pretty nervous. Why did I agree to this?! Of course, I had agreed because Adrielle had given me little choice in the matter. After all, it was Take Your Pirate to Work Day, and all the other pirates' real-life friends were taking them to work. We walked in through the back door, and were greeted by some of my workmates. I introduced Adrielle as my friend from Tasmania. I had already warned them the day before that I was bringing someone with me. I had said that Adrielle had lived a sheltered life on a farm, and lacked some of the social skills of the city. I figured this would prepare them for any weird social awkwardness that pirate Adrielle might cause. Although she said "Ahoy!" instead of hello, she was polite, and they seemed to like her.

Luckily, it was not a busy day at the centre, and most of my co-workers were working upstairs. Adrielle and I had the basement to ourselves. I breathed a sigh of relief. I decided to teach Adrielle how to sort clothing, and how to hang it on coat hangers neatly so that it could be ironed, priced and sent upstairs.

"You throw out the ones with holes, and hang up the good clothes, as long as they are clean. Dirty or marked ones go in that bale over there." I explained.

Adrielle blinked. She picked up a ragged old shirt and looked at me in disbelief, eventually saying "But ye can get at least 200 poe for rags!"

I sighed, and tried to explain that things were different here. No one would buy those rags. She didn't seem to understand. Eventually, I convinced her by saying that it was the rules to throw rags away, and the Ocean Masters upstairs would ban her if she didn't follow the rules here. For a while, she seemed to be doing a decent job; she was sorting and hanging things quickly. Unfortunately, I soon noticed that she was hiding some of the better clothing; she wanted it for her stall on Viridian.

Once we had sorted through the load of clothes, I thought it might be helpful if I got Adrielle to assist me in pricing some of the ironed clothing, so that it could be sent upstairs to be sold. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a bad idea. She wanted to mark everything up, saying rather enthusiastically, "Ye could make so much more poe this way! I do it in me stall. It works great!"

Luckily, it was nearly lunch time, and soon everyone from upstairs headed downstairs into the kitchen for lunch. Adrielle and I joined them. Adrielle was disappointed that there was no rum in our kitchen, but she liked the cookies and cakes that were on offer.

After lunch, I asked Adrielle if she would like to help out with some ironing. Adrielle did not think that this was a good idea. She told me that she liked things wrinkly, because it was "a much better look; Arr!" I sighed, and looked around the basement. There was only one job that Adrielle hadn't yet tried. Why didn't I think of it before? Cutting!

Our retail centre provides cut rags to factories for a cheap price. The job of cutting entails getting large pieces of fabric, and cutting them into smaller pieces on the cutting machine, then baling them up to be sent away. Adrielle seemed to think that this was her kind of job. I showed her how to cut the large pieces of fabric into smaller rags on the machine. She seemed to enjoy this job, so I left her to it, hoping to finally get a little peace.

I was rather pleased with the way things had gone. I was expecting a far more stressful and chaotic day. After all, Adrielle didn't understand the ways of my world. I was proud of the fact that she had survived so much of the day without reverting into some kind of loony pirate villain. After a while, however, I became aware of the fact that the room had gone quiet. I could no longer hear the cutting machine. I looked over at the cutting machine in the corner. Adrielle was gone! My heart sank, and I felt a flush of panic. Where was she?

Just then, I heard a commotion from upstairs. With a feeling of dread, I rushed to see what was going on. I almost died when I saw what Adrielle was doing. She had set sail on shopping trolley, and was riding around the store shouting "Avast!" and "Arr!" I ran over to her and hijacked her vessel, porting it in a corner and grabbing her by the arm. "Adrielle! What are you doing?!" I cried.

Adrielle looked at me with a sense of wonder. "I was pillaging..." she said.

I hurriedly directed her downstairs, and started apologising to all of my workmates, and my boss. The day had been a total disaster. After apologising to everyone, I left, hoping that they wouldn't fire me. I mumbled something about hoping not to get fired on the way home. Adrielle replied "But then ye would have more time to play Puzzle Pirates!" I was too tired to try to explain to her again, so I just sighed, and thanked the piratical gods that Take Your Pirate to Work day was over.

By Adrielle, 2009.

The Tragic Tale of the Treasure (and the Pantaloons)

This short story was written by Adrielle as an entry into the Pirates' Jumble Tale contest, which held on the forums in 2009.

Once upon a time, on an island far away, there lived a plucky young pirate lad, named Con. Con had just been to the tailor, and had purchased a stunning pair of red pantaloons to complete his outfit. Thus, he was feeling pretty pleased with himself. He headed down to the docks to strut around in his new pantaloons, and to show them off to all of his hearties.

No sooner had he arrived at the docks than he received a random trade request from a mysterious stranger, who was all dressed in maroon. The stranger did not speak, but offered Con a strange portrait of a woman. In exchange for this rather odd portrait, Con offered the stranger three old long swords that he had won in Atlantis. Con did not expect the stranger to accept the trade. After all, old long swords were not worth a whole lot. To his surprise, however, the stranger quickly clicked accept! Then the stranger mysteriously wandered away.

Con looked at his newly acquisitioned item. It was decent picture of a pirate lass. Con figured he would hang it on the wall of his shack, to brighten it up a little. He clicked ?to home?, and started to arrange his furniture. As Con was hanging the portrait on his wooden shack wall (which was painted red, Con's favourite colour), he noticed something; a small lump in the portrait. There was something in the frame! He curiously took the frame apart, to see what the lump was.

It was an old and crusty piece of paper! Con unfolded it carefully, and could immediately see that it was a treasure map! Con was excited. He threw caution to the wind, and ran to the docks to board his sloop, which was called the Unique Eel. He grabbed some swabbies to help him on his way, and set sail in search of treasure!

The map was old and faded, and it was hard to make out the route. Nevertheless, Con eventually made his way to the tiny island that was specified on the map, and went ashore. The island was still, and dark. The dense jungle, with its tall trees, intimidated Con, but the drive to find treasure made him brave. He followed the path laid out on the old paper map.

Soon, Con came upon a cave. This was the place, marked by an X on the map! He cautiously peered inside. The cave looked dark, and scary. Con gulped, gathered his courage, and went inside. Deep within the cave, where it was almost too dark to see, Con suddenly saw a glint of gold. On closer inspection, he could see that there was a whole chest full of gold! Con was overjoyed! He danced a merry pirate jig and started to sing.

Just then, he noticed something move in the darkness...

It was a DRAGONY thing! The dragony thing looked at Con. Con looked at the dragony thing.

"What are ye doin' in me cave, ya landlubbin... hey nice pants" said the dragonny thing.

Con thanked the dragonny thing, and told him that the pants were brand new. The dragonny thing was impressed. He made a deal with Con. Con could have the old treasure, in exchange for his beautiful pantaloons. Con graciously accepted the offer. After all, he could always buy more pantaloons with all that gold!

Pantless, he dragged the heavy chest back to his ship, sailed home, bought new pants and lived happily ever after.

Until...

About two months later, when the pantaloons had grown old, and had crumbled to dust, the dragonny thing grew annoyed. His treasure would never crumble to dust! He felt like he had been ripped off! Conned! He spread his dragonny wings and took flight in search of that conman, Con!

The dragonny thing soon found Con, who was at the dock wearing rags. The dragonny thing landed next to Con, nostrils flaring. Con cowered, fearing for his life.

"Me pantaloons crumbled! I want me treasure back ye thieving smelly little stench mongerer!!!" The dragonny thing boomed.

Con quivered with fear, and mumbled that he no longer had the treasure, sorry, he had lost it all in poker...

The dragonny thing was furious; Furious and hungry. He was so furious and hungry, he ate poor Con up! Then he flew back to his cave to brood, and to plot his revenge on the rest of mankind...

The end.

By Adrielle, 2009.

Cursed

This short story was written by Adrielle as an entry into Ye Be Cursed, a contest held on the forums in 2008.

It was late. The Tentacle and The Pincer had just finished their poker game, and were wandering back through the trees towards their owners' houses. The two friends had long made a habit of meeting like this, as the loneliness of the night (when day-dwelling pirates went to bed and abandoned their nocturnal creatures) had led them to seek each other's company upon the dark docks and alleyways of Lima Island. They always managed to sneak out, and back home to bed, without anyone knowing they had left their houses. They were never seen by anyone, and rarely saw anyone. Tonight, however, as the pair travelled home, they came upon a strange gathering of pirates.

The pirates stood beneath the moon inside a motionless chat circle. There was an air of semi-excited anticipation about them. They seemed to be waiting for someone. Soon enough, a tall pirate arrived. He was clasping a heavy old book in his arms.

"Finally!" One of the other pirates exclaimed.

"I have it here - the incantation. Is everyone ready? Do we have the ingredients?" The tall pirate asked, in a whisper.

The pirates in the circle nodded and produced their ingredients. One held a flagon, another held some onyx gems, another had a sprig of weld, and the final member of the group had a starfish trinket. The tall pirate nodded approvingly, and gathered the ingredients into the flagon. He then began to read from the book, with a voice full of mystery, and a hand waving dramatically to compliment the spookiness of his words;

"Gems of onyx, a sprinkling of weld, into the flagon, all together meld!" He said, "Starfish of sorrows, starfish of light, give'th the power of untold pirate might!"

Just then, a cool wind began blowing from the sea, and autumn leaves started to fall from the trees around the pirates. In a moment, however, the wind had died down, and it appeared that nothing had really happened at all.

One of the pirates laughed. "So now we're 'all-powerful', like ocean masters?", she mused.

"I don't feel any different", another said with a yawn.

"It's bed time", the tall pirate said, slightly disappointed. "T'was good for a laugh. Spells aren't real though."

They all said goodnight, and logged off. None of them had seen the two shadowy creatures lurking in the trees behind them. The Tentacle and The Pincer looked at one another. They were feeling rather strange. With a gasp, The Pincer, who was a small black and gold karkinos, noticed that he was growing, and The Tentacle, who was a mint octopus, had taken on a rather strange glow...

---

It was early the next morning when a pretty pirate lass, named Adrielle, awoke to find her mint octopus still snoring on her bed.

"Gosh!" She exclaimed. "You sleep all day and all night now, Octy Wocty!"

The girl shook her head, then got up, got dressed, and headed off to start her day of piracy and adventure, leaving The Tentacle, or 'Octy Wocty', alone to slumber. How The Tentacle disliked the name Octy Wocty. Among his friends, he was always known as The Tentacle. Octy Wocty was just embarrassing. Nevertheless, he knew the girl cared for him, so reluctantly he stood this annoying name she called him.

The Tentacle stretched. He still felt odd. He couldn't quite put his tentacle on it, but something about him felt different. He decided to sneak over to The Pincer's house, to see if he too was feeling unusual. The Tentacle only managed to travel halfway to his friend, The Pincer's, house when he saw The Pincer hiding in some trees alongside the path. But there was something different about him. He was huge - twice the size a karkinos should be! The Tentacle stood staring at him, his mouth agape.

The karkinos looked worried, as he asked, "Is it that noticeable?" But he quickly recovered his composure enough to ask the octopus to join him on a journey across the seas. The Tentacle didn't ask many questions. He was too shocked to talk. The Pincer explained that he had somehow acquired strange powers. After some quick experimentation, The Tentacle also found he could do some very strange and amazing things. Intrigued by their newfound powers, the pair 'borrowed' one of Adrielle's sloops, and set sail in search of adventure and fame.

---

Meanwhile, Adrielle was busy gambling at the inn. After losing her last few pieces of eight in poker, she sadly wandered outside and looked at the sea. Floating in the water, she noticed something. It was a bottle! A message in a bottle, to be precise. Excitedly, she reached into the water, and retrieved it. It was hard to get the note out of the bottle, but after much effort, she managed to tweeze it out with her fingers. The ink was odd and smudgy, and the writing on the note was etched in scratchy writing that was difficult to read. Adrielle could just make out the words:

"Thar be amazing treasure upon Kuhio Island. Come grab yer share before it's too late!"

Adrielle was amazed and excited. She grabbed some mates and headed to her ship. Funny - the sloop she always used wasn't there. Adrielle figured that her husband, Therocketman, must have borrowed the ship, and taken it to a different island. Thinking nothing more of it, Adrielle and her crew took another sloop, and set off in search of treasure.

But upon reaching Kuhio, it was clear something odd was going on. There was a weird pre-historic-looking shrine with voodoo dolls and painted stones. There were strange carvings of a magical karkinos and an enchanted octopus. The strangest thing, however, was that everyone who stepped onto the island became cursed, and felt unnaturally compelled to serve the Karkinosian King, and the Occupying Octopus of the island!

Yes, the Tentacle and the Pincer had developed powers of mind control. This enabled them to turn all of the pirates into zombies, who could serve them, both here at their island stronghold, and abroad. They had sent messages in bottles to pirates ocean-wide, luring them to Kuhio to be cursed!

Adrielle's first mate, Ellenya was lucky; she was lagging behind, and did not step onto the soil after she saw everyone else get turned into Karkinosian King-worshippers and Octopus-serving-zombies. She immediately tried to sail back to Lima Island to warn others.

It was a hard journey all on her own, and it took a long time. Ellenya was relieved to finally see Lima Island from the crow's nest. But when she got there, she saw that the curse had spread, and everyone was serving the Karkinosian King and the Occupying Octopus! Ellenya panicked. What could have caused such a thing to happen?!

She sneaked ashore and looked for clues. Wandering along the alleyway behind the inn, Ellenya noticed a strange old book sitting behind a rum barrel. Since Ellenya loved to read, she wandered over and picked it up to get a closer look. It was very old and dusty. Ellenya removed her bandana and tried to wipe off the dirt. She exposed the title, which read:

"Spells and Curses 101; 5th Edition".

Ellenya gasped! She felt certain this book had something to do with the curse and the weird happenings upon the ocean. Flicking through the musty pages, she quickly found the curse that the tall pirate had used. Reading aloud from the book, she uttered:

"If this curse ye want to reverse, click yer fingers once, then thrice. Not twice. Thrice is nice".

Ellenya blinked. She clicked her fingers once, then thrice. A strange green tinge took over the sky, and a cool wind began to blow, knocking the autumn leaves from the trees. All around her, people were suddenly looking confused. They were intrigued as to why they had been constructing shrines to the Karkinosian King, and the Occupying Octopus. Most of them just put it down to too much rum, and headed to the inn to imbibe some more.

Ellenya, however, headed back to the ship and set sail for Kuhio Island to rescue Adrielle and the crew. She hired some swabbies this time, to make the journey easier. When she reached Kuhio Island, she found the crew camped on the beach. Perched on Adrielle's shoulder, looking remorseful and embarrassed, sat Adrielle's mint octopus, Octy Wocty. At her feet sat a guilty looking black and gold karkinos.

They all sailed back to Lima Island, relieved that things were back to normal. Adrielle could hardly believe that her Octy Wocty had been such an evil mastermind. However, she was happy that everything was back to normal.

Over time, the pirates forgot about the curse of the Karkinosian King and the Occupying Octopus. But The Tentacle and The Pincer did not forget. They still sit in wait until the day when some naive pirate invokes the incantation to reinstate their power...

By Adrielle, 2008.

My Saviour

This short story was written by Adrielle as an entry into a Valentine's Day themed contest that was held on the forums in 2008.

I hate Valentine's Day. Every year my crewmembers use it as a pathetic excuse to laze at their duties - while supposedly daydreaming about the object of their 'love'. It is pathetic! Gift merchants make a hefty booty selling lovey-dovey cards, and lads and lasses make themselves sick on chocolates given to them by someone who supposedly cares about them, and therefore should care about the negative health consequences of such an indulgence.

Valentine's Day makes people behave irrationally. The excuse is 'love' but it is only an excuse. How could a mere emotion, such as love, make normally sane, thinking individuals forget themselves in such a way? Are people truly so devoid of all sense because of love's icy grasp?

People, when in 'love', speak nonsense as if it were truth. I cannot understand the purpose of such things. I have no time for so-called sweet nothings whispered in lovers' ears. Communication should make sense, and be worthwhile.

Yes, it is true that Valentine's Day can make even the most professional of lads and lasses behave abominably. Just now I caught my most trusted senior officer and one of my pirates in an allegedly 'romantic' embrace. I informed them in no uncertain terms that it was most disgusting and inappropriate to be kissing on my deck! I told them that they must scrub the filth off every inch of that deck since they had decided to befoul it with the sight of them kissing one another. What did my faithful and supposedly loyal senior officer say to me?

"But Captain, its Valentine's Day!"

I was both shocked and appalled! But what could I hope to expect from one who had so recently indulged in such sickening behaviour? I doubled my requirements to include a thorough cleaning of the mast, and the exterior of the ship, with double the amount of soap. I wanted them to learn that such things as kissing are dirty and disgusting, and should never be done - especially not in a public place! 'Love', as some so-call it, is purely related to our animal ancestry and has no place upon my ship!

After retiring to my cabin for the afternoon, I tried to recover my composure. Nothing incited my fury as did Valentine's Day. It had no purpose! Roses die quickly once cut - but they are given to symbolise love that will last forever? Ridiculous. I tried to push all thoughts of this intolerable subject from my mind as I relaxed on my sofa with a bottle of my finest rum.

After a while I decided to inspect my ship to see if the gross offenders had cleaned it to my impeccable standards. Walking out onto the deck, I must have neglected to keep my balance. The soap was too slippery - I slipped and began to tumble. As I fell I saw that I was about to land on the spear of a spare anchor! I would be impaled for sure!

In that instant, fear shot through my heart as I prepared for the end. But I did not fall - someone caught me. His arms were strong but his grip was tender. I found myself looking into his sweet dark eyes and unable to look away.

Suddenly, there were strange new emotions stirring deep within me. The feelings I now felt were so peculiar to me. I felt I was floating on a cloud, protected by the strong arms of my rescuer. I was in love. Luckily, he seemed to feel the same way, and we launched into a passionate embrace right there on the deck in front of my shocked crew.

Those stories about Cupid's arrow piercing lovers, and sweet-nothings, and all those other love-related things that had seemed so ridiculous to me just moments before suddenly had so much meaning. My heart burned with a passion so bright that I could hardly stand its intensity.

I found it difficult to speak, as though my words had suddenly been ripped from my body by a hot hand from another world. This burly sailor was my saviour. He had stopped my death and revived my senses. Right at that moment all I wanted was to be there, as I was, safe within his strong and protective arms.

That night, my saviour and I enjoyed our dinner by candlelight. It was so romantic! He had even somehow found a flower for me! I have never felt so happy, so safe, or so loved. After all my life of hating love, and not being able to understand what others saw in it, I finally knew. I realised that perhaps Valentines Day, and love and all that I had thought to be mere 'silliness' was not so bad after all.

By Adrielle, 2008.

The Case of the Missing Slippers

This short story was written by Adrielle]] as an entry into The Case of the Missing Slippers!, a contest held on the forums in 2008.

It was a bright shiny afternoon. Hypnos woke from his nap, stretched, and rubbed his eyes. "Time to get ready for work," he thought to himself with a sigh. Climbing out of bed, he put on his white fuzzy robe and reached for the pink bunny slippers he always tucked into their own little box with love. As he reached into the box his eyes flew open with fear. "NO!!" he screamed. The slippers were gone! A frantic search around the room revealed the slippers were nowhere to be found. His body was racked with sobs as he mourned the loss of his pink furry friends. "I must find them!" he cried. Taking a second look around the room Hypnos found some other things were also missing; a chart, lump of coal trinket, and sleeping cap! Hypnos was devastated.

He prepared to investigate; thinking the best place to start would be Xian Rock, since that was where the chart had led. He went to Lima dock, but found his ship gone! Hypnos joined a chat circle, hoping someone had heard something about his missing belongings.

"Ahoy! Has anyone seen some slippers?" Hypnos asked.

"You give poez?", one of the pirates replied.

Another pirate, named Boris, stated, "Boris licks".

Hypnos gazed at them, perplexed. All seemed lost, until he remembered navy boats visited Xian Rock. Clicking the mission board, Hypnos found a ship headed there. Feeling that some bilging might distract him from his plight, Hypnos stationed. Before long, a puffer fish appeared in the bilge.

"Are you Hyno?", it asked.

"No, I'm Hypnos. Have ye seen me slippers?" Hypnos inquired.

The fish looked satisfied, exclaiming, "Hypnos, that's it! Someone left a note for you near the helm".

Hypnos thanked the fish, and went to read the note. It was weighted down by his coal lump, and read:

"Help! I'm captive on Xian Rock. I know ye'll save me. Ahhh! Hermes".

Hypnos was shocked. How had Hermes gotten his coal? Who had taken his things (and Hermes), and why? As the ship ported at Xian Rock, Hypnos disembarked and looked around. He saw plants, rocks, a strange column, and a pig named Porky Brady; no Hermes, ship, chart, or slippers.

Hypnos headed toward the column. As he approached, something caught his eye. There, atop the column sat his sleeping cap! Hypnos was overjoyed, but how would he retrieve it? If only he had his slippers, with their grippy soles - then he could climb up and get his hat. While contemplating this, Hypnos noticed a trap door in the sand.

"Strange..." Hypnos thought, and crept over to open it.

Hypnos peered down and saw Hermes, trapped there by his captor! Hypnos helped Hermes scramble out. Spying something beyond the pillar, Hermes began fearfully quivering.

"That's him!", he gasped.

Hypnos was confused. He couldn't see anyone.

"What do ye mean?", he asked.

Hermes trembled and pointed at the object of his terror.

"P-p-p-o-o-r-r-k-y B-brady!", he stammered.

Porky Brady said "Oink".

Hypnos was shocked. He glared at Porky, shouting, "Avast, ye horrible porcine! WHERE'S ME SLIPPERS?!"

Porky shifted on his trotters guiltily. Hypnos stepped back in horror as he noticed the pig was WEARING them! Porky removed them, picked them up in his mouth, and brought them to the traumatised ocean masters.

"Sorry", Porky said, "I didn't mean it; I've compulsions to steal. That's why I was placed on this island. The pillar and I are here because we don't fit within the puzzle pirates' universe, and are considered 'too evil' to habit other lands".

Sensing the ocean masters' shock, Porky continued.

"I built a raft, floated to Lima Island, and discovered your ship. I felt I must meet the owner of such a vessel. Finding you sleeping, I thought it rude to disturb you, so I had a poke around your home instead. I liked some items, and thought you wouldn't miss them; after all, the cap was hidden in a wardrobe, the slippers in a box, and the chart under your bed".

"And the coal?", Hypnos inquired.

"Er, that was me", Hermes confessed. "I needed a trinket to display. I only borrowed it. I was returning it when I saw Porky stealing from ye. He grabbed me with his hooves of steel".

"Trotters of iron, actually", Porky corrected. "I nabbed your items and kidnapped Hermes so he couldn't go pig-squealing to anyone about what I'd done. I'm sorry... Oh, and your hat got caught in the wind... sorry about that too... pigs can't climb - trotters and all".

Hypnos examined the slippers. They seemed to have survived their ordeal. Popping them on, Hypnos smiled. Tears of joy filled his eyes. He was complete again!

After spending several minutes enjoying his slippers, Hypnos headed to the pillar to retrieve his cap. The slippers' grippy soles let him climb easily to retrieve it. He placed it on his head with a satisfied sigh.

Porky returned Hypnos' ship and chart so the ocean masters could sail to Lima. Once home, Hypnos went for a nap. Climbing into bed, he didn't place his slippers into their box, but tucked them into bed beside himself.

"Arr slippers", he thought, "what would I do without ye?"

By Adrielle, 2008.

Skull Island Entry

This short story was written by Adrielle, and was an entry into the Stranded at Skull Island-Win 100,000 Pieces Of Eight! contest, which was held on the forums in 2007.

Ezmerelda giddily opened one eye. Her concussed thoughts darted back and forth with all the velocity and unpredictability of a loose cannon, and she had little memory of the events that had just occurred. Lying half-conscious, washed up at the water’s edge, Ezmerelda slowly tried to collect herself enough to sit up. Through her blurred vision, she looked around herself, trying desperately to remember where she was, and what had happened to place her there.

Ezmerelda cast her eyes out to sea. Seeing the flaming wreckage of the navy vessel, upon which she had been a passenger, floating not far off shore, the memories of the explosion suddenly came flooding back to her in a torrent of gunpowder and fire. Fred, her long time friend and companion, had shouted, then BANG! The next thing she knew she was waking up here, on the beach, wherever here was.

As Ezmerelda looked around her, struggling to make out objects in the shadows of the dim moonless haze, she could neither see nor hear another living soul. The cool waves lapped gently at her feet, soothing them in the summer heat. There was something eerie about the gentle rustle of the trees and the lapping of the waves as the rest of the island lay silently in the night.

Just then, Ezmerelda spied a figure further down the beach. “ Hey!” She called.

The figure did not turn around. Seizing this last ray of hope of company and aid on the lonely beach, Ezmerelda quickly scrambled to her feet and set off to follow the figure. “Wait! Please!” She shouted desperately after it.

The figure stopped. Ezmerelda sighed with relief and hurried to catch up with him. Ezmerelda could tell by his dress and hat that this person was a man, even though he had his back to her. The man’s gait suggested that he was an old man, chilled to the bone with arthritis. A man such as he had not been on board the navy ship. Ezmerelda’s heart filled with joy at the thought that this must be a colonized island and she would be saved! Ezmerelda gently reached out her hand to tap the man on the shoulder.

No sooner had she touched him than she was jumping back in fright. A gleaming skull with black empty eye sockets and rotting yellow teeth grinned back at her. Ezmerelda was terrified. Without thinking, she ran, not caring where to, just as long as it was away from that macabre thing on the beach. The bony creature did not give chase. It stood, calmly on the sand, surveying the wreckage burning out to sea.

Ezmerelda ran with inhuman speed, sprinting until her lungs felt as if they might burst and her legs had gone numb. If she had been able to, she might have kept running until she fell to the ground exhausted. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however, she suddenly found herself running on ground that was not ground. She was falling! It was a trap lay over a deep hole in the form of a weak slab of bones covered in leaves, and made to look like ground. The Skellies had laid this trap to catch her!

Ezmerelda peered up to the surface of the dark hole in terror. Her intense fear multiplied as she saw what was at the top of the hole. An entire tribe of grinning Skellies wearing leafy head-dresses stared back at her from the world above. Quickly, and with little fuss, the Skellies hoisted her out of the hole and dragged her, almost unconscious from the fright, away with them.

Ezmerelda recovered her senses as the Skellies trudged on. It was no use trying to escape. There were so many of them! But where were they taking her? As they rounded a corner on the beaten jungle track, Ezmerelda began to hear a strange beat. It was not like anything she had ever heard before, and something about the tone of it made her hair stand on end… She was soon to discover the horrid source of the sound. As they neared a clearing full of other Skellies, Ezmerelda could see what the gruesome source of the sound was. There in the jungle stood more than one hundred Skellies, some of them drumming on bony drums!

As she was led closer to this frightening congregation, Ezmerelda spotted a familiar and flesh-covered face! It was her dear friend, Fred, the naval officer who had been on their ship. He was also a prisoner of these creepy captors! The Skellies quickly bound her hands and feet with rope made from human hair and placed her and Fred into a large black cooking pot.

Ezmerelda was petrified! But Fred was calm. Fred knew something. In a soft whisper, he began to share his knowledge with his friend. It was not long before Fred had filled Ezmerelda in on what was really going on here on the strange land mass known as Skull Island.

The island had its own legend! A tale of a curse that had been laid out long ago, when a group of nasty cut-throat pirates were cursed by the last tribesman to die on the island at their hand. The pirates had ruthlessly killed the tribe so that they could hide their ill-gotten treasure here on the island, where no living person would ever be able to say exactly where it was.

As the story went, that last brave man of the tribe had been protecting a great magic sacred purple stone from the tribe’s caves of worship. The curse, which meant that the pirates would have to inhabit the island forever, even after death, had been going for two hundred years. In order to keep themselves from turning to dust, the Skellies were required to partake in human flesh at least every hundred years!

An eerie realization suddenly hit Ezmerelda; it had been the Skellies who had caused the explosion! They wanted fresh meat! Replacing the stone was said to be the one thing that would end the curse and kill the evil piratical Skellies. Fred told Ezmerelda of a map he had stolen from these bony fiends, and now held in his pocket. But as he told her all of this, the Skelly tribe was getting ready to cook and serve and eat!

The Skellies drummed louder on their bony drums as they became more prepared for their feast of human flesh. Luckily, however, Fred had managed to free himself of the rope binds! He quickly freed Ezmerelda as well and the two managed to sneak off while the Skellies were busy making salads and accompaniments for their dinner.

The gallant pair sneaked into the jungle in search of the stone that would end their woes and make the Skellies grow old and crumble to dust. Ezmerelda was worried. It was dark now, but how would they hide once daylight reached these shores? Fred remarked that they would be safe hiding in the shadows as daylight never comes to Skull Island; the Skellies bring eternal darkness. Ezmerelda hoped that this was the case and that they were in fact safe. Back at the feast, the Skellies had noticed that something was amiss with the dinner preparations! The drums stopped and a frantic Skelly panic broke out. As the Skellies hunted their lost meat, Fred and Ezmerelda wandered the island using the map that Fred had stolen from the tribe to navigate their way to the sacred caves. It was not long before they had found the entrance. Quickly, Fred lit a branch on fire to light their way, and the two of them entered the caves. Unbeknownst to our heroes, the Skellies could see the light, and evilly followed, grinning their creepy Skelly grins.

Through the labyrinth of caves, Ezmerelda and Fred soon managed to find the place where the stone was required, but what about the stone itself? More looking was needed, and look they did. They looked and looked and looked. It wasn’t long before they had stumbled upon the cursed pirates’ treasure cave! It was amazing; gold, jewels, and on top of a pile of rubies, there lay the sacred stone! It shone with a light all of its own, a lovely purple stone glimmering atop a mound of blood red shine. Ezmerelda ran to retrieve it.

Just as she picked up the sacred stone (which was surprisingly heavy) and held it in her hot little hands, Ezmerelda heard Fred gasp. Turning cautiously, she immediately saw that they were completely surrounded by angry and hungry Skellies! Hardly thinking, brave Ezmerelda ran like the wind past the Skellies before they could get their hungry bony hands on her meaty self, and ended up placing the stone in the critical location at the very last crucial moment! Replacing the stone to its sacred position instantly made the evil pirate Skellies die and turn to dust.

Fred and Ezmerelda were safe! They quickly filled their pockets with gold and jewels (I never said they were saints…) and hurried outside to where the brilliant sunshine greeted them. Now that the Skellie tribe was dust, daylight had returned to Skull Island! The trees and flowers awoke and pretty little butterflies flew back and forth among the daisies. But how were Fred and Ezmerelda ever to get home again? Their ship had been destroyed in the explosion, and they didn’t even know where this Skull Island was located! Ezmerelda rapidly broke into a panic. Fred comforted his friend, telling her that everything would be alright, as long as they had each other. Just then, Fred spotted something off in the distance… a merchant ship! Frantically, the pair tried to get the attention of the fast moving vessel. The crew had spotted them! They were saved! The crew of the merchant ship did not believe their story, but did give them a lift back to civilization, where they lived happily ever after.

By Adrielle, 2007.