Flashfiction World Story : My Dad against the pirates of Somalia

I love to wear pirate’s attire in every costume party I had attended. I wore loose pants and shirt, leather vest and scarp on my head. I also wore an eye-patch and brought with me a flag of cross bone and skull.

“Yo Ho Ho. Hello Matey.” I said to them at the party.

But when Dad told me that pirates attacked their ship in the middle of the sea, I started to hate them.

They were bad guys, Dad told me on the phone one day. He said, their ship was attacked by the pirates, and he fought them alone before his shipmates arrived.

In my nursery school, I’m wondering how Dad had fought the pirates. He never told me how he did it. He only told me to wait for his return and he will tell the complete story.

I’m glad that Dad was safe and the pirates backed out from the attack.

As I eagerly waited for Dad’s return, I was already imagining how Dad fought those pirates. I imagined that Dad was an expert swordsman. He drove the pirates away as they tried to climb the ship. Maybe Dad   has a magic sword that defended him from their attack.

Anyway whatever it is, Dad was safe.

Then I realized that it’s the prayer of Mom that protected Dad from harm. Mom always prayed for Dad’s safe voyage whenever he sailed.

“Mom, how can Dad drive away the pirates?” I asked.

“Dad is brave, Gino. Let’s wait for him for he will be the one to speak about it.”

I missed Dad lately. I could not wait any longer to see him. Dad will be coming home soon and I’m very excited to hear his story.

“Dad, pirates are coming!”  I shouted as I saw the pirates climbing the rope of Dad’s ship, a wooden sailing ship called galleon. They immediately surrounded Dad with their swords pointed toward him. Then, Dad drew his sword and fought them. Dad was superb in the sword fight  The pirates lost their swords from Dad’s attack so they jumped off the ship.

Then we climbed the rope ladder up to the top of the mast. Dad gave me the telescope so that I could see the pirates rowing away in their small boat.

Of course that was just a dream. But I am happy because even in a dream, Dad was brave.

Dad came home at last. Mom and I meet Dad at the office of their agency. When we saw Dad arrived, we hugged him so tight. After I had kissed him I touched his face, looking for scars on it caused by the pirates.

Dad smiled. He patted my shoulders.

“Gino, pirates don’t carry swords anymore,” explained Dad.

I wondered what weapon they carry, but Dad did not answer for he was busy shaking hands with the employees. Some of them even hugged Dad tightly. Then Dad brought us inside the hall. Mom said that Dad’s agency has prepared a welcome party for him and his shipmates. We seated there and the speaker introduced Dad. Then he called Dad to come to the stage to tell about his encounter with the pirates.

I was so excited to hear Dad telling us how he fought the pirates.

“Time is running out,” started Dad. “The pirates were now on the rope halfway of the ship. If I will run to get help, they have already entered the ship before we returned. So I decided to fight them alone.  I picked up the water nozzle and directed it toward the pirates. I blasted them with water. Instantly, they fell on the sea. When pirates fired at me I take cover. When they started climbing again, I blasted them again until my shipmates arrived.  All of them picked up the water nozzles and we bombarded the pirates with powerful water jets. We even bombarded their speedboat. Fearing that their boat will sink, they retreated,” finished Dad.

The listeners stood up and clapped their hands for a long time. Then somebody awarded Dad a plaque as a symbol of his courage in facing the pirates.

When Dad came to our seat, he wiped the tears on Mom’s face. She didn't know that she was already crying. Then Dad smiled at me, touched my head and combed my hair with his fingers.

“You are great, Dad,” I said as I hugged him again.

Now I knew how Dad fought those pirates.