Page 23 of Rekindling Little River
“So be it,” came their foe’s ominous reply, before chaos broke out and the islanders rushed the band of pirates.
Dave
He suddenly wished that he’d let River convince him to add a weapon of some sort to his costume. Had he known he’d be fighting off an invasion, he would have. At least he wasn’t the only one wielding an imaginary weapon and getting pummeledby inflatable blades. Still, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d enjoyed himself so much.
Dave slashed his sword through the air imagining it arcing into the enemy’s shoulder, River was at his back fighting off their own assailant and giggling wildly. Dave was momentarily distracted by the joyous sound and his opponent took full advantage, sinking their weapon into his chest. He grabbed the area where the fake blade had poked and made a dramatic scene, clutching his chest, groaning loudly and stumbling to his knees.
River turned, finding him in the midst of his dramatic scene and cried out, “Noooo!” Rushing to his side, they took him by the shoulders and looked directly into his eyes saying, “It’s but a flesh wound. Ye hear me, Shmee? Get up, and…” they didn’t get to finish their sentence as an enemy approached ready to take their shot while River was otherwise occupied.
“Cap’n,” Dave croaked, “behind…” but River wasn’t going to turn in time so he ripped their foam sword from their hand and plunged it into the islander rushing them. As the enemy fell back, River helped Dave to his feet and they looked around them, watching as the masked islanders backed away into the trees, and the pirates were left victorious to continue on their way.
Dave continued to hobble as if wounded while River held him by the waist and led them after their fearless leader. Before long they’d made it to a tree that looked awfully familiar. If he wasn’t mistaken, this was the very tree River had popped their head around yesterday before they’d jumped out, touched him, declared he was “it,” and then taken off like a shot.
Looking down, he saw a big flat rock with a giant X drawn on it and a small corner of something white, wrapped in plastic, poked out from the bottom of the rock.
“This be it, crew! There be the X!” Captain Sadie pointed to the rock and the band of buccaneers cheered. “Let’s unbury us a treasure!”
River released him and stepped forward. “I have me shovel right here, Cap’n!”
The captain smiled and winked at River as they ordered, “Get to diggin’ then.”
Understanding came to Dave as they began to dig, confirming his Little had been up to something more involved than simply hiding from him and his grin grew even wider. Within moments River had unearthed the “Treasure” handing the papers in a large Ziplock bag to the headmaster triumphantly.
“Good show, pirates,” Nathan Jenkins replied. “Now, let’s get home. There be tests in this here baggy.”
The riotous cheers of the pirates quickly turned to groans, which had Dave suppressing chuckles, and the return trip was much more subdued.
CHAPTER 22
River
“Polly want a cracker?” River giggled as they lifted a crunchy, thin breadstick up to their parrot's mouth, making munching noises as if the parrot were indeed chowing down on the bread. They’d specifically asked Daddy to bring them here for lunch in the hopes that they would get to see their friend Tay. To their surprise, the entire restaurant had joined in on the Pirate Day theme. The servers were all dressed in some type of buccaneer costume. The tables held more than just their customary centerpieces. Placed next to the candles was one of two things: a pirate ship or a treasure chest. There was even a special menu item for that day only, one which catered to the “pirate” theme. Of course, River had felt obliged to order the pirate dish.
Their server was the same person who had helped them the very first time River had come here, and they felt certain that it wouldn’t be long before Tay came from the back to see how things had gone that morning. They couldn’t wait to tell Tay all about it.
Daddy had recovered from his “life-threatening injuries” pretty quickly, and the smile on his face was bigger than River had ever seen. River was pretty certain that Daddy had enjoyed the morning’s activities as much as they had.
There were other things planned throughout the day, but River wasn’t certain what Daddy had planned. The two of them hadn’t committed to anything more than the treasure hunt, though they had certainly hoped that they would be able to participate in some of the other things.
None of the staff had admitted to being the islanders. However, River had noticed paper and masks at some pretty conspicuous locations, such as the check-in desk. And when they passed Master Derek earlier in the lobby, River could’ve sworn they saw a glimpse of a folded-up paper mask in his back pocket.
The morning had made River wonder what it would be like to live in a place such as this. A safe space where everyone around would understand, appreciate, and indulge the playful natures and vivid imaginations of Littles. They bet it would feel like heaven had come to earth. That’s certainly how it felt to visit.
River couldn’t believe how much had changed inside them in only three short days. They made several friends, something they always struggled with. They found a Daddy who actually cared and wanted to nurture them. And they were really starting to believe in their heart of hearts that they weren’t quite as weird as they’d always thought. Looking across the table at their Daddy, they couldn’t help but think that that charity auction might’ve been the best thing that had ever happened to them.
Daddy remained quiet as they reflected, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was a comfortable one like Daddy knew that they were deep in thought and he was just giving them the space they needed. That in itself was an awe-inspiring thing for River, and they weren’t inclined to take it for granted.
Before they could contemplate further, a voice rose behind them, “So, how was the treasure hunt?”
Turning in the seat, River found Tay approaching with a wide grin and felt their own lips spreading to match. “It was the best time ever! Wasn’t it, Daddy?”
“It really was something else, baby.”
“Hi, I'm Tay. They/them pronouns.” Tay reached out a hand to Daddy as they introduced themselves. “It’s really nice to meet you!”
“Nice to meet you as well. I’m Dave. He/him pronouns.” Daddy shook Tay’s hand with an ease about him that River kind of envied. They’d never been that great at meeting new people, but Daddy made it look easy. “If you’ve got a minute, you can have a seat with us.”
“I’ve got about fifteen, as it happens.”
