Meeting of Love

As the sun rises, Emma Windchill's eyes fluttered open. Today's the day! It's a 3-week cruise to Alaska. She jumped out of her bed and tiptoed to her sister's bed that was just across from her, Grace Windchill. "Grace," she whispered. "Today's the day!" she immediately wakes up and together, they tiptoe into their parent's room and…tickle them awake! They laugh awake.

"Alright, alright!" They laugh. "We're up, we're up! What's with the all of the excitement?"

"Have you forgotten?" Emma asked in disappointment. They laugh. "Wait, you do remember!"

"Of course we do!" James and Jane say as they jump out of bed. "You two girls are so happy!"

"Well, duh!" The two girls say in unison. "We've waited for 3 years!" They laugh out loud.

"Alright, let's go and we should eat at McDonald's while we're driving there," Jane said.

"That sounds good," Grace said. They didn't have to bring that much, because they already had packed a week before the trip. Once they got Emma's book, headphones, and Grace's sketchbook, they went into the car. Within minutes, Emma falls asleep with her headphones on Grace's lap with her book in hand. Grace smiles warmly and gently takes her book away, handing her stuffed toy, named Fun Ship Freddy, instead. A few minutes pass and Grace falls asleep too. Jane turned as saw them and asked her husband to stop the car. He stops the car to the gas station and took gas as his wife put blankets on her daughters; the girls smile in their sleep. Once they were finished, they both head back to the front and put their seatbelts on and drive off. In the Overland's household, the family was already in the car when they catch a glimpse of the Windchill family, well, only Will and Willa Overland, because Jackson (Jack) and Flee were asleep in the back with Flee sleeping on Jack's lap with her own stuffed Freddy toy in hand. Jane and James smile at them. "Are you guys excited for the trip?" Jane asked, smiling. Once the light turned green, the two cars were off, driving to the airport. A few hours later, the two pairs of siblings wake up and yawn, stretching their muscles. Since it was still morning, the two families decided to go to McDonald's and get something for the road. Suddenly, there was a connection between Grace and Jack; Jack was falling in love with Grace that the blood started rushing to his cheeks. Emma and Flee cover their mouths and giggle. Jane smiles. "Ooh, someone's in love…" Grace was blushing red as a tomato now and so was Jack. the two look away from each other. A few minutes later, after they finished their breakfast, the two families went back to their cars with Grace and Jack still blushing. Once in the car, the two sets of siblings went back to what they were doing. Whether it was reading, singing, drawing, or…blushing. Flee couldn't help but giggle at her brother as he looked out the window. She knew he wasn't gonna confess to the fact that he had a crush on anyone – especially Grace – but that didn't change the fact that he was now just laughing to himself like a madman. His mother looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Jackson?" his mother asked. "Are you alright, my boy?" His head snapped to his mother.

"Yes, I'm fine Mother," Jack said. She smiles warmly; he looks at her. "Just lost in thought." Back with the Windchills, Grace looked out the window and pointed to an oncoming train. "Emma, look!" Emma took off her headphones, pausing the music. But once she looked out the window…TOOT! TOOT! TOOT! Once the train's horn sounded, Emma let out a scream of pain so loud that it forced her father to hit the brakes. He stops and parks to the side. "NO! PAPA, PLEASE! NOT HERE! PLEASE! ANYWHERE, BUT HERE! I BEG OF YOU!" Emma was sobbing now. She hated loud noises – especially from horns of ships and trains – but the worst – oh, much worse – was the sound of multiple, or even one, balloons popping. She had a problem where her hearing was the "double" amount compared to others; in other words, most things that possibly wouldn't scare a child would scare her so badly that she'd be sent into a state of panic. Grace looks over at her parents in fear; her mother calls Willa Overland from her phone.

"Hello?" Willa picked her phone up with a start; they were just a few miles behind them.

"Hi, it's me, Jane," Jane said, trying to block out her daughter's screams and remain calm.

"Oh, hi! Is everythingalright?" Suddenly, she hears Emma's screams over the phone. "Oh my!"

"My daughter's having a panic attack, but we'll try our best to get there," Jane said, softly.

"No need." Jane gave her husband a look of confusion. Grace holds Emma tightly. Suddenly, they see a car drive by their side. "We'll be with you until your daughter feels better," said Willa hanging up on the phone and looking at Jane through the open window. Jane let out a sigh of relief. A few minutes pass and Emma was fast asleep on Grace's lap – thanks to her sleep pills – Jane smiles and nods for her husband to continue driving. The Overlands helped them and told them that they'd meet them at the airport and they agreed. Suddenly, Grace begins to…cry…

"Grace, dear?" her father asked, keeping his eyes locked on the road. "Are you alright?"

Grace shakes her head. Jane turns to her. "What's wrong, sweetie? Did you hurt yourself?"

"No Mama," Grace said, choking on her words. "I should've never tell Emma to look at the train." Her mother raises an eyebrow in confusion. "She panicked…and it was all my fault…"

"No, it's not," her mother said with a tender smile. Grace looks up at her mother in confusion.

"It's not?" Grace asked, cocking her head to the side. "But the Overlands stopped…for us…"

"Well, they did that because they wanted to, not by us forcing them to," her father interjected.

"Your father's right," Jane said. "They stopped because they wanted to help us." Grace smiles. A few hours later, the two families make it to the airport. Right on time. Once they saw the time for their plane flight, they sit down in the terminal and wait patiently for their flight. Emma and Flee get out their books and read. Emma reads Guardians of Childhood: Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce, while Flee read Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson. Grace and Jack hold hands and she rests her head on his shoulder. While waiting to be called for their flight, the family members either got food, went to the restroom, or took naps. Finally, a sweet woman's voice over the PA system says, "Overland and Windchill family, your flight is ready. Please come to the front. Once again, Overland and Windchill, come to the front, please." They look at each other and then get their stuff and head to the front. Once they boarded with everyone else, they take their seats and listen to the instructions of the pilot. Once the pilot was done, they were off; they prayed and then the plane was off the runway. Once in the air, the family members either slept, read, or drew. Grace, who was sleeping next to Jack, rested on him. Emma and Flee sat by the window and looked at the clouds. The wives sat near each other and talked, and the husbands did the same. Each of them sat two by two behind each other. Emma and Flee were in the first two seats, Grace and Jack behind them, the fathers behind them, and then, finally, the wives behind the husbands. For the 3 hour flight to the Seattle cruise ship port, Emma and Flee were reading, Grace and Jack were sleeping, the mothers were watching I Love Lucy Christmas Special since it was Christmas Eve. And, when you come to think about it, Willa and Jane were kind of like the two friends from the show, Lucy and Ethel. They're best friends and they do everything together, and this goes for the husbands too. They were like Fred and Ricky.; and their children were like Lucy and Ricky's son, Ricky Jr. So, in short, these two families were basically the real life I Love Lucy family. The husbands were watching some movie from 1983 called A Christmas Story. Once they landed, they stretched and heard their bones crack. They laugh out loud. We're getting old. The lights flicker on and they walk off the plane. They blink and wait for their eyes to dilate to the outside light. Grace and James and Jane look at Emma for answers of why that happened in the plane.

"They dim the lights in the plane cabins," began Emma. "so, when we exit the doors, our eyes will get used to the darkness once we step out in the terminal." They look at her and blink. "Uh?"

"How…" Jane and James say. Emma raises an eyebrow in confusion and looks at the others.

"Did…" Jack said. She was beginning to think that she was getting a little too smart for them.

"You…" Grace said, her mouth was gaping wide in awe. She never knew Emma studied this.

"Know…" Will said. He looks over at his wife who was as equally in shock and awe as he was.

"All…" Willa said. Emma was beginning to blush as she turned to face Flee who blinked in awe.

"That…?" Flee finished. They shook off their shocked feelings and waited for Emma to answer.

"I…study…?" Emma said in a questionable confusion that she didn't understand from her family or friends that stood in front of her. "And we better hurry before the ship leaves without us!" They nod and get their stuff and head to the cruise terminal. Once the two families stepped foot on the ship, they were captivated by all that surrounded them, but, if you asked them what really caught their eye, they'd tell you the glass elevators. "Can we go on them?" Emma was the first to ask. the two girls look at the adults – excluding Jack and Grace, since they were technically still 17, counting them as "teens" – the parents look at each and nod. "WOOHOO!" the two girls and Jack and Grace cheered in excitement. Emma got her headphones and turned them on as they headed outside to the Lido Deck and sat down. Later, they go to the elevators to their rooms. In daylight, the big stomach of the cruise funnel can be seen with many people walking, talking, and dancing about. As Grace Windchill and her sister, Emma Windchill, were walking, they looked up and noticed that they could see through the glass dome. "For my 17 years on a ship," Grace said, observing the funnel's glass. "I never noticed the glass that was hovering over us." Emma grabbed her book from her backpack. "I've read about the different ships Carnival Cruise Line has," she said as she flipped through the pages of her book. Finally, she found it. "Aha!"

Grace looks at her. "What?" she asks her sister who had her nose stuck in the book, her eyes roaming the words and mumbling to herself, then, after re-reading it, told her sister the facts.

"Some of Carnival's sister ships have a funnel that has big glass domes for the beauty and convenience of those walking outside on the deck." Grace smiles. A few hours pass and while walking on deck; Emma noticed how close the horn of the ship was. She quickly reached for her noise canceling headphones and immediately turned them on in fear of having a panic attack. Jack looked at Grace in confusion. She sighed and pulled him to the side, explaining her sister's…condition. Jack looked back at the girl, who now had her nose stuck in a book, with sadness. His sister, Flee, also looked at her. They both felt pretty bad at the fact that the poor girl gets scared easily. She was born with this and they hated it, but mostly, Emma was suffering…

"It wasn't easy when we had the practice drill this morning either," said Grace. "The loud sound from the buzzer in our stateroom scared my sister so much, that she froze in place. I had to pick her up and go to my muster station." Jack then had an idea and took her and Grace, along with the others where no one could resist: the candy store. Her eyes went wide with joy as she saw the candy store in front of her. Well, the subject of loud noises were in the past now, that's for sure!

"Oh. My. Gosh!" Emma said as she walked inside the store. She was completely entranced by all the goodies that she didn't even hear her sister's footsteps. "Emma!" Grace laughed as she walked by her side. "Pinch me," Emma said, hypnotizing. "I might be dreaming." Grace giggled, pinch her sister's arms. "OW! OK, I'm not dreaming." She laughed it off and rubbed her arm, giggling.

Just then, Jack and Flee run to them. "Man, you guys are fast!" Jack said, out of breath. His sister, on the other hand, was breathing normally. She wasn't named Flee for nothing! For hours on end, they stayed in the candy shop. No one, of course, could resist a little bit of sugar, right? As the days drifted by slowly, the kids and parents went their separate ways. As Jack stood, watching the water with Grace by his side, an idea popped into his mind, but also a sad memory. He remembered how he fell into the icy waters of his lake just behind his backyard. He remembered how he struggled to reach out for his sister. Then...nothing. Suddenly, Grace nudged him. "Huh?" He said as he was snapping out of his deep thought. She smiles at him. He looks at her, his eyes locked. "Yeah, I'm fine." She decided to take some time for themselves while the Emma and Flee read in the library. Jack climbs onto the railing and says the famous line: "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!" Grace giggled and joined him. Once Jack and Grace dropped them off, Emma and Flee found a spot near the window and opened their books. Flee was reading Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark by Ridley Pearson and Emma was reading Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King by William Joyce. Within minutes, the world around them disappeared. The girls were lost in their own little worlds…book worlds… There were now two weeks left of their cruise and nobody was ready to leave just yet! If there was one thing Grace enjoyed and Emma didn't was dancing. It's not that Emma wasn't good at dancing; she was pretty good at it! She just didn't like being around so many people. While Emma hid in the corner with her Headphones on, someone popped a balloon and she screams so loud that people stop what they were doing and look at her. Grace and her parents see Emma on the floor, curled up in a ball, and convulsing like crazy and run to her. Jack and his sister also run to her and carry her back to the stateroom. After they were gone, the party continued. Emma shook terribly in her sister's arms. She looks at the long hallway and sighs. "I'm sorry..." They hug her tightly and take her to bed. Immediately, Emma falls asleep. They smile and Grace stays by her side and gives her Freddy while the others go back to the party. Emma smiles in her sleep and holds Freddy tightly. Grace smiles and leaves the room, ensured that her sister would be safe from harm as long Freddy was with her. She soon met jack on the deck that oversaw the beautiful ocean blue. Grace and Jack held hands while walking on the deck while their sisters were in the stateroom, sleeping and their parents were on the other side of the ship with the Overlands. He smiles and looks at her. He chuckles. While looking at the water, Jack kisses Grace on the lips. She was taken aback but soon kisses back. Finally, the day arrived! Today was their first excursion in Alaska. The kids were the first to wake up and wake their parents up. "What's going on?" The parents asked, completely oblivious of what was happening. "We have our excursion today!" The kids say excitedly. Immediately, the two family parents jump out of bed and change. Once they get through security, they look at the view and take a few pictures here and there. They could stay here forever, especially up in the gondola area where it was the best place ever. After the excursion was over, the families head back to the ship and decide to go to the movies together. After ordering tickets and popcorn, they get ready for the movie to begin. It was Wreck it Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet. There were so many funny scenes that made the families laugh out loud. Once the movie was over, everyone was in a different world. A few more days pass by and the kids don't seem that they'll ever get off the ship, even if being forcefully pulled off. Today was sadly the third to last day of the cruise and the thought of it made the families sad, but as they looked out their balcony and watch the sunset, they realize that even though their cruise was almost over, the memories that they cherished, weren't. And, besides, they did have three more days left, so they should make the best out of it, right? It was 3 PM and the families were hungry for a snack. Their waiter, Bud, who was such a sweetheart from the beginning of the cruise, recommended them to go to Bonsai Sushi. "It's so amazing, especially their soup!" He had said. They thanked him and left the restaurant; and now, as they headed to the sushi bar, feelings of sadness overwhelmed each of the family members, but they forced the sadness away. After they ate, they bumped into Bud and hugged him. "That WAS so amazing!" They said. He smiled warmly and leaned on his mop. "I knew you'd like it." Then they head to dinner at 8:00 PM. They decided to surprise the waiters that helped them and made their cruise memorable by going to the Fun Ship Shop and buying them each a special souvenir and even got themselves some too. Once they got their gifts, their joy couldn't be contained…!

Grace sat outside on the balcony and looked out at the water. She sighed as she thought of this day is the last day of their cruise. In just a few short hours, they'll walk off the ship and head back to reality. Jack and the others go to her. "It's time to go," they said. After packing their stuff, they said goodbye to the waiters and listened to their goodbye song, which brought tears streaming down their faces. "But we'll come back again, right?" Asked the children to their parents. They nod. Finally, they get off the ship and look at the funnel. "We'll be back..." the crew waved as the passengers left the ship. A few hours later, they were back in the airport and then on the plane. They all look out the window and see Freddy smiling and waving at them.

THE END

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Carnival: The Fun Ships