Lystegicerityrannus
You and a guest have just won an all expense paid trip on the Lighthouse View cruise line! "That's a lot of bull," I said throwing the flyer behind me. Cruises are never free, it's just a ploy to get you to but or sell or something like that. I will not be made to do something so ridiculous. "Blaine, did you get the…..free cruise!!!" But my wife on the other hand, would.
"Oh my God, did you see this?" she yelled. "Yes dear I did, but…" I said but was abruptly cut off. "Good, then I guess this means we're going to the Bahamas," she said. "No, Keira listen, it is a scam. They obviously want something from us," I told her. "That's nonsense, they want us to take the cruise to see what it is like, it even says here it's a brand new cruise line," she said pointing to the flyer.
"But Kiera…" I bean to say as she through "the look" at me. She began to look at me with the puppy dog eye look but changed it to her own style. I sighed and shook my head. "Okay fine, but if we get scammed I'm blaming you," I said. She squealed and kissed me on the cheek. "You won't regret this," she said. "I better not," I said looking at the flyer.
"Call the number on the flyer to set it up," she told me. "Yeah okay," I said walking to the phone. I picked up the phone and dialed the number on the bottom of the flyer. It rang twice and picked up. "Hello and thank you for calling Lighthouse View cruise lines. This is Bert, how may I help you today?" the voice on the other side said. "Um…hi, I am Blaine Biggs and we got your flyer in the mail." I said to the phone. "Great, are you planning on reserving a cabin on our new ship?" Bert asked.
"Yes, my wife and I want to take your cruise," I said to him. "Terrific, now the cruise is two weeks, one week down, one week back, and you have your choice of cabin," he said. "Ok, well do you have a cabin with a big enough window?" I asked. "Yes sir we do," Bert said after a little typing. "Then we will take that," I told him. "Okay, now we need to enter in your information Mr. Biggs," he said during some typing.
"Okay," I said waiting for him to ask the questions. "Okay…what is your wife's name?" he asked. "Kiera," I responded. "How do you spell that?" Bert asked. "K-I-E-R-A," I said. "And what is your phone number?" he asked. "845-398-4202" I said. "And your date of birth?" he asked. "05/05/64" I said. "Do you have a valid US Passport?" he asked. "Yes I do," I said.
"Does your wife have a valid US Passport?" "Yes," I answered. "Okay that takes care of that information….oh and what is your credit card information? "G092 8J51 62K6 440B," I said hoping it wouldn't get stolen and I would be indebt for things I never purchased. "Okay…your account will be charged 3,000 dollars for your trip on our cruise," he said.
"Okay," I acknowledged. "Okay Mr. Biggs your trip is all set, enjoy and thank you for using Lighthouse View cruise lines," he said. "Okay, thank you, bye" I said. "You're welcome, good bye," he said and I heard a click. I hung up the phone and walked out to the living room. I ran my hands over my hair wondering if I got myself in an unexpected mess.
The phone rang and I picked it up. "Hello?" I answered. "Hello Mr. Biggs, it's me Bert…" the voice said. "Oh yes, is their a problem?" I asked. "Oh no, I forgot some information to tell you. The trip is scheduled for July 18th through July 27th, and a limo will be picking you up at 8 am sharp at your residence," Bert said. "Okay thank you," I said. "Okay, enjoy your cruise, good bye," he said then the phone clicked.
I hung up the phone again and walked back into the living room. Kiera walked into the room. "Is it all set?" she asked. "Yes, we leave on July18th come back the 27th," I said. "Oh great, I'll let the neighbors know and ask them to take in our mail and papers," she said. "Yeah, I'll have to let work know I'll be taking my vacation time," I said. She smiled and walked out the front door.
I picked the phone up yet again and dialed my work number. "Hola, this es Juan en Human Resources, how may I heeeclp you?" said the voice with thick Spanish accent. "Hola Juan me es Blaine," I said. "Oh, Señor Biggs, como esta?" "Muy bien y tu?" I answered. "Bien, bien. What can I heeeeclp you with today Señor Biggs?" he asked. "Well, I'm going on a cruise in July and I need to put in my vacation time," I said.
"Okay, let me bring up your file," he said while typing. I waited while you got my information. "Okay, when would you like to shedule your vacation?" he asked. "July 18th through the 27th," I said. I heard the typing over the phone. "Okay Señor Biggs, your vacation is set," he told me. "Gracias Juan," I said. "De nada Señor Biggs, enjoy your time off," he said.
"I will, chau," I said. "Chau, Señor Biggs," he said and we both hung up. The weeks went by and our cruise trip came closer. It finally came and we were up at the crack of dawn. I got my suit case and put it in the hall. I went back and did the same with Kiera's suitcase. "Geez Keira what the hell you got in here a freaking dinosaur?" I asked her struggling with her luggage.
"No Mr. Smart ass, just the essentials," she said finishing applying her makeup. "Essentials, my foot, if you could you'd take your entire closet," I said straining with the suitcase. "You're right but since I can't its all in my suitcase," she said. "What's more important, having all your damn make up or preventing your husband from getting a hernia?" I said stop the pulling on the suitcase.
"The first one," she said smirking. "Oh ha-ha, Ms. Funny Bones," I said. I gathered the anger I had and used it to pick up the suitcase and bring it to the hall. "Anything else I need to break my back to bring out to the hall?" I asked. "Yes, but since you're being a baby I'll bring it out myself," she said picking up her bathroom supplies bag and walking out to the hall.
I looked at the clock and it was 8:00 on the dot. The door bell rang as I turned away from the clock. "Damn, they're good," I said walking down the stairs to the front door. I opened the front door and saw a big black suited man. "Good morning sir, I'm Darnel, I will be your limo driver today," the man said. "Oh good, if you want you can pick up our luggage," I said to him with a smile.
"Yes sir," he said walking through the door. "Oh be careful of that one there, it's my wife's suitcase, so it might be a little heavy," I said. "I think I can handle it," he said the laughing. I went back upstairs to make sure we didn't forget anything. I looked around our room and saw everything was taken. I walked out to the limo and saw Kiera talking to Darnel as he was placing our stuff in the trunk.
I grabbed the last item before Darnel could and handed it to him. As soon as he took it from my something snapped in my head. "Wait!" I yelled. My wife and Darnel both looked at me. "Is something the matter sir?" Darnel asked me. "Yes…when I made the arrangements for the cruise I actually paid for it…" I said. "Why hell did you allow them to do that?" Kiera said.
"I don't know…" I said. Darnel shook his head and laughed. "You talked to Bert didn't you?" he said. "Yes…..why?" I said. "He's always doing that, trying to mess with the consumers head," he said. I clenched my fists and my teeth. "Don't worry sir. Just tell the head cruise supervisor and he'll sort it out," Darnel said. "Um…okay," I said. "Are we ready to depart?" Darnel asked.
"Yeah we are," I said. "Ok good," Darnel said getting into the drivers seat. I opened the door for Kiera and she got in. I went to the other side and got in. We put our seat belts on and Darnel started the engine. He did a K turn and drove to the boarding dock. We drove through our town and go onto the parkway and got closer to the city. We drove through the city blocks and reached the cruise harbor and stopped in front.
We got out and walked to the trunk. Darnel opened the trunk and we all started to take our belongings out and placed them on the curb. We took all our stuff out and turned. "Thank you for helping us," I said shaking his hand. "No a problem sir, just doing my job," he said smiling. We said good bye and he drove off. We turned around and saw a young boy picking our stuff up and placing it on a transport.
"Good day sir," the boy said smiling putting. "Good day," I said to him helping him with our luggage. "By the way Sir, Mr. Peltworth is waiting for you in the lobby," the boy said. He placed the last bag on the transport and began to push it into the lobby. We walked into the enormous lobby. We looked around the building and seeing the cruise liners through the big windows.
"Good day to you Mr. and Mrs. Biggs," a figure said approaching us. He extended his arm and I raised mine to meet his. We shook hands and smiled at each other. "I am the cruise supervisor Craig Peltworth," he said. "Oh, yes Mr. Peltworth," I said. "He let go of my hand and turned to face Kiera. "And hello to you Mrs. Biggs," he said taking her hand and pecking his lips to her hand.
Kiera giggled like a young girl and blushed. He let go of her hand and turned back to me. "I want to personally thank you for signing up for our free cruise," he said. "Um…I'd like to talk to you about that," I said. "Oh? Is there a problem?" he said concerned. "Well yes, it seems when I made our reservations the operator asked for my credit card information and I didn't realize until today that was wrong," I said.
"Hmmm, I see. Was your operator Bert?" he asked. "Yes," I said. "Well Mr. Biggs I apologize on behalf of the entire company. As compensation you with receive a little gift from the company," he said. "Oh thank you Mr. Peltworth," Kiera said. "Yes, thank you," I said. "And I will personally take care of this and get you back your credit money," he said. "Oh again thank you," I said shaking his hand firmly.
"It's no trouble, we can't have any bad things go wrong on the first trip can we?" he said. "No, I don't think so," I said. "Good, well you two enjoy the cruise, and don't worry about your money, I will take care of it," he said. "We can't thank you enough," I said. "It's my pleasure to help you out. Good bye and enjoy the cruise," he said. "We will thank you," I said.
We shook hands one last time and departed for the boarding area. We walked over to the sign that said "Cruise Line Boarders". I stepped up to the desk. "Name," the girl behind the desk said. "Blaine Biggs," I said. She looked at the computer in front of her. "Okay, yes Mr. Biggs, Can we see your passports?" she asked. I handed her our passports.
"Okay Mr. Biggs everything is all set, enjoy the cruise," she said. "Okay thank you," I said taking our passports back. We walked to the left which the signs told us to go and walked to the gate. We walked down a long narrow hallway and we reached the end and stopped at the gate. "Here's you return passes and enjoy your cruise," a young man said. "I smiled and nodded taking the passes.
We walked onto the cruise liner and stopped again at a small podium. A man stood there with a pen in his hand. "Name," he asked. "Biggs," I replied. "Your cabin is Cabin #219," he said handing me a keycard. "Okay thank you," I said sliding the key card into my pocket. We walked to the stairs and walked up to our level. We walked to our door saw our bags sitting by the door.
I slid the cardkey into the slot and the door unlocked. I pushed open the door and picked up our things and walked into the cabin. The cabin wasn't too big but there was enough room to move around. I looked down and saw a small box with an envelope on it. I picked it up and open the envelope. I pulled out a folded piece of paper which I unfolded and read.
"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Biggs,
I again apologize for the inconvenience and I took care of everything. Here is a small gift as part of the apology. I hope you enjoy it, Once again I am sorry, but enjoy your cruise.
Sincerely Craig Peltworth,"
"Hmmm," I said. "What is it?" Kiera asked me. I opened the box and lifted out a small but heavy object. I looked like an address book. "They gave us an address book?" Kiera said sounding disappointed. I opened it up and saw a small screen like a little TV almost. The screen lit up and flashed the word, "Hello". I was shocked at a moment but I was yet to be really shocked.
"Welcome to the Electronic Handheld Encyclopedia," it said. "Wow, it's an electronic encyclopedia," I said surprised. "Active scanner sensor?" the device said. "Um…yes?" I said. "Scanner sensor activated. You may now point your EHE at anything and the scanner will process the information," the EHE said. "Cool!" I said sounding impressed.
I closed the EHE and slid it into my back pocket. We took our luggage and began to unpack our clothes. I placed my clothes into the small dresser next to my bed, and placed my suitcase on the other side of the dresser. I turned to Kiera who was still putting her clothes away. "But the time you finish the cruise will be over," I said jokingly. "Why don't you go look around and leave me alone." she said slightly angered.
"Okay, I'll be back later," I said. "Yeah, good ridden," she said. I walked out the cabin door and closed it behind me. I looked around and saw more people getting into their cabins and walking around. I saw a door that led to the outside deck part of the ship. I walked out side and looked out to see the city skyscape. Other passengers were taking pictures of the city.
I wanted to save my battery power for the Bahamas. I just watched the city as it went on doing what it did. There was a blast from behind me almost defining everyone. The smoke stacks from the cruise blasted with smoke and the whistle blared with intensity. Most passengers waved to the people on the land area saying there good byes for the two weeks.
The liner pulled away from the dock and travel down the water along the side of the city. I looked at my watch and saw it was 9:37 pm. I was getting hungry since we didn't have breakfast before we left. I watched as the city went one way and the liner went the other. I felt arms come around me and a body press against my back. I turned to see Kiera pressing close to my back feeling a warm connection.
"What's this all of a sudden?" I said. "Can't I hug my husband?" she said. "Well, yes you can but you're not normally like this," I told her. "Well maybe it's because of open water or something," she said as she hugged me tighter. It made me feel warm on the inside. The liner reached the edge of the city and into open water. "Let's get something to eat," I said to Kiera.
"Okay, I'm starving," she said smiling. "I took her hand and we walked back into the ship and walked to the big map of the ship and looked for the dinning hall. I was straight down on the floor we were on. We walked down the hall and saw a room with big doors. We walked in and saw a huge table with breakfast foods on it. I thought I died and gone to heaven.
I picked up a plate and started to pile on the food. "Blaine, if you eat all that you're gonna have a heart attack," Kiera said. "Nah, I'll be fine," I said not even looking over at her. We sat down and I chowed down on the feast that was on my plate. I scarfed down bacon, sausage, and eggs. The food was so good and didn't want to stop eating. Kiera shook her head and ate the bagel on her plate.
I chugged the glass of orange juice the waiter laid down next to me as I was eating. I finished it all and sat back in my chair. Kiera finished her bagel and wiped her face. "I'm not dragging you butt anywhere if you have a heart attack Blaine," she said. "No worries dear, I'm in good health," I reassured her. She looked at me and shook her head again.
Kiera finished her bagel and we got up and walked out of the dinning hall. We took a stroll down the halls of the ship and looked at everything that was fascinated us. I noticed a women struggling with a suitcase. It looked like she was really straining to get in into her room. I walked over to help her. "Let me help you with that," I said picking up the suitcase.
"Oh thank you, those were quite heavy," The woman said. "You are welcome Ms…" I said. "Cartoole, Lynn Cartool," she said. "You're welcome Ms. Cartoole," I said. "It's Mrs., and please call me Lynn," she said. "Oh okay," I said smiling. "By the way I'm Blaine Biggs, and this is my wife Kiera," I said. Kiera raised her hand and smiled.
"Well it's good to meet you both," Lynn said. "Are you here with someone?" Kiera asked. "Oh yes, I'm with my husband Charlie, he's put looking for our missing bag," she said. "Oh…I hope he finds it," I said. "Me too, but my husband is a good finder, he could find two needles, piece of thread, and an olive in a hay stack," she said. "Wow…" I could only say.
"So what brings you two on this cruise?" Lynn asked us. "Well, for one thing it's free and…well that's pretty much the reason," I said. "Yeah me and Charlie too, but also we are doing something romantic for once," she said. I started to think when she said that. And I thought of just before when Kiera was affectionate to me. I realized that this cruise was also something I could use to make Kiera feel romanticized.
"Oh, how nice," Kiera said. "Yeah, I hope it all woks out for you," I said smiling. "Thank you," Lynn responded. "Lynn I found it," a male voice said right outside the doorway. A man walked in carrying a small bag. He stopped short and looked at us. "Oh…hello," he said. "Great hun, you got it," Lynn said walking over to him. "Yeah, it was buried under a lot of other luggage, but that wasn't gonna stop me," he said then chuckling.
She walked over to him and took the bag from his hand and kissed him on the cheek. "Charlie, these are the Biggs, Blaine and Kiera," Lynn said. "Oh…Hello," he said. "They helped me with the luggage we did have," she said. "Oh, thank you for helping my wife," Charlie said. "It was no problem, I'm always helping people who need it," I said trying not to boast.
"Is there any way to repay you for your kindness in return?" Charlie asked. I looked at my watch and saw it was almost noon. "Well it's almost lunch, how about you join us to get something to eat," I said. "That would be great, thank you," Charlie said. We all walked out of their cabin and walked to the dinning hall again as we did for breakfast.
There was a much wider spread of food than there was for breakfast. My eyes lit up at all the food that was there. We all took a plate and worked around the big table. The first part was fruit platters with a wide assortment of fruits. I took a few pieces of watermelon because it was my favorite. The next set of trays was cheese. I took a few slices of cheddar, American, and a slice of Munster.
I loved cheese ever since I was young. Next to the cheese was an as similar assortment of crackers as there was cheese. I took a few of them and moved to the next set of trays. There was a mountain of sandwiches on the tray and I took a half of a ham and American cheese sandwich. I moved to the last set of trays and saw a pile of hamburgers and next to that, hotdogs.
I took a hamburger and a hotdog and staked out a table. I sat down at a table that accompanied four people. I got back up and grabbed a thin plastic cup from the table and went over to the drink dispenser. I slid it under the Diet Coke spout and pushed the little button. I filled my cup up and walked back to the table. I sat back down pulling my plate of deliciousness closer.
I quickly swallowed down the fruit, cheese, and the crackers. I took the ketchup from the table and shook it to have some of its contents on my hamburger. I placed the bottle back down and raised the ground beef-wich to my mouth. I took a nice big bite and chewed it. It was so savory, I chewed it so slow to completely enjoy it. "That's some appetite you got there Blaine," Charlie said.
I swallowed down my food. "Thanks…" I said. Charlie chuckled. Kiera shook her head in embarrassment. "What do you two do for a living?" he asked taking a sip of water. "I am a computer specialist for Viking National Bank and Kiera does secretarial work for our school district," I said taking another bite out of the burger. "Oh, that seems like good jobs. I, myself is an electrician by trade and Lynn works at a daycare," he said.
"Oh that's nice," Kiera said. I finished my beef-wich and gulped down some soda then starting on the hot dog. I chomped down half of it in one breath. I swallowed hard making all of it slide down my throat. "Do you have any kids?" Lynn asked? "No, we are on our own," I said then eating the rest of the hotdog. "Aww, that's a shame," Lynn said. "Naw, its okay, my brother has five kids and four are boys," I said.
Charlie chuckled again. "No worries then eh?" he said still chuckling. I saw everyone was done at the same time as me and we all got up and threw away our trash. "So…what should we do now?" I asked. "Well we could go sit in the sun up on the deck," Lynn suggested. "Oh, that sounds great," Kiera said. I wasn't much of a sun person but I did wanna see what the open water was like.
"Sure, sounds good," I said. "How about you two meet us in front of our room then we can go up there together," Charlie said. "Sure, that's great," I said. "Okay see you in a little while," Charlie said walking away. Lynn smiled and followed her husband. Kiera and I walked back to our room. We both got out our swim attire and put them on. I put on my palm tree shirt on and my flip flops.
I swung a towel over my shoulder and walked towards the door. Kiera had on a two piece bathing suit that made my eyes follow her curves. I could tell she was blushing as I was looking her up and down. I blushed a little myself knowing she knew I was staring at her. She put her purse in a bigger bag and took the bag as well as a towel. "Ready dear?" I asked her.
"Yeah," she said putting on a thin robe and picking up the bag. She walked past me and I pulled the door shut. We walked down to Lynn and Charlie's cabin. I knocked on their door. The door opened and Lynn smiled. "Are you guys good to go?" she asked. "Yes we are," I smiled. "Lynn and Charlie walked out of their room and shutting the door and started to walk to the deck.
We walked out of the doors and out into the salty fresh air. I took a deep breath in and filled my lungs. I let the air sink into my lungs and let it go. The air was so embracing. I never felt such a clean air in my lungs before. We walked down the deck and reached the wide open area of the deck. We walked over to a set of four empty reclining chairs.
I sat down on the almost stinging hot chair. The sun was beating on it all day, but not long enough to burn whoever sat in it. I slid off my shirt and kicked off my flip flops and lied back letting the sun's ultra violet rays burn my skin. It felt so nice in the sun. I looked at Kiera on the left of me and saw her body glistening in the sun. Right there and then I agreed that the cruise was a good idea.
I saw Kiera close her eyes and drift off. I looked to my right and saw Lynn and Charlie were doing the same. I shrugged shoulders and lied all the way back and closed my eyes. Not much later the suns' warmth made me slip off. I awoke some time later and looked at my watch I placed on top of my shirt next to my chair. It said it was getting close to 5 pm.
"Kiera wake up it's getting late," I said shaking her shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened and turned to me. "What time is it?" she asked me. "4:54," I said. She sat up and stretched. "Wow, we've been here that long?" she said rubbing on of her eyes. "Yeah we should get out of the sun now," I said putting my shirt back on. Kiera started to put her covering on.
"Should we say something to Lynn and Charlie?" she said. "Yeah, I think we should," I said. I went over between them and tapped them on their shoulders. "Hey guys, its almost 5, think we should get back out of the sun," I said. "Yeah good call Blaine," Charlie said getting up. Charlie put his shirt back on and gave a little stretch. "Do you wanna join us for dinner?" he asked us.
"Well, thank you for the offer but Blaine and I are tired from waking up so early so we are just going to rest up," Kiera said. I nodded at her words. "Oh okay, well I guess this is good night then. See you guys later and I hope we can be together for the rest of the cruise," Charlie said. "Oh definitely," I said. "Great, it's been a pleasure to meet you two and see you later," he said waving.
"Like wise," I said waving back. Kiera grabbed her things and her and I walked back to our cabin. I opened the door and we sat down on our beds. We both took showers to cool down from our sunbathing and changed into light sleep wear. I got into my bed and closed my eyes. My eyes were moving around behind my eyelids which meant I had a case of R.E.M.
Kiera slid the curtain over the window and my R.E.M. stopped. I got comfortable in the bed. Moving around in it I realized how wide it actually was. You could see that a second person could fit in it. I stopped thinking and relaxed as I tried to fall asleep. Silently I felt something rub against me. I opened my eyes and turned to see Kiera lying next to me.
"What is this?" I asked. "What, I can't sleep next to you?" she said without opening her eyes. "No, you can it's just…" I started to say as she laid a finger over my lips. "Just go to sleep dear," she said. "I silently agreed and closed my eyes. I felt Kiera's arm move around me and I smiled. I interlocked my hand into hers. I felt her get closer to me and we drifted off into slumber.
I slept like a baby that night never awaking even once. I woke up to the air horn of the ship blaring. I did not feel the ship waving back and forth, I opened the curtain and saw the ocean waves. I scratched my head. I got dressed and walked out into the hall. I looked around and saw many people conversing among themselves. I walked out to the deck. I saw the ocean and land off the side of the ship.
I walked to the main deck area where I could see what was going on. I reached the main deck area and saw a huge tropical scene. I looked over the side towards the front of the ship and saw the front tip was lodged on a sand bank. The hull was torn open about 10 feet wide and 15 feet high and I knew we weren't leaving this place anytime soon. I saw a few of the crew of the cruise walking onto the sandy area.
I saw a rope latter hanging down from the frontal part of the ship. The crew walked over to the hole and examined it. I couldn't hear what they were saying but I did see them shake their heads. I looked out at the tropical area and saw how big it was. I was certain this wasn't a small area we were stuck on. As I looked as far as I could I saw distant trees shaking.
There must have been a strong wind towards the center of the area. I looked around and saw that it was definitely an island. I could tell we were only at a smaller tip of the island. I heard some rather loud conversation coming from where the captain guides the ship. It got louder as I saw them come out of the cockpit like area. "What do you mean you didn't see it?" one of the men said.
"It was pitch black out there and the map does not say there's even an island here," the other man said. "Let me see that thing." The first man said grabbing a map from the second. He red the map and shoved it back at the second man. "You obviously have an out dated map," he said. "No, it's a fairly updated one," the second man said. "That can't be true," the first man said.
"Listen Stechmen, this is an updated map," the second man said. "Listen Captain, you're excuses aren't cutting it, get a new map and figure out how to get us out of this mess," the man who was call Stechmen said then storming off. The captain saw me and looked down at me. I shrugged my shoulders and the captain sighed and went back into the steering area.
I went back to the cabin since there was now a slight crisis going on. I got back to the cabin and saw Kiera looking out the window. "Why isn't the boat moving?" she asked. "Well it seems the boat hit an island last night and now we are marooned," I said. "How the hell was that possible?" she said. "I don't really know," I said. I didn't mention what I heard because I didn't want to start a rumor.
"How long do you think we will be here?" she asked me. "I don't know, I hope it won't be too long," I said. "Yeah me too," she said a little worried. I heard a loud noise outside the ship, but it didn't sound like the horn. It had a more eerie sound to it. I didn't recognize it so I wasn't completely sure what it was but it sent a chill down my spine. I saw it made Kiera also uneasy.
"What was that?" Kiera asked. "No idea, maybe it's another cruise liner or something," I said trying to make it seem better for a rescue. It made Kiera relax a bit but I saw she was still tense. I heard a loud tapping from the hall and stepped out to see what it was. It was the ships PA system. "Attention all passengers, Attention all passengers," the voice said.
Everyone looked up at the speakers. "As most of you have seen, the ship has unexplicalbly stuck on an island. We seemed to have had navigation failure. The ship has been damaged beyond current repair. We have radioed for help, so no need to worry," he said reassuring as possible. I knew what he said wasn't the truth, but I decided to keep my mouth shut for the most part.
"And please for your own safety do not leave the ship unless absolutely necessary. That is all for now," the voice said. I lowered my head and went back into the cabin. "I feel really uneasy about this Blaine," Kiera said. "I know, I do too," I said. I walked to her and hugged her. "Don't worry about the situation, I will take care of you and won't let anything happen to you," I said.
The voice from that PA came back on. "Attention all passengers, we have sent crew members to investigate the new surroundings. You will be posted if anything comes up. That is all," the voice said. Kiera and I walked out to the deck and saw a bunch of men walked out to the open area and gathered together. It looked like they were being instructed by a man among them.
As they were getting instructed on the far corner of the island, I saw what looked like a deer or maybe some kind of antelope. I bent its head to nibble on the greenery at the edge of the thick tropical forest and the beach. I was wishing I had a camera because the animal would have made a nice souvenir. I smiled at the gentle creature until I saw the trees behind it were rustling.
The antelope was pulled into the thick forest and saw what looked like some kind of red liquid. "Oh my God!" I yelled. "What is it Blaine?" Kiera asked. "Did you see that?" I said. "See what?" she said. "What happened to the antelope thing," I said. "What antelope thing?" she said. "Well obviously you didn't see it," I said. It was for the best she didn't see it really.
She might have flipped out and I said I'd keep her safe. "What was it?" she asked. "Never mind, it's not important," I said. "Are you sure?" she said. "Yes," I said. I could tell she knew something was wrong. After witnessing that little occurrence I knew that this island was not safe. I knew we had to be alert know that I knew something could be stalking us.
But the protection of the ship made me breathe much easier. But I did wonder if those crew members were going to be safe. I prayed for them and for a safe return, but knowing we were now marooned along with possibly a thousand more people that it may not work. I was thinking to myself how did we not feel the boat slam into the island beach. I figured we were very heavy sleepers.
I decided to see if Lynn and Charlie were okay. "Kiera, I'll be back, I'm gonna go check on Lynn and Charlie," I said. "Okay," she said and I left the room. I walked down the hall hasty towards their cabin. I reached their door and l knocked on it. The opened and Charlie stood there. "Hey Blaine, how's it going?" he said. "Are you guys alright?" I asked. "Yeah we're okay," Charlie said.
"Oh good," I said relieved. "Did you hear the PA announcement?" I asked Charlie. "Yeah we did it's a shame. Technology is getting less reliable," he said. "That's not what happened," I said. "What? Really?" he said. "Yeah I heard the captain and some other guy arguing," I said. "What did they say?" asked Charlie. "Well the captain says the map doesn't show an island here," I said.
"Really? What else did you hear?" he asked. "Well the captain was talking to a guy named Stechmen, and he said to the captain that he was wrong and argued about the map, and then Stechmen walked away," I said. "Hmm, interesting," Charlie said. "And you'll not gonna believe what I saw," I told him leaning into his doorway. "What?" he said. "Well it startled me and was nothing short of alarming," I said.
"Oh man, what was it?" Charlie said. "I'm not sure for certain but I saw an antelope like animal by the edge of the forest on the island and it was pulled back into the forest by something, and I am sure it wasn't anything friendly," I sad. "Oh crap, do you think the crew looking on the island will be safe?" he said. "I was thinking that too, I hope so," I said.
"Should we say something about this?" he asked. "I don't know, but I don't want to scare Kiera," I said. "Yeah, I don't want to freak out Lynn either," he said. "Let's just keep it to ourselves for now and if it should be said, then we will say something," I said. "Yeah that sounds good," he said to me. "Oh hello Blaine," Lynn said passing the door. "Hi Lynn," I said.
"I was washing up, how are you this morning?" she asked me. "Oh I'm doing well despite this whole stranded thing going on," I said rubbing the back on my neck. "Yeah, usually I would be panicked about something like this but for some reason I feel really calm. I don't know maybe it was that other horn I heard earlier before that's putting me at ease," she said.
I thought about that sound she was referring to and I shuddered. "You okay there buddy?" Charlie asked me. "Yeah I'm good, I just thought of something," I said. "Are you going to be okay?" Lynn asked me. "Yes I'll be alright," I said. "Is Kiera doing well too?" she asked. "Yes she okay, she's a little unnerved but she'll be fine," I said. "That's good. I think I will go se her," she said.
"I think she'd like that," I said. "Okay then, I'm going to see her, see you two later," she said leaving the room. "Hey Blaine, what was that shuddering back there for," Charlie asked me. "Okay well that sound that Lynn was referring to made me," I said. "Oh, how come?" he said. "Well it didn't sound like any ship horn to me. It sounded more like something possibly natural," I said.
"Like what?" he asked. "No idea, but it made both Kiera and I nervous," I said. "Well whatever it was we will help each other if it comes out to be something unwanted and we will also help out if its something that's gonna help us," he said. "Yeah, sounds a like plan," I said. "Friends stick together no matter how long they have known each other," Charlie said.
"Yeah, that's right," I said all gung-ho. "Great. We stick together and nothing will stand in our way," he said. "Yeah!" I said getting really riled up. I got so excited that I began to forget the terror that could possibly come to us. "What do you want to do?" he asked me. "How about we start by checking on the ladies," I said. "Yeah that's a good idea," he said.
We walked back down to my cabin to meet Lynn and Kiera. We walked and saw some nervous folks walking around the ship. I noticed there weren't any children among the passengers. It made me a little happier to know that no real young casualties will happen. We walked all the way down to my cabin and saw Kiera and Lynn talking. "Are you gals doing alright?" Charlie said.
"Yeah we are fine," Lynn said. Kiera nodded in agreement. I could tell Kiera was more at ease since earlier. "So I guess we can't really enjoy the cruise since we are stranded. What can we do?" Charlie said. "Pray?" Kiera said. "Well yes we can do that but we won't do that all day," he said. "We can see if there is any signs of other life that could help us," I said.
"How will we do that?" Lynn asked. "Well we could go out to the deck and see if there's anything around," I said. "Yeah and we can mention if we find any useful info to the captain," Charlie said. "Yeah that's a good idea," Kiera said. I was hoping that we would find anything that would help us get off the island and away from what could kill all of us.
"Let's go out there," Charlie said motioning his hands. We all went out to the deck and walked out to the edge of the ship and looked out towards the island. At first glance there was nothing but the beach and the forest. "Excuse me folks," a voice said behind us. We turned around and saw a man approach us. I recognized him as the Stechmen guy who was arguing with the captain earlier.
"You shouldn't really be in this area, we don't want anything unfortunate to happen to anyone," he said. "We are only trying to help to see if we can spot anything useful," Charlie said. "Well we appreciate you for doing so but we don't want anyone hurt," he said. I knew this guy would be trouble and a big pain. I was hoping he would not say anything to anger any of us.
"So if you would be so kind to step back. I have to climb down anyway to talk to the maintenance about our options," he said. We backed away and he moved towards the hanging ladder and began to climb down. Before he disappeared down the side of the ship he said, "Next time don't be stupid and get you or anyone else in danger." Lynn and Kiera scoffed at his remark.
I wanted to break the ladder and watch him fall the way down. We watched him climb down and walk over to the man looking at the damage. They started talking and the maintenance started to use his hands to show something. Stechmen wasn't complying with what he was saying. He just kept shaking his head as the maintenance man was talking.
He stopped talking and Stechmen began to talk nasty to him. We could tell because the anger on his face. After a short time they were both yelling. We could here insults coming out of Stechmen. The maintenance man just threw his arms up and started to walk away. Stechmen grabbed him and pulled him back. He just pushed Stechmen away grabbing his name tag and throwing it near the forest/beach edge.
The maintenance man walked towards the ladder and began to climb up it. Stechmen really mad began to walk over to retrieve his name badge. I knew something awful would happen if we went to get his badge. "Wait! Don't go over there!" I yelled to him. He turned and looked up at us. Kiera, Lynn, and Charlie all looked at me too. "Come back on to the ship!" I yelled out to him again.
He turned back to where his badge was and continued walking. "Damn it, you idiot," I said but not yelling. "Blaine, he's just getting his badge," Kiera said. "I know but I have a bad feeling if he goes over there," I said. "I'm sure he will be fine," Lynn said. I was hoping nothing happened to him, but at the same time I wanted to see him get ripped to pieces by something out there.
Stechmen bent down and picked up his badge. I sighed in a little relief hoping he'd come back quickly. He started to walk back but stopped after a few steps and turned back facing the forest. The maintenance man reached the top of the ladder and climbed onto the ship and walked right passed with out looking back. Stechmen must have heard something so he tried to peer into the forest to see what it was.
He turned back quickly and started to run back frantically. He ran only a few steps when a big creature jumped out from the dark thicket of the forest and landed on top of him. "Holy shit!" Charlie yelled. The creature looked like a really big lizard, but none I have ever seen. I could see the pain on Stechmen's face and the creature sniffed him. The creature stopped sniffing him and did something that couldn't be seen by us because of the distance.
But it was obviously painful for Stechmen screamed out in pain. Stechmen tried to get away but the creature moved his foot near the back of his neck and did a fast movement with its foot. Stechmen's head fell down into the sand and he laid there lifeless. The creature jumped off of him and grabbed him by its mouth and dragged him back into the forest.
The captain and others ran to where we were standing. "I heard a scream," the captain said. "Yeah, it was one of your guys. He was tall and had real short brown hair and was balding a little," Charlie said. "Mr. Stechmen?" the captain said. "Is Mr. Stechmen a jerk?" Charlie said. "Yeah," the captain replied. "Then yeah it was him," Charlie said.
"What happened?" the captain asked. "Well he and the maintenance man argued and the maintenance guy threw his name badge over there and when he went to go get it some big lizard jumped out and killed him," I said scared and frantic. The captain looked out to where I pointed. "There's nothing out there," he said. "The creature pulled him into the forest," I said.