returned, he was carrying a tray with a big pot of tea, a big plate of toast, and three brand-new jars of Munch’s Generic Jelly.
“How lovely,” Jane said politely, but privately she was scandalized. People in Remarkable didn’t buy jelly from Munch unless they had to, and they certainly wouldn’t be caught dead buying three jars at once.
“It be the least I could do after you stirred yourself to bring me pesky friend back to me,” Captain Rojo Herring said. “I know ye must have more important things to be doing with yer time.”
“Like what?” Jane asked, genuinely puzzled.
“I hear yer brother be a fine painter, and yer sister ismaster of all things numerical. So I’ve been assuming that ye must have some special skill you spend all of yer time at. So tell me, what is it that you be known for?”
Jane scowled down at her plate and said nothing. And even if she had said something, her answer still would have to be “nothing.”
“Let me guess,” the pirate continued, squinting at Jane as if this would somehow help him see her talents. “You have a flair for lion taming?”
Jane shook her head.
“Figure skating?”
“No,” said Jane.
“Perhaps you knows how to do jigsaw puzzles blindfolded? Maybe you be a card shark?”
“Not me.”
“Ye can climb trees better than a cat? Ye play the harmonica so that it sounds like the wind coming down a fine hill? Perhaps ye do magic tricks that baffle and amaze all who see ’em?”
“My parents argue about it sometimes,” Jane said. “My mother thinks I’m a late bloomer, but my dad thinks I just haven’t realized my true potential.”
“Well, which one of them be right?” Captain Rojo Herring asked.
“Neither,” said Jane. “I’m not good at anything, and I probably never will be.”
“So you’re ordinary, eh?” the pirate said. “Well, that be a fine thing to be. A mighty fine thing.”
Jane looked up at the pirate to see if he was joking, but his face was quite serious.
“No, it’s not,” she told him. “It’s actually quite boring.”
“Thar be a time in me own life once when I had a chance to be ordinary, but no, I had to run off to do something special. Aye, but thar be days when I looks back and regrets it still.”
“Why?” Jane asked, not quite believing him. “I’d love to be good at something. Then maybe people would finally notice me.”
“But what if ye grow weary of doing what you are good at all the livelong day? What if doing something well doesn’t make ye happy?”
Jane looked at the pirate, surprised. “I don’t know. Do people get bored of doing things they are good at?”
“Aye,” the pirate said wearily. “Aye, they can. And it be a sad thing, too. Because they’ve been doing what they are good at for so long that they don’t know what else they might do with their lives.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Jane asked. “Did you get bored with being a pirate captain?”
“Something like that,” he said. “But mostly, I want to put me pirate days behind me and look for something else to fill me days. I’m going to learn all those things I never had time for—like riding a bike and learning to swim.”
“You never learned to swim?” Jane asked. “Wasn’t that dangerous when you were living on your pirate ship?”
The captain looked sheepish. “Aye. I just had to make sure I never fell overboard, now didn’t I?”
A clock from somewhere inside the house chimed four times. “It’s late,” Jane said. “I think I’d better get home.”
“Are ye sure? There’s still a little bit o’ jelly left.”
“You can have it,” Jane said. “Thank you very much for the tea.”
“It be my pleasure,” Captain Rojo Herring replied as he happily ladled the last of his jelly onto some toast.
A Bit about the Jelly
T o most people, jelly is not very controversial. It is just jelly after all—something to spread on biscuits, eat on sandwiches with peanut butter, or fill the
“How lovely,” Jane said politely, but privately she was scandalized. People in Remarkable didn’t buy jelly from Munch unless they had to, and they certainly wouldn’t be caught dead buying three jars at once.
“It be the least I could do after you stirred yourself to bring me pesky friend back to me,” Captain Rojo Herring said. “I know ye must have more important things to be doing with yer time.”
“Like what?” Jane asked, genuinely puzzled.
“I hear yer brother be a fine painter, and yer sister ismaster of all things numerical. So I’ve been assuming that ye must have some special skill you spend all of yer time at. So tell me, what is it that you be known for?”
Jane scowled down at her plate and said nothing. And even if she had said something, her answer still would have to be “nothing.”
“Let me guess,” the pirate continued, squinting at Jane as if this would somehow help him see her talents. “You have a flair for lion taming?”
Jane shook her head.
“Figure skating?”
“No,” said Jane.
“Perhaps you knows how to do jigsaw puzzles blindfolded? Maybe you be a card shark?”
“Not me.”
“Ye can climb trees better than a cat? Ye play the harmonica so that it sounds like the wind coming down a fine hill? Perhaps ye do magic tricks that baffle and amaze all who see ’em?”
“My parents argue about it sometimes,” Jane said. “My mother thinks I’m a late bloomer, but my dad thinks I just haven’t realized my true potential.”
“Well, which one of them be right?” Captain Rojo Herring asked.
“Neither,” said Jane. “I’m not good at anything, and I probably never will be.”
“So you’re ordinary, eh?” the pirate said. “Well, that be a fine thing to be. A mighty fine thing.”
Jane looked up at the pirate to see if he was joking, but his face was quite serious.
“No, it’s not,” she told him. “It’s actually quite boring.”
“Thar be a time in me own life once when I had a chance to be ordinary, but no, I had to run off to do something special. Aye, but thar be days when I looks back and regrets it still.”
“Why?” Jane asked, not quite believing him. “I’d love to be good at something. Then maybe people would finally notice me.”
“But what if ye grow weary of doing what you are good at all the livelong day? What if doing something well doesn’t make ye happy?”
Jane looked at the pirate, surprised. “I don’t know. Do people get bored of doing things they are good at?”
“Aye,” the pirate said wearily. “Aye, they can. And it be a sad thing, too. Because they’ve been doing what they are good at for so long that they don’t know what else they might do with their lives.”
“Is that what happened to you?” Jane asked. “Did you get bored with being a pirate captain?”
“Something like that,” he said. “But mostly, I want to put me pirate days behind me and look for something else to fill me days. I’m going to learn all those things I never had time for—like riding a bike and learning to swim.”
“You never learned to swim?” Jane asked. “Wasn’t that dangerous when you were living on your pirate ship?”
The captain looked sheepish. “Aye. I just had to make sure I never fell overboard, now didn’t I?”
A clock from somewhere inside the house chimed four times. “It’s late,” Jane said. “I think I’d better get home.”
“Are ye sure? There’s still a little bit o’ jelly left.”
“You can have it,” Jane said. “Thank you very much for the tea.”
“It be my pleasure,” Captain Rojo Herring replied as he happily ladled the last of his jelly onto some toast.
A Bit about the Jelly
T o most people, jelly is not very controversial. It is just jelly after all—something to spread on biscuits, eat on sandwiches with peanut butter, or fill the
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