A Captain's Parley

Oi! I hopped up onto the damp wooden garden table, cutlass twig tucked tight under me stubby arm, when suddenly I froze. Sitting right beside a ceramic saucer was an enormous, glossy black beetle with two twitching antennae! Arrrgh me hearties, a terrifying sea monster blocking me path! I puffed out me plush chest, raised me twig like a true swashbuckler, and gave a fierce pirate hiss to send him fleeing. But the little beastie just tilted his shiny head and tapped one antennae right against me wooden cutlass! He wasn't scared at all. Seeing his bold spirit, I lowered me twig, gave a polite nod, and let him scuttle past into the ivy.