Display of courage in House of Leaves. From ""Tom's Story"", *House of Leaves*: I call this ""A Little Bedtime Story For Tom."" A long time ago, there was this captain and he was out sailing the high seas when one of his crew spotted a pirate ship on the horizon. Right before the battle began, the captain cried out, ""Bring me my red shirt!"" It was a long fight but in the end the captain and his crew were victorious. The next day three pirate ships appeared. Once again the captain cried out, ""Bring me my red shirt!"" and once again the captain and his men defeated the pirates. That evening everyone was sitting around, resting, and taking care of their wounds, when an ensign asked the captain why he always put on his red shirt before battle. The captain calmly replied, ""I wear the red shirt so that if I'm wounded, no one will see the blood. That way everyone will continue to fight on unafraid."" All the men were moved by this great display of courage. Well the next day, ten pirate ships were spotted. The men turned to their captain and waited for him to give his usual command. Calm as ever, the captain cried out, ""Bring me my brown pants.""