Listen and I'll tell you some of the story of my life

Every since I can remember I've loved the sea. Some of my first friends were mermaids. We'd swim for hours, till my mother demanded I come in for supper.

Papa was away on the sea alot, but when he came home he'd bring jewels and silk and other beautiful things, and Mum and I would dress up and we'd all go to town, and meet the crew and whichever girl or boy they happened to be with that night, even some of the married ones.

So anyway one day Mum and Papa spent all night talking after he returned from a long trip. They'd sent me out dancing and carousing.  Well when I got home, Papa was sitting at the table, sober as a judge, waiting. When I flounced in he called me over to join him. *smiles wistfully*  He was so handsome, you know.

I kissed him and sat down and he talked to me about the sea and life on it.  Then he asked me if I wanted to join him on the next voyage. That was when I noticed Mum in the doorway to their bedroom.  I smiled at her and she came over and sat next to Papa.  She looked a bit sad, but tried to hide it. Papa said it would be tough, but he thought I could handle it. His words were hot maple syrup warming my soul.  Of course I said yes!

Audience: What became of your mother

We were leaving in two weeks. He said I needed to learn a few things and that Maddy his topsail rigger would come over and show me the ropes.

Mum? She kept the home fires burning, always giving Papa a reason to return. Maddy was my favourite member of the crew, she was sassy, very beautiful, and could twist the boys around her finger.

We became inseparable. She taught me to fly up the rigging in those days before we left, how to handle a rapier enough that I wouldn't spit myself.

Audience: So that's where you get your charm.

And where to conceal a dagger should I ever need one. *winks*

I sailed with Papa for seven years and we prospered until that fateful day. *a sad look passes across her face*

Audience: You dont have to go any further if you don't want to.

*shakes her head* The fog had been heavy and when it cleared we discovered we'd sailed into the middle of an Admiralty fleet! It was awful, I'd been aloft at the time.  Before I could do anything the sound of cannon fire filled the air, I felt the shock through the mast as it was struck once, twice, three times and began to topple. But the cannon never stopped.

I fell and as I hit the water a spar knocked me unconscious, but on my fall, I saw Maddy ripped apart as she tried to protect Papa. I guess she always loved him.

I vaguely remember being fished out of the water, a girl of eighteen. I slipped in and out of consciousness for days.

I remember agony, but not the faces who inflicted it. They told me my Papa was dead and all who sailed with him except me and I wept.

Audience: That's so sad

*wipes a tear from her left eye* Then they dumped me on an island, alone with a chest of food, meally and weevil ridden. The bastards! I swore they would pay for what they did to my mother and Papa.

I dragged the chest up to a cave out of the weather and salvaged what edible food I could and built a small fire. That was when I discovered the scars that mark me to this day.

I plotted revenge that night, and moved to the back of the cave to sleep. That's when things got strange, because I woke up in this realm separated from any chance of revenge.