She was not sure of how long she slept; only when she awoke it was already dark. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the dim room. For a second she forgot where she was, but the lull of the ocean painfully reminded her. The easy sound of the waves lapping at the ship masked another sound, and when she strained to hear it she heard soft breathing, coming from the bedchamber. The Captain was asleep, as was the rest of the ship.

Alice sat up. The thought of escape, like a mouse, had burrowed itself in her mind, and she could not shake the need to escape this ship out of her mind. She was in desperate need of a plan, and after some carful thought she engineered her means for escape.

She planned to, in the cover of darkness, make her way to the deck, hopefully not encountering anybody, after which she would board one of the rowboats attached to the ship and lower herself into the ocean. From there, she planned to either row to shore or alert another boat to come to her rescue.

Although it was flawed in some ways, she believed the plan she came up with was the best considering her situation. She needed a weapon in case she encountered anybody, and eyeing the table she saw the glint of the penknife. It was a small weapon, looking tiny even in her petite hands, but it would have to do. She creped to the doorway then stopped.

Unsure if the breathing had gotten lighter or it was just he imagination, she looked toward the connected room. The door was wide open, and she could make out the Captains chest rising and falling rhythmically with every breath. He claimed he didn’t plan to stop her if she tried to escape, but Alice could not tell if he was being truthful.

The door exiting the cabin was a heavy one, and she knew that by pushing it open she would be creating an amount of noise that could feasibly wake him, especially in this light state of sleep.

She rolled the penknife in her hands, and made her way to the bedchamber. There was only one way to ensure the Captain’s absolute silence. Alice approached the bed. In the moonlight, his sleeping face looked very young. She guessed that he was twenty at most, just a few years older than her. He looked peaceful, his hands at his sides, his head drooping slightly to the left.

Alice felt a heavy sense of guilt, one that bubbled up from her chest and invaded her senses. She did not understand where this feeling was coming from. If she were to dispatch of this pirate, this criminal, she would be doing the world justice. No matter how innocent the man before her looked, she was sure he was guilty of taking lives. This action would be retribution for the years of untold theft and murder this man committed, she convinced herself.

Placing the tip of the blade above his Adam’s apple, she maneuvered herself over his body as to maximize the force with which she could drive it into his throat. She closed her eyes to steady herself, opening them right before she was about to plunge in. Her eyes met with the bright green ones of the man under her, who looked at her with curiosity and amusement rather than anything resembling fear. She stared at him, absolutely struck with uncertainty and uneasiness.

“Why, good morning to you too,” he said, casually. He was relaxed as ever, despite being the one with the knife pressed to his throat, while she was tenser than a rope on a sail in a windy storm.

“Let me guess,” he said, his tone humorous, “you plan on taking one of the rowboats, and using those strong arm muscles of yours, row yourself back to shore?” The look on her face was the reply he needed to continue. “I believe you forgot to account for one thing in your absolutely brilliant plan: we are hundreds of miles away from any shoreline.” Alice’s brow furrowed. “Or perhaps, you wish to flag down another ship, hoping it will come to your rescue? I’m sorry to disappoint, but the only ships you will find around these waters are those of pirates.”

“But if you still wish to try your luck, by all means, I wont stop you,” he said grabbing the knife. At first Alice though he was going to take it away from her, but instead he steadied it on his throat, guiding her shaky hands. “In fact, I’ll help you. Here is your golden opportunity to kill the ‘evil’ pirate captain and escape, although I doubt the second part will go as planned.”

He began to drive the knife deeper and deeper into his throat, not enough to break the surface of his skin but enough for it to dimple. Alice panicked and jerked the knife back, throwing it across the room. It took all the strength she had left to pull it from his hands. She was breathing heavily, sweat pouring down her brow. It dawned on her that she almost killed a man, and she felt like she was in shock.

The Captain seemed amused, like he was about to break out in laughter. He was clearly enjoying giving Alice a fright. A wide smirk spread across his face, “You really had no chance,” he said, “I knew from the minute you stopped talking that you were awake.”

Alice was overwhelmed by embarrassment, shock, and fear. Tears welled up in her eyes, and heavy sobs escaped her chest. She was crying, not only for what had just transpired, but also for everything before. For the way she was treated on the deck, for the way the pirates attacked the ship, and for the way she left home. She let her emotions out, and sunk into the man under her, gripping his shirt. There was no escape, and worst of all she was sobbing her eyes out holding the man that she tried to murder. Much to her surprise, he wrapped his arms around her gently, and let her cry.