Jordan drew a treasure map with crayons while wearing a black plastic eye patch. He drew it on the backside of a local health food store flyer that came with the junk mail. He included a vague outline of the street he lives on, his house, his friend Micah's house, his school, and the playground.
The tip broke off as soon as he placed the crayon onto the paper. After "X"-ing the spot with a firehouse red crayon, he blew off of the waxy shavings his cheap crayons left behind. He placed the broken crayon back into its spot amongst all the other waxy stubs.
He snapped off the eye patch, folded up his mat and crammed it into his jeans, and ran out the door. He ran all the way to Micah's house but Micah was at his grandmother's, according to his dad when the door was answered.
So Jordan kept running until he arrived at the school's playground.
It was crowded, as usual, but Jordan knew his treasure was safe.
You see, according to his treasure map, the treasure is buried in a corner of the pirate ship.
This particular playground was built decades ago. There are plans to demolish it and build a new one, a la the American way. The playground has been deemed unsafe and falls short of current standards. The monkey bars are too high. The metal slides get too hot during the summer months. The rock surfacing should be replaced with wood chips. And the pirate ship is too scary. At least, according to the PTA meeting Jordan's parents attended last month.
The pirate ship is made of mostly wood, contains a stirring wheel, a ladder to get up on the "deck", a small climbing net, and a secret basement.
Most kids won't go in the basement of the pirate ship. As rumor would have it, some kid peed in there. Some kids can swear they smell a faint, but very distinct scent of urine. Despite the warning, Jordan and Micah play in there anyway.
Today, however, some big kid was already there. "Oh," Jordan said out loud, caught off guard.
The big kid turned around. He was missing a front tooth, had long hair under a red bandanna, and a gold earring in his ear.
"Where is it?"
Jordan looked around, confused.
"Where is it," the big kid asked again.
"Where is what?"
"You're not fooling no one. I know you know where it is," the pirate took him by the collar of his shirt. With his other hand, the pirate reached into Jordan's jean pocket and retrieved the treasure map.
The pirate examined it. He ran to the corner marked on the map, scooping fistfuls of sand with his hairy hands.
Jordan peed his pants, thus, making rumor become fact.
Name: Jordan Mozzer
Location: Plymouth
Think: Pirates are real.
Thing: Pirate digging for buried treasure in a school's playground.
Status: Pirate was booked on suspicious activity and a copious amount of gold jewelry and coins.
Comments: Pirates are hazardous. I haven't seen this many pirates since Peter Pan.