Donovan was all tuckered out. It was his fifth birthday and he had partied hard all day, blowing out candles, scarfing down all the cake and candy and ice cream he could handle, and opening the presents given to him by his family and friends. One of them was a Lego pirate ship that he and his older brother Roman built before dinner.

After dinner, he put on his PJs, brushed his teeth, said his prayers, and said goodnight to his brother and his mom and his dad. Then it was time for bed. And before you could say "Yo,ho,ho!" he had drifted off into a deep, relaxing sleep.

Suddenly, he was awakened by a strange disturbance, a loud whooshing sound, a strong swirling wind, and a flash of light. And then - nothing. Just silence. The room had returned to normal - quiet and completely dark - except for a shaft of moonlight coming through the window.

Donovan decided that it had just been his imagination and rolled over to go back to sleep. But then he heard a rustling sound over in a dark corner of the room. "Who's there?" he asked. He was beginning to feel a bit nervous.

"Awk!" said a voice, and Donovan sat bolt upright. "Shhh!" whispered another voice, "These moderns can be dangerous!"

Donovan was afraid, but so were his visitors, so he said, "I'm not dangerous. Are you?"

He heard a shuffling of feet, then saw a shadowy figure step into the moonlight. "My name is Captain Redbeard and I'm a pirate. And this mangy parrot is my best friend, Tempus Fugit."

"That's a funny name for a parrot," said Donovan, to which Tempus Fugit squawked loudly in protest.

"Aye, laddie!" agreed Captain Redbeard, "It would be a funny name for an ordinary parrot, but ol' Tempus here is no ordinary parrot. Her name is Latin for 'time flies.' That's because she has the gift of time flight, and, in fact, that's how we got here tonight. We need the help of a modern, and Tempus has chosen you for the job. Are you up for an adventure?"

"Sure," replied Donovan, "I'm always up for an adventure! And, by the way, my name is Donovan."

"Donovan! That's a good name! But there's no time to waste on pleasantries, laddie. Brace yourself, because you are about to experience time flight!"

Without warning, Tempus Fugit cried, "Awk!" and flapped her mighty wings. The room began to spin, there was a flash of light, the wind returned, and all three were drawn into a swirling vortex, tumbling uncontrollably back through time. Donovan began to wonder what he had gotten himself into.

Awk!

As the tumbling began to slow, Donovan spied through the mist what appeared to be an old wooden sailing ship. And, within seconds, he found himself standing on the deck, surrounded by pirates!

"Whoa!" exclaimed Donovan, "Where are we?"

"We're on the deck of the good ship Scalawag, laddie," explained Captain Redbeard, "and we are sailing through the Caribbean Sea in the summer of 1756, assuming that Tempus has brought us to the right time and place."

"That's right, Cap'n", said one of the pirates.

"Thank you, Mr. Scurvy!" replied Captain Redbeard.

"This here is Donovan, a modern from the 21st century, and he's here to help us with our dragon problem. Donovan, this is my first mate, Mr. Scurvy."

"Hello, Mr. Scurvy," said Donovan. Then, turning to Captain Redbeard, he asked nervously,"What do you mean by your 'dragon problem'?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," replied Captain Redbeard. "We'll talk in the morning!"

And with that, the pirates all began to party, as if they hadn't a care in the world. But Donovan was growing very concerned. What did he know about dragons?

In the morning, Donovan rose early and so did Captain Redbeard. Donovan noticed that the parrot on his shoulder was green and yellow, not red and blue. "How many parrots do you have?" he asked.

"Just one, laddie!" laughed Captain Redbeard, "She's also a bit of a chameleon, as you can see."

Donovan also asked why the captain was not wearing his eye patch.

"Well, laddie," he replied, "I have a glass eye. It looks pretty good, but it's a little bit too small and tends to fall out if I'm not careful. So, when I'm doing something active - like time travel - I wear the eye patch to keep it in place."

For a pirate, Captain Redbeard seemed pretty jovial, reminding Donovan a bit of Santa Claus.

"Now," said the Captain, losing the smile and becoming deadly serious, "let's discuss this dragon business."

"OK," said Donovan. "What is it that you want me to do?"

"Why, kill it, laddie!" said Captain Redbeard. "What else would you do with a dragon?"

"What!?" said Donovan.