Calypso

• William Clarke, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

Pluto Van Der Ploer was son of a Dutch buccaneer. He was twelve years old and was rapidly moving towards his thirteenth birthday. His dad had decided to buy him a small yacht and let him sail around the Caribbean with him. Right now he was on vacation in Italy with his cousin, Stefan.
Pluto was enjoying his time in Portofino. As he walked down the beach, he saw the beautiful sea and decided to take a swim. As he got into the water, he saw his cousin walking towards him. “Ciao Stefan,” said Pluto with a grin. “You are getting better at Italian my friend,” replied Stefan triumphantly. Thanks,” he said cheekily. As they walked they didn’t notice a man with violently purple eyes, twirling a silver dagger in his hands, watching them.
A week later Pluto sat on his father’s yacht at his 13th birthday party, when he saw his yacht. “Wow Dad, is that mine,” asked Pluto with amazement. “Yes son,” he replied with a grin. Soon Pluto had named his yacht, the Calypso and had taken a test sail. The next step was to go into town and hire some local sailors to be the ship’s crew. He hired three men named Ricardo, Charlie and Delfino. They were kind, but tough men and that’s why they were hired. They were taken on a tour of the Calypso and were happy to become its faithful crew.
A couple of weeks later Pluto was sunbathing on the Calypso in the Spanish Main. It was the first time his dad had let him out of his sight. Suddenly he saw another ship circling them. He looked at the flag and immediately saw that it was a pirate ship. He quickly made sure that his crew was armed and then wheeled his two cannons onto the deck. They quickly loaded one and fired it at the enemy ship, watching the cannonball sail right into the pirate ship’s sail. The pirate ship quickly caught fire and Pluto ordered his men to sail in close so they could fire another volley. He loaded one more cannonball in each and fired.
The pirate ship started sinking and when Pluto thought he had won, he hadn’t checked for rowboats trying to board his ship. He turned around carefully and saw the man with purple eyes striding towards him. He quickly asked for his bow and as Charlie handed it to him, the pirates charged, cutlasses straight, ready to stab through anyone who stood in their way. So Pluto sprang into action, firing arrows and taking out pirate after pirate. Soon only the man was left, and he charged. Pluto reached for an arrow, and suddenly realised he had run out of arrows. As soon as the man reached him, he lashed out with his cutlass, impaling him through the heart. Quickly Pluto tipped him overboard.
Two weeks later, though Pluto was enjoying his time on the beach, he would never forget that voyage.