The Pirate Who Was Afraid of Boats

Captain Booms had everything a pirate needed.

He had a hat with a curling feather. He had a coat with seven brass buttons. He had a hook (only one, for show — his other hand was a perfectly good hand). He had a parrot, Geraldine, who liked to interrupt him.

The only thing Captain Booms did not have was sea legs.

Boats made him feel green. Boats made his stomach do somersaults. Boats made him want to lie down and ask the boat, very politely, to please stop moving.

This was a serious problem for a pirate.

His crew did not know. His crew thought Captain Booms was the bravest pirate on the seven seas. Captain Booms wore his hat very low and held the rail very tight, and the crew thought he was just a little quiet today.

One morning a storm came. The waves rose up like grey hills. The boat rocked, and rocked, and ROCKED.

"Captain!" cried First Mate Pim. "What do we do?"

Captain Booms felt very green indeed. But he also looked at his crew, who were small and scared, and he thought: They need a captain.

So he stood up. He held the wheel. He pretended his stomach was a quiet, behaving stomach, and not the somersaulting one it actually was.

"We turn into the wave!" he shouted. "Pim, the rope! Edda, the sails! Geraldine — GERALDINE, that is not helpful — alright, Geraldine, the morale!"

The boat turned. The wave passed under them, terrible and huge, and then — gone.

The stormwent away. The sea got calmer. Captain Booms was still green, but his crew was safe.

That night, by the lantern, First Mate Pim said: "Captain, you were so brave."

Captain Booms thought about it.

"I wasn't brave," he said. "I was scared, and I did the thing anyway."

"That's what brave means," said Pim.

Captain Booms thought about that for a long time.

"Geraldine," he said. "Did you hear that?"

"GERALDINE THE MORALE!" said Geraldine, who was not always the best listener, but was always there.

Captain Booms slept well that night, even though the boat was still rocking. Just a little.