MrShineyhead's Travels:
Deaf Dog in the Park | State Fair | MrWildWildWest | Gone Fishin' | The Pirate | Me Here!

Tales in The Dark:
The Mountain Lion | Ice Lake | Civil War | Lorelei | The Goblins

With a special ASL translation of:
The Star-Spangled Banner

The Pirate

This story is going to be performed entirely in “Sign Mime” which is a gestural way to tell a story through the use of classifiers and handshapes but with very few exceptions, no formal signs. So – here goes!

Once upon a time on the rolling open sea there was a huge ship. The ship had enormous masts which sported massive sails that were very large at the bottom of each mast, and grew progressively smaller as they reached the top of the mast.  At the top of the mast was a flag waving in the wind on which was printed a skull and crossbones. It was a pirate ship!

Captaining the ship was a tall pirate with a thick beard and long curly mustache. He had an earring in his right ear and wore a ruffled shirt with ruffled cuffs. He gripped the ship’s wheel and steered the ship through the water. On his right arm, he had a sharp hook where his hand should’ve been, and from the sash at his waist he brandished a huge sword he could use to fight off enemies. The pirate also sported a wooden leg and an eye patch as well.

Using his hook and his other hand he piloted the ship through the ocean waters. On his shoulder was perched a huge parrot with a curved big and large, flapping wings. Periodically, the parrot would squawk and flap its wings.

As he sailed through the waves, he took out a spyglass and looked out into the distance. He noticed that the sun began to fade and was hidden by clouds that eventually gave way to lightning.  The storm resulted in very choppy waters which caused the ship to pitch back and forth through the roiling surf. 

The pirate struggled for control of his ship as a lightning bolt tore through his mast causing it to come crashing to the deck, narrowly missing the pirate. The second mast was also hit by lightning and crashed to the deck. The parrot squawked and screamed and took off with his amazing wings flapping through the storm. The pirate called out to his parrot to come back, but the bird was gone.

The pirate tried to go across the deck of the ship but he was pitched off and into the icy seas.  He hit the water with a thud and struggled to swim to the surface of the water.  He watched as his ship upended and sunk into the deep ocean before his eyes.

The pirate grabbed onto a piece of floating debris and pulled himself up onto it, floating in the sea. He watched as the clouds cleared and the sun began to shine once again.

He looked across the expansive ocean with dismay – the ocean was as smooth as glass with nothing in sight as far as the eye could see. The pirate despondently paddled his makeshift raft with his peg leg. Suddenly, he felt something bumping the bottom of the raft and he tumbled into the water, thrashing and swimming for his life!

Quickly, he used his hook to get a hook-hold of the raft where he floated with his legs dangling in the water.  Just then, in the distance he looked out to see a shark heading toward him at a rapid pace! The shark had multiple rows of sharp angry teeth, and upon seeing the pirate’s dangling legs, put on his bib for a scrumptious dinner!

The pirate managed to get himself onto the raft and pulled out a knife with which he sharpened his hook. He then curled up into the middle of the raft as much as he could. The shark dove beneath the surface and gathered up steam, and then he shot upward breaking through the surface with his mouth open wide showing his rows of horrible sharp teeth.

The pirate kicked out with his peg leg nailing the shark in the snout. Again, he kicked the shark in the face with his leg, and the shark disappeared under the water and swam away. The pirate floated on his makeshift raft and soon night fell.

As the sun rose the next morning, the pirate awoke to a wonderful sight! There was an island in the distance. He could see the small bit of land with some palm trees nearby. The pirate jumped off the raft and began to swim towards the tiny island. He rode the waves into the shore and finally stood triumphantly on the island.

Exhausted, he laid down to rest underneath a palm tree, from which hung several coconuts. As the pirate snored, the vibrations from his snoring caused a coconut to fall and strike him on the head. The pirate’s head rang from the impact of the coconut.

Meanwhile, the pirate’s parrot flew by and noticed the desert island with the sleeping pirate down below. The parrot landed on the pirate’s shoulder and used his beak to peck at the pirate’s face in an attempt to wake him up.

The pirate's parrot grabbed a hold of the pirate’s eye patch and snapped it against the pirate’s face which awakened the pirate, and he yelped in surprise and then laughed, happy to have his parrot returned to him at last. The parrot then bit the pirate on the nose, and the pirate was so happy to have the parrot with him, he didn’t even care.

Translation done by: Tammera J. Richards, BS, CI & CT; SC:L; NAD IV