December 20th 1952 8:30am New York

The entirety of the car ride was eerily silent yet the air was hot with emotions. Glen and Anna stared out of their windows, almost admiring the scenery they've seen thousands of times before. The thought of never seeing New York again, the place they grew up as kids, worried them deeply. Glen, still keeping his gaze out of the window, placed his left hand over Anna's right, that was placed in the middle seat, reassuring her that everything is going to be alright.

The car's speed decreased before it came to an immediate stop at a populated dock. The driver stepped out of the vehicle, his expensive shoes clicking on the pavement. Anna's door was kindly opened by the driver leaving Glen to open his own door.

They both exited the vehicle and were greeted by the sounds of heavy equipment at work and the muffled conversations between many sailors and crew. "Alright you two, the captain is stationed at his boat down at dock 18, he's awaiting your arrival so I'd get to it." His head sharply turned towards the limo, he trotted back and drove off without a second look.

As they walked down to the dock the smell of sea was overwhelming; crew pulling up nets full of fish, barrels stacked on each other carrying pounds of sea critters, and men scraping barnacles off the side of ships. There wasn't a moment of calm on the docks so they moved through crowds of men cautiously. On a wooden plaque a faded white painted '18' was on display, pointing them to the right direction.

Upon arrival there was no one in sight except a very new looking tug boat bobbing in place. They looked around expecting someone to greet them but as glen walked closer to the boat he heard a loud sound behind a small stack of crates. An old man sleeping in a chair wearing a captains hat snoring as if he was choking on water.

Glen looked back at Anna with a stern look, "awaiting our arrival alright, pshhh."

She walked up next to him, "well maybe try tappin on him to wake him up."

He seemed hesitant but he went for it. First he tried gently patting his shoulder which didn't do anything whatsoever, so he then tried poking his chest. The captain slowly opened his eyes.

"Aye, are yerr the two i'm bringin aboard my ship?" His voice was rough and scratchy almost as if he had flem in the back of his throat.

Glen reached out to shake his hand, "yes captain, I'm Glen Gaylor and this is my wife Anna Gaylor."

Anna standing a little behind Glen acting somewhat shy, "Hi I'm Anna."

The captain looked down at Glen's hand and went in for a handshake, "Why I'll tell y'all, I ain't never met a Gaylor before, I will say it is a funny one." His chuckle was raspy and unpleasant. "Well why don't y'all hop aboard and check her out."

The tug boat was smaller in size compared to others, tires hung off the sides to protect the boat from being scratched. It looked very polished and from the outside it seemed to have an upper floor dedicated for the captain.

They toured themselves through the ship and walked down a small set of stairs into the bottom floor. "This is just like home." Glen told Anna sarcastically.

There was a small shower placed a couple feet from their bunk beds which were smaller than usual. Glen being 6' 3" was annoyed by the bed size, "Anna, can you explain to me how exactly I'm going to sleep on this?" He was eyeing the bed with annoyance.

"Well it's simple Hun, you're not." Anna found her joke amusing and laughed, Glen on the other hand was pissed off.

As they kept looking around they noticed a fridge that had enormous amounts of food, alcohol, beer, and other beverages placed within. Next to that there was a counter and pantry with even more food. "Well at least we're not gonna starve out on the water. Ha." Glens stomach already rumbling.

The cramped living space was just something they would need to look over or else they'd go mad. Loud steps came down the stairs and the captain stood in the entryway, "I do hope y'all are gettin comfortable with your quarters, you can get y'all selves situated until the other two show up."

Both of their eyebrows raised, "Excuse me? Did you say another two?" Anna spoke softly. The captain started to walk back up the stairs while responding, "Yes Ma'am that is correct." His harsh voice fading as he walked up to the deck.

"Fucking perfect." Glen still observing the small interior. "I thought it was bad with just the two of us. Four people living in this shithole is impractical!"

"You seriously need to calm down and stop over thinking things, just go with the flow and stop worryin." Anna kept a smirk on her face.

An hour passed before more noise erupted above them, it was multiple footsteps, "Seems to be the other people...about time they showed up." Glen said staring at the ceiling.

He went quiet and directed his attention at the staircase. An African American man and woman walked down the stairs to see Glen and Anna giving them both a friendly smile.

"Good morning, I am Floyd Jackson and this is my beautiful wife Lucy. I'm pleased to meet you both." Floyd reached his hand out.

Glen started to analyze the two and listed his observations in his mind. "He has some very polished shoes, Those pleated trousers look expensive, A nice white button up tucked in, sleevs rolled up, Black fedo- wait... HE HAS A ROLEX! That watch just came out months ago, hes gotta be a rich man."

The captain walked back down, "we're sailing off in 10 minutes, get yourself ready it's gonna be a twenty-two day long voyage."

All four of them seemed astounded by how long the trip would be but they set up all their luggage and other material items in their shared cabin and prepared themselves for their adventure somewhere beyond the sea.