Creative post: An excerpt from one of Huck's pirate stories

"Drop the anchor and raise the flag," Captain ordered. "This is where we make our stand."

As the pirate ship drew closer and closer, we prepared to engage in battle to take back the property of the kingdom. The pirates looted and raided our cities, and we had come to take back what was ours.

Despite the superiority of our ship and our manpower, I could not help but have an ominous feeling about heading into naval battle with pirates. After all, we could not expect them to play by the rules. As the ship grew closer, our ship became quieter. Men ceased their mumblings, and went to their assigned stations. Half the men manned cannons, while the others of us took to our guns, looking to take out individual pirates, rather than the entire ship.

"Blow 'er til she sinks," Captain yelled as the ship came into range.

"But sir," second in command Rowley responded, "we came all this way to reclaim our treasures. How shall we do that if the ship, along with all of the gold and prized items, lay at the bottom of the ocean?"

The Captain turned to us all with a grim look on his face. "I would rather see our beloved treasure at the bottom of the ocean than in the hands of pirates. Now fire!"

Every man on the boat turned back to his stations. Cannons blasted and the heat of their fire could be felt throughout the entire ship. Return fire rocked our ship hard and men were thrown across the ship and overboard into the crashing, ice-cold winter waves. I stood steady at my post, aiming and firing with every new pirate that came into sight. Often I met my mark. The look of shock and sorrow in the eyes of the men I hit as they went down made me feel pity for them, and I sent up a prayer for their weary souls.

Cannon fire continued at a steady pace from each side for what seemed like hours. Both sides were struggling to put out fires on their ships, patch up leaks, and keep their ship afloat. What we did have on our side was superior artillery, and much more of it than the pirates had to defend their ship. We could continue at this rate of fire for many more hours, while I suspected that the pirates were coming to the end of their cannon supplies.

Just as I was growing weary from the mundane continuity of the battle, the pirates ship was hit with a cannon that set fire to the ship. The deck lit up in bright oranges and yellows and the flames licked their way up the post in the middle of the ship and burnt the pirates flag to ashes. There were cries from both sides; those of victory and those of shock and anguish. While my shipmates rejoiced, I stood and watched the pirate ship sink into the frozen waters, marveling at the life that was there one minute and gone the next, before I turned to the festivities.

THE END