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Challenge: Jack the Monkey II
September 21, 2005

By Nancy
September 21, 2005

~ Hope Is Restored~

Small piping noises of uncertainty echoed in the cavern. His master laid still and cold, felled by that single shot. To the side lay an apple, reminding him
that the gnawing sensation inside was hunger. Motionless he sat by the outstretched arm, curious as to why there was no caress. Barbossa had never been cruel to him, often stealing moments to give a gentle caress followed by a smile. Recalling how the shine of the medallion meant reward he grasped one. With a now skeletal paw he did as he had been bid for many years ‘Bring Me That Medallion!”

By Penny
September 22, 2005

~ Jack the Monkey ~

A vicious, merry laugh was heard through the murky darkness. A candle shone in the corner of an empty bar, illuminating a face destroyed by a hideous scar, running down his eye. His weathered skin, defined by the flickering of light, reflected into a glass of bloody rum. His lips curved into a sinister grin as he barked in a crisp and icy voice,

"Yes, We'll call him Jack! As a reminder of our loyal, gullible, deceased 'Captain'."

Laughter echoed through the streets in the intense, depressing, masked face of Tortuga.

Miles away, a drunken pirate staggered onto a rum catchers boat.

By Honorat Selonnet
September 22, 2005

~ Turn About ~

When he'd first hung down from the companionway under which she was hiding, dangling that cursed medallion, shrieking in demented fury,
his tiny, sharp fangs bared in threat, she'd screamed. In panic, she'd fled from that decaying horror, the grating creak of thin bones, the stench of rotting fragments of flesh. Death stalked her in miniature. Despair haunted her in rabid eyes.

But this time his shriek no longer moves her. What can this primal skeleton clinging to the rigging tell her about despair that she has not already absorbed into her soul? She has already stared into the face of death in the shadows beyond a fire. She has already laid her life down on the decks of the Dauntless.

Her widened eyes narrow. This time it will be the monkey's turn to panic.

By Geek Mama
September 24, 2005

~ Investigation ~

By DebH
September 26, 2005

~ Beginnings ~

Scooping up coins that had spilled from the chest they were lugging back to the ship, Pintel and Ragetti were relieved to hear Barbossa's anger directed elsewhere.

"Stop that monkey!"

Several pirates chased after the small beast, but succeeded only in capturing bits of the surrounding jungle or each other. A pistol shot rang out, halting the frenzied activity. Then came the distinctive noise of gold hitting stone, followed by a less pleasant thump. The pirates watched, slack-jawed, not quite believing the first mate could have shot the defenseless creature. Yet there he stood, smoking weapon in hand, satisfied grin on his face.

The tableau was broken by a hissing screech as a smaller monkey raced out of the undergrowth, snatched up the coin and leapt to Barbossa's arm, where he clung while offering the treasure to the arm's owner.

*~*~*~*

"What's that long legged rat doing on my ship? Get rid of it!"

"Aww, Captain, ya can't make 'im do that."

"And just why not, Ragetti, seeing as it's my ship we're talking about?" Sparrow's voice had gone low and dangerous, but Ragetti didn't notice.

"After Barbossa shot the bigger monkey, this little 'un latched onto 'im. He thinks Hector's 'is mum!"

Looking across the deck at the tiny animal embracing his first mate's neck, Jack first grinned and then let laughter claim him.

The Pearl's newest resident feels and somehow understands his protector's anger at that sound. And he decides he does not like the shiny-mouthed man.

>^..^<

By Lorraine
September 26, 2005

~ Evilution ~

Hector watched as Jack the Monkey turned as grisly as the rest of them in the moonlight, his intelligent and mischievous face suddenly leering and hideous as he turned the coin over and over in his clever little hands.

"Fascinating," he said to himself and patted Jack absently on the head.

The ship's cat was still roaming the decks, her fur all standing out, the medallion tied round her neck winking when she tried to shake it off. She yowled like a demon whenever she got too close to one of them and hid in the galley until daylight.

Bosun's parrot had been attracted to the shiny hoard and had grabbed a coin in his sharp beak almost as soon as the lid was off the chest, but he fled the ship at first light, flying straight for Jamaica as fast as his wings would take him.

Only Jack stayed with them. Loyal. But still, he wondered why Jack and not the other animals.

By Felaine
September 27, 2005

~ Pathetic Monkey Limerick ~
(yes, it is the limerick that's pathetic, not the monkey)

There once was a monkey named Jack
Who took a gold coin from a stack.
A pet of Barbossa's,
He did what he's told ta',
Now he's undead, alas and alack.

By Jenthegypsy
October 5, 2005

~ The Ultimate Insult ~

Apparently it wasn’t enough to be plagued by that wretched scrap of a Ship’s Cat, always hunkered down somewhere, waiting to take a swipe at Parrot’s marvelous plumage. Now the gods had seen fit to burden Himself with an even greater adversary, a very short, very hairy little beast wearing silk breeches and boasting a particularly nasty attitude. Worse still was that Parrot had yet to find a perch that could not be accessed by the loathsome creature.

The ultimate insult came when IT was spotted rifling through Parrot’s most secretive cache, near the top of the mainmast. A raucous squawk and much frantic flapping did little to deter the scoundrel, who merely clutched a sparkling bit of shine to its chest and grinned.

~.~

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