Penelope Interviews Emily – What Would You Miss?

I certainly didn’t intend to find myself running a newspaper from the corner of a bar in Tortuga.
But sometimes one must simply roll with the punches and considering my choices at the time were limited…well, stepping through that mirror into this topsy-turvy pirate world certainly proved etter than the fire consuming the newspaper offices.

And the weather here  is much more congenial than the cold winters of Chicago. Plus no one looks
sideways at a woman running a newspaper.

It took a little getting used to, but I’ve given up trying to understand the Kraken’s Caribbean.
I simply live her and report the news.

Today I’m talking to the denizens of Tortuga about what is missing from our city by the bay.

————————————————————————————–

Before me sits Mrs. Silvestri, the new wife of the notorious cursed pirate, Captain Alan Silvestri.

– He’s no longer…oh, yeah, cursed. (((Her eyes slide sideways to see who is listening.))) That’s my
Alan. A total cursed man. I curse him regularly!

(((She smiles archly, leaving me to wonder at that last statement…)))

Really? Well, I must check my sources! Now, Mrs. Silvestri…

– Please, call me Emily.

Fine, Emily. Today I’m wondering about the things you miss from your former home. For example, I came from Chicago, 1958. I miss cigarettes. I understand you came from California in the twenty first century…

(((She snorts at my comment before replying.)))

– Cigarettes? Oh, you’re from before the surgeon general’s warning about the hazards of nicotine, so I’ll forgive you. To be perfectly frank, that is one habit I am thrilled to see hasn’t followed me! As
for what I miss… I’ve talked about this with some of my pirate friends on the Quill and debated what I miss most of all. Aside from pizza, which I think may make an appearance soon… I miss chocolate. Specifically, the mint chocolate bars I used to get at Cost Plus, made by Ghirardelli of San Francisco.

I can understand how you would miss chocolate. A good piece of chocolate cake is something I have dreamt of. But the cocoa bean is grown in the tropics, I’m sure the availability of… (((She interrupts me. I have the feeling she is waiting for someone and just biding time with me…)))

– Yeah, I’m sure of that. But I miss what I knew and chocolate does show up now and then. Alan said
he found a crate of Hershey’s kisses last February, nice and dry, floating near the mouth of the bay. Made a tidy profit of them! Oh, you don’t know what those are, do you?

I am familiar with the Hershey Company. I assume a new candy bar. Now, what is this about pizza coming to Tortuga?

– (((She leans back and laces her fingers together behind her head.))) I’m on the verge of convincing Alan to fund a pizza parlor down the street…

————————————————————————————–

I’m Penelope Leon, and today we’re talking about what you’d miss if you stepped through that glass and landed in the Kraken’s Caribbean. I’ve enticed Mrs. Silvestri and her husband to sit with me and help out. What do you think you’d miss? One lucky comment will be drawn to receive a free copy
of The Kraken’s Mirror.

————————————————————————————–

The Kraken’s Caribbean – a sort of Alice in Wonderland meets Pirates of the Caribbean meets Timothy Leary meets Tim Burton world created by Maureen O. Betita and chronicled in the
series of the same name. Interested in receiving the newsletter Penelope has founded? Leave your e-mail in the comments section of this blog to be included on the list for The Kraken Chronicles.