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I'm lying on the deck of the Pearl and something's wrong.
Something's very wrong. Can't quite put my finger on it, but can't quite
open my eyes, yet, so that's fine, for the moment.
Oh. That's it. Her deck is cold. WHY?
Then I notice the cant to her. Has she...broken? I stir a little, try to
open my eyes.
"Easy, Jack. Easy," says Josh's voice, and though his tone is calm, he's not
easy himself, I can hear.
All around me are familiar
faces
Worn out places
Worn out faces
"Gargrrr..." I try to speak, but I only make a brief, faint rasping sound.
And I cough, and shards of molten lead are somehow piercing my innards and
riprendtearslicing me apart and...
Oh. The engagement with the Encounter. I've taken a wound,
apparently. I can see the masts still intact, and there's not much smoke in
the air. We've triumphed, then. Why have they still got me abovedecks?
"P'rl?" I manage to croak out.
"She's dead in the water, Jack. Hulled in four places below the waterline,
keel shattered and rudder gone. She's aground at the moment; we made it to
the shoals."
Bright and early for the
daily races
Going no where
Going no where
The crew. They're standing all around me, far above me, and, they're each
holding a bottle of grog or rum or whiskey. Gibbs is closer, face almost in
my own, and holding that omnipresent flask of his.
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression
No expression
"Cr~..." and another damned shattering cough takes me.
"Crew fared well, and we've taken the Encounter for our new ship. Get
a pretty ransom for her officers, likely. Lost Mackintyre and Swain, and
Boyle will likely lose a leg, but still and all..." Josh's voice catches and
I see tears in his eyes.
I ask my old friend the one question remaining me. "M'dyin'?"
"Aye, Jack, that' ye are." The tears course openly down his cheek now,
soaking those smudgy whiskers of his.
Hide my head I wanna drown my
sorrow
No tomorrow
No tomorrow
I give the last order I'm to give to this crew, then. "Drink!"
"To Captain Jack Sparrow! The Best Pirate in the World!" Gibbs thunders, and
I watch the dawnlight glinting on the many upended glass vessels. He wets my
lips with the contents of his own flask, and I taste my last rum. It's good
rum.
"F..." is the last sound I manage to make, as the world begins to go dark
around me.
"Aye, Jack. Fire. I've not forgotten. We'll fire you and your Lady here
together, as is fitting for ye both. Never fear."
And I find I kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
*******
I'm with them, standing on the deck of the Encounter, beside Gibbs,
behind Anamaria, Marty leaning on the rail to my left.
Anamaria speaks. "I always thought he'd be immortal."
"He is," Gibbs retorts. "He's bein' reborn, this very moment, as some babe
somewheres, with a far-off look in 'is eye, and a hanker fer the smell
o'th'Sea."
Children waiting for the day
they feel good
Happy birthday
Happy birthday
"Now just wait a moment," I say. "I'm not one to purchase unseen, a
cargo of those Eastern religious gewgaws..." No one responds in the least.
"I can't watch this," Marty says, and turns away from the scene of the
burning ship in the water before us, the bright Carib sunlight obscured by
the blacktar smoke. He walks through me.
The flames are high. I feel nothing.
*******
I'm lying on a deck with a warmth like that of the Pearl, bathed in a
warm sea all around me. The rocking, swaying, rocking is soothing to my
heart. I'm not sure why I'm so sad, and why I'm so very glad at the same
time.
The sea's wash is a the rhythm of my days and nights and days and nights and
days...
Until I'm ready to begin it all again.
And I feel the way that every
child should
Sit and listen
Sit and listen
And I find I kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I’m dying are the best I’ve ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles its a very very
Mad world
Mad world
***********************************
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