Chapter 1- Make a Wish
Oliver’s father stood at the bottom of the staircase, shouting, “Let’s go, Oliver! It’s your birthday and guess where we’re taking you!” Oliver mumbled to himself, to the carnival; I bet. He finished dressing and went downstairs to follow his parents out the door and to the car. As his father drove them to the carnival, he wanted to tell them; this was boring. He was tired of going every year but didn’t have the heart to say it. Something bright grabbed his attention and as he looked up, his father was pulling up to the carnival. He was always taken in by the sights, no matter how bored he was. There were families scattered everywhere, carrying huge stuffed animals and delicious food. There were flashing lights from the rides and music was coming from all directions. Oliver wanted to enjoy it, but he didn’t. He couldn’t understand why his parents thought he did. They were walking around for a few hours, when Oliver was about to ask for a few more tickets for a funnel cake when something gold and red caught his eye. He turned and saw a fortune teller machine called Zoltar. The fortune teller was wearing a gold shirt, a silver vest, and a red turban. He was holding a crystal ball and if felt like the fortune teller was staring straight at him. Oliver walked between the hordes of people to reach the Zoltar machine. He dug into his pocket for the four tickets he needed. He pushed his glasses back onto his nose as he read the instructions. He pressed the red button and Zoltar opened his mouth and said, “What is your deepest desire?” Oliver stood for a moment thinking. He was tired of coming to the carnival. He snapped his fingers. He finally knew what he wanted for his birthday,” he shouted, “A real adventure!” Excited, he pushed the button, labeled, Wish, and a small card came out of the machine. It read, Far and wide, high and low, all the places you will go. Oliver looked up at the Zoltar fortune teller, shook his head and mumbled, what a sham. For once, he just wanted some excitement. As he stood there mumbling to himself, he felt a hand on his shoulder. “What did you wish for, son?” His father asked. “If I tell you, it won’t come true and I really want it to come true, dad.” “Fair enough, well, are you ready to go? We need to get you back home because your mom and I have a banquet to attend later.” Oliver knew what that meant. It meant Frau Vanlandingham was coming to babysit him. She would bring a tin, blue box of Danish shortbread cookies and watch Jeopardy, while he passed the time, reading his comics until he fell asleep.
They drove home so his parents could change and get ready. From the window, he watched as his parents pulled out of the driveway. He trudged over to his bookshelf and grabbed a comic. Before long, he was face down in the comic, asleep.
Two quick knocks pulled him out of his sleep. He wiped his mouth, sat up quickly, and listened intently. Two quick knocks again. As he got out of bed and started across the floor, the door swung open and in walked a pirate, tracking wet sand on the floor. His long dreads were pulled back into a ponytail. He was wearing a black eye patch, a brown tattered shirt with a sword, strapped to his back. He had a dagger on his hip, ripped black pants and boots that were now, forming a puddle of mud in the middle of his bedroom. His mother was going to have a fit. Oliver was still trying to figure out if he was dreaming when the pirate spoke in a boisterous voice, “I’m looking for Toliver. I’ve been sent for him.” Oliver scrunched his face and answered, “You mean Oliver? I’m Oliver.” The pirate looked down at Oliver and replied, “Yes, Toliver, that’s what I said!” Oliver shook his head, “Not Toliver, Oliver! And what do you mean, you’ve been sent? Who sent you?” The pirate answered, ” The Locators from Titan’s Island sent me. Now come along, Toliver! We need to get my treasure back from Klepto and The Jesters!” “What treasure? And what is your name? Who is Klepto and The Jesters?” Oliver asked as he had a million questions. The pirate stuck out his chest and bellowed, “I am Pirate Eye Spy because when I spy treasure, it becomes mine! I have twelve bags of treasure filled with emeralds, rubies, jade, amethyst, and some gold coins too from an old sunken ship! That’s my treasure and Klepto is always taking it from me!” Oliver asked again, “Who is Klepto!?” Pirate Eye Spy snarled and said, “He’s my enemy and he must be stopped! We must go now before he makes it to his isle, Cutlass Cavern. He stole my treasure while I was loading it on my ship, back home in Parrot Port! He’s quite sneaky, that Klepto! Come now, we must go!” Pirate Eye Spy pushed Oliver towards the door. He cracked the door open to listen for Frau Vanlandingham yelling at the tv with Jeopardy answers. She was still at it, so they crept down the stairs and out of the door. Once outside, Pirate Eye Spy made an X on the ground and pulled out a glowing silver sphere from his brown pouch, across his hip. He reached for Oliver. “Come now, stand on the X with me!” Before Oliver could protest, Pirate Eye Spy pressed a spot on the silver sphere and a whirl of silver and white light surrounded them. They were lifted off the ground and hurdled into the sky. Oliver felt sick at how fast, the sphere was moving them along. When he thought he could no longer handle it, the queasy feeling in his stomach, his sweaty palms and his dizziness, the movement stopped, and the light disappeared. They were now standing on a deserted cove. There was an old, frail rowboat with only one set of paddles. Pirate Eye Spy looked at Oliver and bellowed, ” Move it along now! No time to waste!” Oliver wrinkled his brow and replied, “You expect me to shove this rowboat into the ocean by myself?!” Pirate Eye Spy, with a look of shock, replied, “I suppose you would like to watch out for rogue pirates and their special creatures!? How would you fight them off? What sword would you use, or would you like to use mine?” Pirate Eye Spy extended his giant silver sword to Oliver. Oliver stood there for a moment, thinking. The sword looked as if it weighed three times his size. Oliver shook his head, huffed and began pushing the rowboat into the ocean. Once Oliver picked up speed, the frail rowboat began to glide onto the water. They both hopped in. As Oliver began to row because it was obvious, Pirate Eye Spy wasn’t going to offer, he asked the questions that were crossing his mind. “Is this Parrot Port and why does it look so deserted?” Oliver looked around as he rowed cautiously. There were palm trees leaning to the side and moss was hanging from a few cliffs. A slow fog began to increase and the whole area was eerily quiet. Pirate Eye Spy noticed Oliver was taking in his surroundings, so he leaned in and whispered, “This is indeed Parrot Port and you want to know why it’s so empty and so quiet, don’t you? Well, I’ll tell you.... a very powerful sea creature guards all of Parrot Port. Some say, she is to be my sea creature, that’s why she won’t leave.” Intrigued, Oliver asked, “How does a sea creature become yours?” “I’m not sure. I suppose I should’ve read the Wish Master File.” Pirate Eye Spy scratched his head, deep in thought. He looked up and replied, “No matter! Now can you stop asking about the sea creature!” Pirate Eye Spy bellowed. “You’re the one that brought it up!” Oliver yelled back. After a few moments of silence, Oliver asked, “Where are we going anyway? And what’s the Wish Master File?” Pirate Eye Spy pointed behind Oliver and replied, “There, to my ship!” Oliver craned his neck around to get a better look, but the fog made it difficult.
