Giselle's adventures in wonderland - A Love Legacy spin-off - Part 1

It was early morning when the pirate ship had left them on the dock of what was supposed to be the best pirate island ever.

When the ship had come to pick them up in Appaloosa Plains, Giselle had no plan in mind . Surfing the web she had found out about this pirate ship, giving a lift to the few pirates left or those who wished to live as a pirate. She had booked their tickets and they had set off, just like that.

She knew she was the captain, and the others would follow her wishes but she didn't really have any. She just wanted to sail away and discover new places, possibly islands, in the middle of the ocean . But she had no notion about where to start.

On the ship she had found out about Barnacle Bay. The other pirates said it was the best place to start, to find out if pirates' life really suited her.

It had been an uncharted island once which later became a pirate's hideout to keep their treasures safe. Later on as more and more pirates gave up their roaming habits and settled down, the island's economy had grown a lot and now it was a perfectly comfortable place to live, with all the facilities and restaurants and stuff, but with the original pirate spirit of the bay permeating everywhere.

Barnacle Bay was the place where their adventures started.

From the dock Giselle couldn't really see anything, apart from a wall and a few houses at the horizon, but the mist was high and she couldn't really define what she was seeing.

The three were rather hungry and decided to set off exploring the beach to see if they could find some place to eat, as first thing.

Walking along the wall, they found some kind of beach park, where Kent could grill hot dogs for everyone. Ricky prepared fresh drinks and Giselle just relaxed on the lounger, breathing in the fresh morning sea air .

She felt excited, she was on a pirate's island at last! A rather modern one, but still, its inhabitants had all been pirates or related to pirates ... she couldn't wait to meet everyone!

Ricky was happy to see his beloved sister happy. He had wished to become an astronaut at the beginning, and that wish was still hidden somewhere, but he had given up his dreams to follow his sister in her wanderings. He knew she had Kent but he really wanted to take care of her ... and was secretly hoping to become an uncle soon!

Sipping his cold drink, Ricky thought that after all, this looked like a good place to live ... but would his sister finally found peace, living among pirates? Was this really what she wanted?

As soon as locals started to appear at the park, Giselle went to introduce herself. It looke like everyone was a celebrity! But thanks to her family name she managed to impress Flora Annan and her little daughter!

Giselle told her that she was new in town, she had just arrived with her husband and brother and was looking for pirates. She needed to talk to them to understand how to become one of them ...

Flora's answer was rather disappointing though ... she said that yes, once the inhabitants of Barnacle Bay were pirates but that was ages ago, like at her grandfather's time ... or even her grand granfather's! Now nobody dressed as pirates anymore ... and everybody was now leaving a normal life... although most of the people there were wealthy thanks to the riches that their pirate ancestors had brought!

Giselle was rather disappointed ... in her mind she had pictured people dressed like she was, with big black hats with a skull ... and huge galleons cutting through the sea ....

But still, Flora was nice to talk to and she invited Giselle to sunbathe with her ... which she did very willingly!

Ricky had also got a tan ... was now being surveyed suspiciously by an old lady relaxing on the lounger ...

Finally Kent managed to serve some decent hot dogs ... after two disastrous tries!

The mysterious old lady helped herslef as well ... without saying a word! But she glanced at Giselle in a very peculiar way ...

Giselle decided to follow her, determined to find out why this stranger seemed to be keeping a close eye on them ... but staying at distance and saying no words.

But she had to wait for the old lady to finish her food ... and she was a very slow eater!

Meanwhile, the sun was setting over the island.

And Ricky decided it was just the perfect moment to practise windsurfing a little!

During his ride he came to explore another side of the shore.... and there he found ... a real pirate ship! She couldn't wait to tell Giselle ....

...who meanwhile had managed to impress the old lady who was also a celebrity .

Giselle: so ....

Old lady: so .....

Giselle: is it just me ... have you been keeping an eye on us for the whole day?

Old lady: I sure have kid .... I'm Viktoria Inkbeard, currently one of the oldest inhabitants of the island ...and a journalist. As it happens, I'm one of the few who remembers the pirates tales that my grandpa told me. See, he was a pirate! But he settled down ... for love . See, my granma suffered of sea sickness and couldn't stand a ride on an oar boat! I heard you talking to Flora Annan ... and you seemed nice and I'm glad when I meet someone who's interested in my ancestor's history . I'm proud of my pirate origins you know ... so I thought that I might find a way to talk to you ... but you have come to me first.

Giselle: wow ... that's ... amazing! I'm Giselle by the way ... Giselle Love ... and that guy is my husband Kent ... and the other one who went surfing is my brother Ricky ... we just arrived here from Appaloosa Plains ....

Kent: ouch ! Giselle! It's hailing ... let's go inside!

Viktoria: well well, Giselle Love, I guess we must part now ... but let me know where you settle down and maybe we could have a coffee sometime? And I'll tell you what you wish to know about my ancestors ...

Giselle: sure thing! Thank you so much!

Kent: woah Ricky where did you come from!

Ricky: I'm just back from doing some windsurfing ... and guess what I found? Giselle, I found a real pirate ship! It's huge! And it's close, you must come and see it!

The ship was indeed real and huge ... but wasn't used as a ship anymore . It was, in fact, a restaurant!

But Giselle was feeling excited anyway. A real pirate ship! Right in front of her eyes! And for sure it must have been used once ... they must go have a look inside!


The three had dinner in the ship restaurant ... Giselle loved the place! And since they had nowhere to sleep, except their sleeping bags, they decided to spend the night in the ship restaurant, which also had a few rooms for travellers.

The following day was luckily a sunny day again!

And Giselle was determined to find a house ... the owner of the ship restaurant had told them the location of a few houses that were to rent ....

... and in the end they chose the one they liked the most! A little blu&white house in a quiet street ... too far from the sea, for Giselle's tastes, but those expensive villas on the seaside were ... well, just a little too expensive for them ....

That night they had ordered a pizza (since they had nothing in the fridge yet) and toasted to their new life in this pirate island .

Everybody was so happy and excited! Giselle was over the moon ... for the simple fact of being there . Ricky had decided he liked the neighbourhood and he would find a job at the old ship restaurant ... he really liked that place! While Kent ... well, he was just happy to see his wife happy, at last . And he secretly hoped she would finally decide to settle down here ... so maybe they could have the family he was longing for ....

Ricky: I'm fed up with this stuff ... I'm going to throw up if I smell another one ...

Giselle: what?

She had been daydreaming! Recalling how it had all begun ... and how happy they had been on their first night in their new house in Barnacle Bay!

Kent: I know man ... but since we couldn't fish during the storm which blessed us with its presence for the whole week, we need to eat this stuff if we don't want to starve ....

Ricky: really ... I can't smell another of those things ... I'll just go for a walk ....


Giselle caught up with her brother ... she knew he was annoyed ... she knew that life on the island was slowly killing his soul ... he had always been a little weird and loner , but he had his job , which he loved .... and now with nothing to do, she was scared he would go insane...

Giselle: hey bro ... you okay?

Ricky: yeah it's just ... I want to eat something different . I'm fed up with that stuff ... or even fish and bananas! I want pancakes ... or roasted chicken ... I'm a cook for goodness' sake!

Giselle: I know Ricky ....I know ... but till we're here we have to try to help each other and survive ... we can't break down , it's no use ... and then when we'll be rescued it will all go back to normal ...

Ricky: we'll never be rescued . And you well know it , as much as I do . We're lost in the middle of nowhere! The fog never leaves from the horizon ... nobody will ever find us!


Giselle: Where are you going now ?

Ricky: to swim ... it's the first day of sun we had in weeks, I need some exercise ...

Ricky loved swimming in the ocean . The water was so blue and clear! And he really wanted to go beyond that veil of fog ... it had become a little obsession for him ...

but as soon as he got closer he suddenly realised how far he was from the others and started thinking what would happen if he got lost in the fog ... so he was too scared to proceed and always went back.

Today didn't make any difference and he came back on the island before reaching the veil of fog .
On the other hand , he was starting to become very good at swimming and snorkelling! He could keep his breath for quite a long time underwater now and he wished to learn how to dive ....

While Kent had gone fishing, Giselle had preferred to go lay down a bit .

She had been feeling weird for a while now . Either her stomach , too , was tired of the food they ate on the island or , her body was giving her signs of decay . She was getting old! She wasn't the very young adult full of dreams and hopes she had been when she had left from Appaloosa Plains ...

Kent: hey honey, are you feeling any better?

Giselle: only a little ... it's probably the air wich is making me sick . Or the humid . What a strange thing for a pirate , huh? What a very bad ending ....

Kent sat on the bed and cuddled his wife ....

Kent: it's not an ending , love ... we're alive and all the three of us together . We build a decent hut and are managing to survive ... we'll be rescued , at some point , I assure you ...

Giselle: you're sweet , Kent ... but what Ricky said is true : we all know it's kinda impossible that any other ship comes by and sees us ... I think we should start to get used to the idea that we're gonna end our days lost in the middle of nowhere ....

Kent: don't be so negative G.! How can you tell? I'm sure we'll be rescued , at some point , I promise you . And in the meanwhile , look around! We're living in a little corner of paradise! People pay to go on holiday in such places ... and we live in a desert island! How cool is that ? We'll live a happy life here , waiting to be rescued , but happy ....

Giselle: are you sure you're happy Kent? You didn't want this .... it was just me ... you wanted ... what I cannot give you ... I'm so sorry Kent ... *cries*

Kent: don't cry honey ... I did want to have a big family with you but ... you're more important Giselle. You're everything ... when I thought I had nearly lost you ... after that accident ... I thought I would die ... You are my family , and I'd follow you everywhere . See, I did follow you till the end of the world! And wherever we may be , even stranded on a desert island , I will always be happy if you are at my side ...

Giselle: oh Kent ... but it was all my fault! All my fault! How can you not hate me? We were happy in Barnacle Bay but I needed more ... and if I hadn't been so ... vulnerable ... probably you would have stopped me but you thought to make me happy and we ended up here .... this is all my fault .... I was just selfish .

Kent: you were devastated ... everybody would be ... after what had happened to you ...

Giselle: yes ... but I knew you would do anything I asked . Then , more than ever . I was so selfish to ask you to be with me in this ... I can see it now ... I wasn't devastated enough to be forgetful . I perfectly knew it but I didn't care because I wanted to be happy again . And I thought being at sea again would make me happy again ....

It was almost sunset when Giselle stopped crying and decided to face the island again.

It was tough , and she had told Ricky that they couldn't afford any nerve breakdown ... but she herself was fighting hard against it . Luckily there was Kent ... she felt stronger when he was at her side . And he always knew how to make her feel better ... and make her forget of her worries for a little while ....

Ricky was back from his swim and he had brought two beautiful seashells with him!

That night they ate the fish that Kent had caught in the afternoon and nobody protested .

The weather could change so quickly in that part of the world , that after a wonderful sunny day it had suddenly started to rain! Luckily it wasn't to heavy and they could keep on eating ...

... although at some point Giselle felt sick ....

Kent: G.? What's wrong?

Giselle: I don't know ... I feel ... my head is turning ... I might have eaten too quickly ... or is it the fish? What if it's poisonous?

Ricky: I don't think so ... we should be sick as well if it was the fish ....

Giselle: right ... I'll just go to bed then .. maybe I need to rest ...

The rain fell heavily for the rest of the night. From his tent , Ricky could hear the snores coming from upstairs .... it meant they were safely and soundly asleep . Good - he thought . He was a little worried for his sister .... what if she had contracted some serious illness from all those mosquitoes?

Giselle had a long sound sleep ... but in the morning she suddenly awoke with an urgent need ...

Kent: Giselle! What's wrong?

Giselle: nothing ... I just need to run to the toilet ....

Once she felt better ... she felt worried . Throwing up at early morning? It felt familiar ... it had alreadly happened once ... but that was long ago ... and the doctors had told her it was not likely to happen again ...

The thought of the accident gave her huge pain ... she thought she had overcome it , she thought sailing away would help her forget and make her happy again ... but truth was, the wound was still open .  Not the one on her back ...but the one in her heart . The pain for what she had lost ... and for what she could never have ... and once again , the realization it had been all her fault . She couldn't keep herself and tears started to form at the back of her eyes ...



To be continued .....