Something Piratey

"Something piratey, huh?" Ashley asks. "Why don't we make it a challenge? Five minutes to pick out a costume, and whoever comes back with the best outfit wins."

Annabelle frowns. "I think I'd have an unfair advantage since you don't know where I keep my things. Unless you want to run back to your apartment?"

Tibby is quick to point out the problem. "And we're supposed to do that in five minutes? It would take me that long just to look at my..."

"That's what makes it a challenge, right? Of course we won't start counting until we're at the door. Or are you a scaredy cat that thinks you can't cut it even then?" Ashley leans forward so she can look past Annabelle to stick her tongue out at Tibby.

"Oh, it's ON! John, are you going to time this?"

"Time it!? I have to get ready too. I'll set my phone for five minutes. Anabelle, can you do the same? We'll start the timers when we're all at our apartment doors so that you don't lose time."

Anabelle gets up, retrieving her phone on the way to her apartment door. "You know, we could make this a team competition. One of you stays here to get dressed with me and the others go get dressed over there."

"I already have an idea of what I want, so I need to go back to our apartment," Tibby says.

"And I don't know if you have anything suitable for me to wear," you point out.

Annabelle shakes her head, so Ashley shrugs. "Looks like I'm staying here then. See you in five minutes, guys!"

You and Tibby walk down the hallway. Preparing a timer on your phone, you look back at Ashley and Annabelle. "Ready. Set. Go."

The door gets pushed open and Tibby bolts inside. By the time you reach the bedroom, the bed has a collection of clothes thrown on it already. Tibby is moving her arms so fast she looks like a windmill, throwing things through the air willy-nilly.

You decide to start working on accessories first and head for your desk. You pull out a piece of paper and begin folding it. What is a captain without a hat?

By the time you're done folding the paper, Tibby has gathered everything she needs. Your little windmill has run into the bathroom, leaving rejected clothing scattered all over the bedroom. Now that the closet area is free, you jump in knowing that your hat will remain safe from damage on the desk.

There's no way that you have shoes with a big buckle, so you decide to go barefoot like you've seen many pirates do. Besides, you'd only be taking them off as soon as the booty is discovered. Short pants...you could go with basketball shorts, but that looks too modern which is not the best buccaneer look. If you want to be the best, you have to look your best. You grab some cotton pants and roll up the bottom. The best part? An elastic waist so that you don't waste time getting undressed. Bluebeard was always seen wearing a coat. You settle on a sturdy looking navy coat. Since you don't have a frilly white shirt like pirates wore (and you don't want to ask Tibby), you decide that a sexy buccaneer captain will go shirtless.

Tibby is still in the bathroom when your costume is complete. You look at your phone and call out to her. "Ninety seconds."

At your desk you saw the tube you bought to take rolled up design drawings to school. No way do you want to risk damaging that for playtime, but it sparks your imagination. You put on your hat and run to the recycling that is waiting to go to the bin. And there it is: the tube from a used up roll of paper towels. This should make an excellent blunderbuss. You pop it into your pocket, ready to be drawn when the judging starts.

Tibby pops out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. You see that she's wearing the cat-scratch dress that you liked before. It doesn't look like anything on a ship so you raise an eyebrow as you look at her. "I've been marooned on an uninhabited island until you found me." She rushes into the closet again, bending down all the way to the bottom to grab what looks like the tallest black boots you've seen.

Once Tibby has squeezed her legs into her boots, the buzzer sounds. She made it just in time. You open the door and walk back to Annabelle's apartment hand in hand. When Anabelle opens the door to her apartment you say, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?"

Anabelle looks a bit shocked for a second before she winks at you and says, "Permission granted. Welcome aboard, Captain." She looks meaningfully at your hat as she waves you in.

She's put on a pair of tall, black boots that bring out the curve of her legs nicely. They don't reach as high up on her legs as the boots Tibby is wearing, but still look incredibly sexy. She is wearing tan leggings that are tucked into her boots, and above that she has the frilly white blouse that you don't have. Your favourite part is the neckline that dips so low you have a clear view of her incredible cleavage. Her hair is tied into a high ponytail with a tattered scrap of black cotton, and another scrap has been fashioned into a makeshift eyepatch.

By her side, Ashley is wearing a fancy bandana, the ends of fabric flowing down her back with her hair. Her white blouse is tied under her bust. It looks cute with the puffy short sleeves. It reveals her navel and a nice expanse of tummy above a frayed red skirt that stops mid-thigh on one side but hangs down to her knee on the other.

"Wow, you both look great," you say as you and Tibby walk in.

"Thanks, so do you two," Annabelle says. "Shall we head to the playroom and figure out how we're going to declare a winner?"