\u2018I\u2019m a pirate,\u2019 he told her on their first date, touching his earring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018The terror of the high seas.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018How do I know that\u2019s true?\u2019 she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You don\u2019t,\u2019 he said, and flashed her a smile. \u2018That\u2019s the trouble with pirates.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, he came alongside to board her, and although she welcomed him with open arms, offering no resistance, still she went down with all hands, coming to rest on the soft bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She lay still and stared at the light filtering down from above, and, in time, made a home for coral, and kelp and starfish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He couldn\u2019t stay, he said. Work to do on the Spanish Main. But before he went, with a stroke of the cutlass, he left behind his pirate\u2019s mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And buried a treasure deep in the warm sand of her body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nights were storm-tossed, mornings came in waves that left her ravaged and sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the hospital, the sonographer mapped out the raised island of her belly and pointed at the screen with his pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018X marks the spot,\u2019 he said with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He captured an image in black and white: not much more than a skull and some bones: a spine curled like a seahorse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Do you want to know?\u2019 he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I already do,\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She only took one copy and, at home, stuck it high on the door of the fridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She looks at it every time she goes to get milk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the single, sunken eye, black like a patch. And the little fists clasping pearls in a watery grave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I\u2019m a pirate,\u2019 he told her on their first date, touching his earring. \u2018The terror of the high seas.\u2019 \u2018How do I know that\u2019s true?\u2019 she asked. \u2018You don\u2019t,\u2019 he said, and flashed her a smile. \u2018That\u2019s the trouble with pirates.\u2019 That night, he came alongside to board her, and although she welcomed him with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"\n