"Commodore Andrews, the banquet is about to begin."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. The two girls should be here soon." The Commodore checked his watch and looked across the deck for any sign of the girls. At last, from afar, a young lady in an elegant dress approached him with a neatly dressed young man beside her.
"It took you quite a long time to dress, Lynne," said the Commodore, cautiously eyeing the young man escorting his daughter. "Where is Alicia?" the Commodore asked as his eyes looked behind the young lady.
"I apologize but we were delayed. Father, this is Alexander. I met him this morning and he agreed to escort me to the party."
"Very well then, let's not waste time." The Commodore stretched out his hand to lead the way in the banquet hall.
"Father, you promised me and Alicia that as long as we are able to find ourselves a partner we could be excused from the party tonight. Remember?"
"Ah, yes… yes… I remember. And has Alicia found herself a partner?" The commodore suspiciously eyed his daughter.
"Oh yes. She has found a perfect partner for herself." The man spoke so suddenly that he surprised the commodore.
"I suppose Alexander here knows Alicia too. Then may I know who her partner is and where she is at the moment?"
"Well Commodore, she's standing right in front of you." As he said this, the "man" removed the fake mustache above her mouth. Alicia smiled and said: "Well Uncle, I told you I have the perfect partner, and it's your daughter!"
"Alicia, Lynne! I should have known that you two would be up to something! When will you girls grow up and act like ladies?" The commodore said furiously.
"Now, now Father, this is not the time to talk about this. The people are waiting for you inside. You better go."
"What do you mean I better go? The two of you are coming with me!"
"A promise is a promise!" Lynne spun around and grabbed Alicia's arm. The two girls ran off giggling, ignoring the Commodore's shouts. They ran to the starboard end of the ship, leaning against the railing, panting and laughing at the same time.
"The look on uncle's face was priceless," Alicia snickered.
"Indeed! Isn't it wonderful that we're spared from the party! Uugh… I hate corsets. I can hardly breathe. Next time, I'll play the role of the man."
"Next time? You do know that your father will make that impossible don't you?"
"That, my dear friend, just adds to the element of excitement!"
Hours passed by with nothing but chatting, joking, laughing and fooling around. They were so tired that the two girls lay down on the deck and remained silent. They could still hear music from below. Slowly, the two girls finally fell asleep.
Alicia woke up when a drop of water hit her nose.
"Huh? What?" she said groggily as she struggled to an upright position. "Aaah!" she screamed as the rain suddenly increased in force.
"Lynne!" she yelled, "Let's get out of this rain before it ruins our clothes!"
Lynne realized what was happening and jumped to her feet.
"Oh-oh." She said in shock. "Don't look up."
The perfect Caribbean sunset had disappeared and in it's place dark rain clouds covered the sky. The rumble of thunder reached their ears as they got drenched in the rain.
"Come on. We better change in our cabin or we'll catch cold." Alicia started off towards the cabins.
Suddenly, several crates, which had not been properly fastened to the deck, smashed onto the railing, nearly hitting the girls.
"Yoah!" yelled Alicia.
"Oh no! The way to the cabins is blocked! We have to move the crates to get out!" yelled Lynne.
They struggled with the crates but to no avail. They were simply too weak.
"Great! Now we're stuck outside in the rain." Lynne shouted in anger and stamped her foot on the floor.
In that instant, a huge wave smashed into the ship and knocked Lynne off balance. She fell down hard on the deck and slipped down towards the edge of the ship. She nearly fell of the ship but barely managed to grab the railing. Her legs were flying in the air and she was holding on for dear life. Alicia ran towards her and tried to pull her back onboard.
"Just hold on, Lynne. I'll pull you up! Owww… you're really heavy! But not to worry. Just a little…"
Another gigantic wave hit the ship causing it to dangerously tilt to its starboard. Alicia slipped and fell right into Lynne and both girls fell into the water. Alicia tried to swim but she was being pushed farther away from the ship by the strong current. It didn't help that her heavy formal garments weighed her down.
Alicia struggled to remove her ornately decorated coat and vest, but even with the lessened weight, what was left of her strength was quickly draining away. Her movements started to slow down and she started to sink lower and lower. Suddenly, her head bumped into something hard that almost knocked her out. She squinted her eyes and saw that it was a large piece of wood. She quickly grabbed it. She climbed onto it and lay down.
"Now I'm really wet but I'm still alive." She smiled to herself in relief. Remembering something suddenly, she jumped up. "Lynne!" She looked around her. The rain was still pouring so hard that she can hardly make out the ocean around her. She kept shouting out her friend's name for what seemed like ages, but there was no reply.
In the end, she was so exhausted and discouraged that she lay down again on the hard wood. She closed her eyes and tears started to trickle down her face and mixed with the raindrops.
"There is nothing else to do," she thought as the rain kept pouring down. "Only a miracle can save me now."
Reviews please! (Am I such a nag?) -;