Sirens

The first time I went on an adventure that involved a sea monster I was 13. My parents had 2 ships then, one for living on and one for working, my dad called it insurance, if the ship was lost during a battle at least his family and home was still safe. My dad's ship was named Kitchen Adventure, this was like another famous Pirate ship, Adventure Galley as a galley is also the name of a ships kitchen and also a tribute to my mother who worked in a pub kitchen when my dad met her, but that was another tale.
I was so excited to be setting sail on KAS (Kitchen Adventure Ship) that I hardly slept the night before, I could hear my dad being told all the things he could and couldn't do by my mother. I smiled as I pictured him nodding away while secretly planning to ignore everything my mother said. As soon as we set sail my dad called me into his quarters and there was the four female crew that had been waiting for us.
"we are going to fight a great monster this time" he said "but we need all your help to get there" he looked at me and smiled. "this monster is guarded by creatures known as Siren's, do you know what they are Sailboat?"
It was the first time he had used my pirate name and I was so happy I nearly missed the question "they call to ships singing or just saying nice things to lure them onto the rocks, legend said they use magic to make themselves look beautiful and really they are ugly"
Dad nodded "correct, women are not effected by this charm so I need you five to go ahead and get rid of the Sirens before we follow to take out the monster"
"Sir, why not just block the men's ears?" one of the women asked
"as they will still be able to see the illusion, I can't trust myself under magic and I have a beatiful woman at home, so I can't trust the crew not to fall for the magic"
the woman nodded "get some rest we'll set you with maps and supplies tomorrow and Sailboat?"
"yes dad, I mean Captain"
"you will be navigating so try and read up on your studies ok"
"yes, sir"
I was really excited to be going on a raid against a real monster but I fell asleep quickly as the sea air drifted round my bunk.
Next day we set off in a small boat with KAS anchored well away from the Siren's. It took us 2 days to find where the Sirens were hiding and as we approached I was very scarred. The lead pirate told us to wait as she scouted the entrance, moments later she screamed.
Please come back next week for more on my Sirens tale.