Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Order of the Bluenose

(Excerpt from Ship's Librarian)
A mysterious scroll appeared in a bottle found on deck Friday evening. It
was a summons from one Davey Jones for all onboard to appear on deck
Sunday afternoon before the presence of King Neptune and his court. The
summons said the King would induct all who have crossed into his icy realm
into the Order of the Bluenose if they proved worthy. Amazed, no one knew
what to make of it, so they posted the scroll for all to see.
On Sunday at 13:00 everyone on the ship gathered in anticipation around
the aft hatch. Rising from the sea came the royal procession and
magnificent it was. There was the King's burly Sergeant at Arms with a
squad of the King's police, the Kings Barber, Davey Jones, the beautiful
but terrifying Sea Hag and, in all his glory out of the mist, was King
Neptune himself.

The King demanded certain sailors to come and kneel before him and to
answer the questions of the Sea Hag. Those failing to do so were made
slaves. They were bound, shaved and then forced to crawl through the
belly of the King's pet polar bear. Those making it through then had to
be cleansed by the sea to make them true seamen. After their cleansing
they were declared worthy to toast the King and partake in a feast
prepared by his cooks. Finally, the King's fools painted the noses of all
who survived, blue.

When the slaves had completed their trials, all of the crew who had never
previously been honored, were asked to endure the same. Many rose to the
occasion. With all those brave enough to step foreword finished, the King
bade us all farewell and disappeared back into the sea leaving everyone
with the question; "Did that really just happen?" Then they looked around
at all the blue noses of their fellow sailors and knew it did.

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