CAPT. MICHAEL & TREASURE OF EMP. LEMON

CAPTAIN MICHAEL AND THE TREASURE OF EMPRESS LEMON

         I am Captain Michael of HMS Bath Thyme and herein I am writing my memories of my many adventures as captain of my mighty ship. She is a grand battleship. She is swift and flies over the oceans, and she has carried me to many an adventure.
         In this instance, I was sent by my Queen, Melanie of Tennessee, to sail the oceans blue in search of jewels and gold and whatever treasure I might find along the way.  The day I set out was a fine and glorious day with the sun shining and a good wind. Queen Melanie of Tennessee had come to the dock to see us off on our voyage. She had brought us food for our journey - peanut butter and fig jam sandwiches, graham crackers, sliced apples, cheese sticks, and milk - and had made sure that we were well provisioned with quilts and pillows and a soft mattress for our sleep. She then blessed us and sent us on our way.
         Our first days out at sea were uneventful. We sailed for hundreds of miles and saw only one sea monster which we sent on its way after we learned that it was only on its way back home to its own mother after a long day of fishing.
         On our sixth day at sea, we came upon a mysterious island in a part of the ocean unseen by any other. The island was covered with all sorts of exotic trees and flowers. And we found huge fierce cats with long yellow striped fur and golden eyes. The cats would hide in the long grass of the island and jump out at their prey as the poor men walked past them. We also found funny looking animals that looked like dogs but had very long bodies and very short legs. Our ship's doctor called them "doggus weinerus".
         On walking around to the far side of the island, we found a cave guarded by the largest and fiercest of the hunter cats. This one could talk, and she gave her name as Empress Lemon. She said that if we could solve her riddle, we could have the treasure that lay within the cave. Her riddle was this. "What must one do before one can learn?" What a strange question this was!
         We puzzled over this for some time. We asked each other all manner of questions to try to figure out what the answer could be. And then it hit me. The answer came to me in a brilliant flash of sunlight glinting off the water. What had we been doing all this time in trying to find out the answer to the riddle?
         I turned to the great Empress Lemon and said, " Is the answer that one must ask questions?"
         The great hunter cat, Empress Lemon, smiled at me and said, "Captain Michael, you have made the first step in the search for wisdom, and you have solved the riddle. My treasure is yours."
         My men and I went into the cave, and what did we see but a huge mound of jewels and gold. But the greatest treasure of all lay just beyond. For in a room just beyond the gold and jewels lay books - hundreds and hundreds of books; books with pictures and books with wild and fantastic stories of peoples from all over the world.
         The hunter cat empress helped us to take these riches back to our ship and sent us off with more food for our journey home.
         We had a fine journey home with only a couple of storms, and we caught many fine fish for our people back home. When we got back to our home port, we were met by our Queen who picked me up in her arms, wrapped me in a soft blue towel, and put me to bed in my favorite blue flannel pyjamas.