As the wooden clock in the living room struck one (though, this clock was not exactly reliable as a result of having been dropped several times) a burly man burst through the front door. A vile smell reeked from his wooden teeth, hidden by a thick nest of burly hair. He pulled his hat over his tangled mane. "Find thee boy, and bring him to me." He growled at the two fellows next to him. In a small room to his right, a woman with dark curly hair snatched a frying pan and entered to investigate the commotion. When she saw the three men, she dropped her pan and tried to retreat through the doorway, but the bearded man snatched her collar and pulled her too him. "I'm here to collect me debt, Babbling Bunny." he snarled at her, his hot breath nearly causing her to lose consciousness. "He's n-not here I s-s-swear!" she stammered. "He's gone off t-t-to the marketplace! You'll never f-find him!" He dropped the poor maiden to the floor and stormed through the front door, leaving the woman frightened and teary-eyed.
Down in the market place a young boy with a head full of messy brown hair, caramel-colored ears protruding from his scalp, a loose-fitting dirty shirt and patched-up pants raced around with the other boys in town. He heard a woman shout at them behind him, but he hadn't a care in the world. His biggest concern was finishing first after running through the market shops. He was in the lead by at least a few feet, and he was determined to win. Finally, he reached the end of the rows at the edge of the marketplace. "I won I did!" his strong cockney accent flooding the nearest shops. "I won I won I-" He was cut short by a strong pair of hands grabbing him by the arms and hoisting him in the air. "There yee are yee little landlubber!" He could see his mother racing down the hill as fast as she could to the marketplace. "NO PLEASE! GIVE ME MORE TIME I'M BEGGING YOU!" she screamed. The man threw the boy over his shoulder and sauntered over the docks over to a large, dark wooden ship with a seapony statue in the front and giant pony-skull flags. "PLEASE I CAN PAY YOU! DON'T TAKE MY SON!" The woman continued to scream madly. The masculine figure calmly retreated up the ramp onto the ship, they boy wriggling and squirming. "Let me go! My mother needs me!" The crewman hoisted up the anchor and the ramp onto the ship as it slowly made it's way away from the dock. "MOM!" the boy screamed wildly. "MOM!" The maiden ran to the edge of the dock, the ship too far away for her to do anything about it. She collapsed in a sobbing heap on the edge of the dock, flecks of salt sticking to her hair and ears. "My son..." she sobbed. "Pippin..."
