Captain Jack and the Debt of Smiles

July 31st, 2006 by lynnylchan under Uncategorized

Today I be tellin’ ye a story. A story that happens on the bonny tropical shores of Singapore, where a certain Captain Jack be knocking back rum by the barrel. But this be not Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl, no. This be Jack Cheok-chai of the Red Dot. And this is the story of how he was pursued for a debt of abstract sums.

While one day happily knocking around on the ~~boat~~ ship, Jack came across an old friend, Ah Tan, who reminded him of his debt to Davey Jones. The formidable Davey Jones was a member of the IMF (International Mariners’ Folklore) and he was coming to Singapore for a visit. In fact *oops* he was already here, toe-to-toe with our Jack, who grinned sheepishly at him from behind a digicam.

“You owe me your smile, Jack Cheok-chai,” intoned the heavily bearded Jones. “You have captained the Red Dot for many years now, and your debt must be paid. Give me your smile.”

But Jack was, how shall we say, rather attached to his smile. It drove the ladies into swooning sighs, and combined with a steely eye, a bare-toothed grin was an effective weapon against a rebellious crew. He couldn’t part with it now.

“A deal, Davey Jones. How much would my smile be worth to you?”

“Arrr… it be worth a hundred more, it would. But you would never be able to convince a hundred others to part with their smiles. Pay up your debt, Jack,” repeated barnacle-breath Jones.

“Three days, three days and I shall have your smiles!” countered Jack. He whipped out his digicam.

“See this? This here” -and he zoomed in on a picture of a handsome young man- “oh yes, you’ll love his smile all right. He look familiar to you?”

Davey Jones peered at the little screen. “Nope.”

“He’s Ah Tan’s son, old man! Aye, and you do hold Ah Tan in high regard, eh? Take the boy, and that’s one less smile I owe you.” Jack connected his portable printer to the camera and printed out a credit-card-size picture of the younger Tan. Davey Jones extended a tentacular hand to accept the printout.

“Three days, Jack.” And with that, Davey Jones of the IMF (International Mariners’ Folklore) fell overboard with a splash.

Original campaign here.