Daniel Markham loved his father’s mysterious friends, visiting in the dead of night but always gone by morning. He never imagined they could be pirates. But when the Markhams’ merchant vessel is plundered by the pirate ship Tempest Galley and his father shot dead in an act of revenge, Daniel can’t deny the truth. And now, orphaned and alone, Daniel is trapped and faced with a choice: Join the crew or die. Unprepared for the temptations of pirate life and for the captain’s inexplicable kindness toward him, Daniel knows only one thing for certain: One false step on a pirate ship could be deadly, and he’ll do anything to stay alive.

Fourteen-year-old Daniel's life is turned upside down when his father's merchant ship is plundered by pirates in 1696 and Daniel is forced to stay aboard the pirate ship as a hostage.

In the early nineteenth century, when his sea-captain uncle invites him to assist the ship's surgeon on his next voyage, orphaned, fourteen-and-a-half-year-old Phillip, eager to be with family, accepts only to find out that his uncle is a slave trader.

Innocence Lost discusses the feelings behind a new soul's introduction into society and how society has disappointed the soul. Innocence does not understand the way life rejects his honesty and sincerity but instead wishes him to conform to the society's standards. Innocence travels through the eyes of his friends Honesty, Trust, Faith, Loyalty, and Love and sees the effects of society on children, marriages, friendship, and life. Innocence continues to search as he describes himself and the treatment of his friends. To his amazement, his innocence is being lost. The stories which Innocence encounters along his journey are too graphic and too harsh at times for him to bear. Innocence turns inward for guidance. His internal guidance pushes him towards his old but true friends Honesty, Trust, Faith, Loyalty, and Love, true friends who had been forgotten but were always present. Innocence eventually learns to guide his soul back to its origin. His story is told through his poetry. My Website: http://www.myspace.com/truthfulinnocence Please see website for essay contest