Chapter 1: Man Overboard!
It all started on my way back to my room, when I decided to take a stroll along the outside deck on Level 4. A storm was picking up, and we were encountering very choppy waters. I don't remember how choppy, but I do remember that I was standing on the port side of the deck, talking with Princess Ariel, when it happened.
(For the record, everyone else on the trip refers to me by my birth name, which is Casey. A fine name, but...well...you know.)
We were chatting about her daughter, Melody, when the seas began to pick up slightly. Not enough to endanger the ship, but enough for one without their sea legs to lose their footing quite easily. I staggered into Ariel-unintentionally, I swear it-and we toppled. She landed on top of me-thank God it wasn't the other way around, or else I'd have crushed her-and it looked almost like we were in the throes of passion. I could swear our lips were a millimeter apart, our faces ended up so close. I was staring into those vivid, deep blue eyes and almost getting lost in them when I finally said the only thing that would come to my mind:
"Compromising landing position for the win."
Ariel laughed and stood up, thereby allowing me to do the same. I gripped the railing to steady myself until I finally had my feet back under me. I thanked her for her time-I had just happened to run into her outside and was grateful for her company-and was about to start heading back inside-literally, I had turned back towards the door leading inside and was beginning to walk towards it-when the ship rocked towards me. My balance was ripped from me, and I stumbled backwards, pivoting over the railing in a perfect backflip. I heard Ariel scream, "Oh, my goodness! Hang on, Casey!" Then she said something I couldn't hear to someone else. I found out soon enough what she had done, but right then and there, all I could think to do was yell two words:
"Man overbooaarr-!"
I was cut off by the impact with the ocean. The salt water rushed in through my nostrils and my open mouth; a taste and sensation that are unforgettable once experienced. The cold was stabbing, almost like knives all over my body-the water had to be about 34 degrees, max. I knew from the pain that I hit the water hard, but judging by the fact that I could still move my limbs, nothing was broken. A few bruised, maybe cracked, ribs, but nothing serious. I immediately made my way to the surface and started swimming as fast as I could to what I thought was a safe distance away from the ship, so as not to get hurt by whatever it was that was propelling the ship forward. Once I had made it, I turned to regard the ship-it had stopped, confirming a suspicion that I'd had since Monday: on a Disney cruise ship, word gets around very quickly.
I started to doggy-paddle towards the ship, yelling as loud as I could the whole way: "Help! Man overboard!" It didn't take me long to hear another, eerily familiar voice:
"It's going to be all right! I'm coming for you!"
I knew that voice: Ariel. But why? Why risk her own life and potentially give up the chance to touch millions of others' lives just to save one-mine? I already knew I was the unofficial celebrity of the week due to my antics with the entertainers and staff coupled with my karaoke nights, but still, the harsh reality was that without all of that, I was just another passenger.
So why would a Disney Princess risk her life for, more or less, a stranger, even if it was in her nature to do so?
Well, at that point, I wasn't exactly questioning my good fortune due to looking at the big picture: Help was coming. Granted, not the help I would have expected, but help nonetheless. So I swam towards her, and as I drew close, I saw she had a safety ring in hand.
"Not that I don't appreciate it," I said gratefully when we converged, "but why did you jump?"
"I was the only other one nearby who could swim," Ariel answered, "and the nearest qualified help was a fair distance away. So I sent someone to go get help, grabbed a safety ring, and here I am."
"And still in full regalia, too," I noted. "But why me? I mean, when you take away the karaoke and the fact that I entertain the entertainers, I'm just another passenger."
"I know," answered Ariel as we began swimming back towards the ship. "The answer is fourfold: A) It's who I am; B) your family would never forgive me if I didn't do everything in my power to save you...and quite frankly, neither would I; C) you're the life of the ship on this particular cruise, and D) even if you weren't, I must confess...I really like you."
All I could do at that revelation was stammer as we reached the side of the ship. No rope was being lowered yet, and I pointed this out to Ariel.
"Like I said, the nearest help was quite a distance away," she quipped. "They should be on their way now."
It was at that point that I also noticed that we were pretty much right up against the side of the ship, in shadow.
"Uh...Ariel?" I began.
"Yes?" she replied softly.
"Shouldn't we be where they can see us?"
"Oh, right," giggled Ariel, blushing-or so it appeared in the darkness. With that, we made our way into the light. It was about now that the storm began to calm down-the waves were getting less intense. About that time, I heard someone-a man-call my name:
"Casey Gallagher! Are you out there?!"
"I'm right here!" I called back, waving one arm as best I could while treading water. "I'm OK!"
"I see you! Stay right there!" the man yelled. "We'll get you out of there!"
"Where are you?" I called to him, wherever on the ship he was.
"Deck 4!" he cried out. "I'm gonna throw a line to you! There's a winch nearby that we'll use to pull you up!"
I looked up towards where the voice was coming from, and only when I saw his face did I recognize his voice: Robin, one of the entertainers/activity leaders on the ship.
"Oh, hey, Robin!" I greeted in recognition. "Just make sure you don't hit me with the line! The last thing I need is to turn into an unconscious fish on a ho-oh, sorry, Ariel," I apologized sheepishly, realizing what I had just said. Then I dared to look at her. She looked very cross-but she couldn't hold it, and busted out laughing.
"Hey, Casey!" called Robin. "Who's that with you?"
"Should I tell him?" I asked Ariel.
"He's gonna find out sooner or later anyways," she admitted. I nodded and turned my attention back to Robin.
"Would you believe, Ariel?" I shouted to him.
"WHAT?!" he screamed.
"It's true!" she cried out, waving. "There wasn't time to wait! Besides, I couldn't live with myself if I didn't take action!"
"Fair enough," conceded Robin, seemingly accepting that he couldn't have stopped her even if he had been there to try. "Here comes the line!" And sure enough, there was a line flying down towards the water. It landed with a surprisingly loud splash between myself and Ariel, and we both grabbed on. As Robin went to attach the line to the winch, I heard Ariel speak my name very softly.
"Yes, Ariel?"
"I know this sounds ridiculous," she began, "but could you close your eyes and keep them closed?"
Not being one to turn down royalty of any kind, let alone a Disney Princess, I graciously obliged her.
"What have you got in mind?" I asked her.
"Just something I've actually wanted to do for a few hours now," she whispered. At that point, I felt her hands cup my cheeks, almost like velvet on my face. I wanted desperately to pull away, thinking, What would the staff say if they found out about this? I don't know if I'd ever be allowed on a Disney cruise again! Or worse, Ariel might end up in trouble! But the shock of realizing what was happening overrode my rational thinking, and it was all my legs could do to keep bicycling and, thus, keep me afloat. Then, the next thing I knew, she had pressed her lips to mine...and my torso just froze. My head and legs still worked, even though I was left unable to react. When she pulled away, I heard her giggle and say,
"You know, don't be afraid to kiss me back...if you want to."
And all I could think to do at that point...was exactly that: kiss her right back. So that's what I did, and as soon as our lips met for the second time, I was instantly transported to the "Kiss The Girl" scene from Ariel's movie...or at least, in my mind's eye. Everyone from the scene was there: Sebastian, the musical animals, even Scuttle. The only two that didn't appear were Flotsam and Jetsam, thank God. Only two other major differences existed: A) Ariel could speak, and B) I had no need for guessing games. I heard the music-and Sebastian's lovely reggae voice-more clearly than I ever had before. The song went through just as it had in the movie, a perfect recreation down to every last detail. Only differences were that the kiss actually happened, complete with applause from all creatures bearing witness...and that Flotsam and Jetsam weren't what interrupted said kiss. It was the feeling of the rope beginning to pull us along through the water.
At that point, I came back to myself. I was still entwined with Ariel in a tender kiss that might have lasted for several more minutes, had it not been for the rope beginning to pull us up the side of the ship. I gently broke the kiss about halfway up and we smiled at each other.
"I have got to remember," I reminded myself out loud, "a true gentleman never kisses and tells." Ariel laughed at this.
"You do realize that all that means is that you don't tell the whole world about it?" she asked.
"So no Facebook or Twitter updates telling of this?"
"Not even a YouTube video," Ariel warned. "But word-of-mouth to only those you trust is perfectly fine."
"Good," I breathed, "because this'll be one to tell the kids." Ariel looked at me quizzically.
"Uh," I stuttered, "that is to say, any kids I might end up having."
"Oh," chuckled Ariel, "I was about to say, you look a bit young to have children." At that point, we cleared the Deck 4 railing and were pulled back onto the ship, giggling like fools.
"Are you two all right?" asked Robin as he ran over to us.
"I'm fine," answered Ariel with a smile. "Not sure how Casey's doing, though."
"How are you doing?" Robin asked me.
"Better than I probably have a right to be," I answered, wincing as I clutched my chest. "Couple of ribs injured, cracked at the worst, but more than likely just bruised. It's gonna hurt to breathe for a while, though. Does my family know what happened?"
"They know," answered Robin. "I personally made sure of that. Strange, they didn't seem too concerned."
"They wouldn't be," I answered. "They all know, A) I can swim, and B) I have Swimming and Lifesaving merit badges from my time in the Boy Scouts. For the most part, I can handle myself in the water."
"But you fell about 45 feet," reminded Ariel. "Impact with water is more forceful than they probably understand."
"Yeah; I'll talk with them about that later," I told Ariel. "For now, I need to sleep." With that, I attempted to stand up. Thanks to my injured ribs, my chest was on fire and my breathing was ragged, but I finally got my feet under me.
"Although, knowing first aid protocol, any sleeping I'm likely to do will probably be in the infirmary. Am I right?" I asked in a pained voice.
"You don't miss a trick, do you, Casey?" queried Ariel with a smile.
"No, indeed," confirmed Robin. "Can you walk?"
"Not very fast as of right now," I answered, "but yes."
"OK," commanded Robin, "then follow me, both of you." And he led us-well, more me, really-to the shipboard hospital. It looked kinda like the back of an ambulance, but larger and fully stocked.
"Doc?" called Robin. "We got a few injured ribs here. Any way you can keep this young man overnight for observation?"
Out walked the doctor, whose face and build all but screamed, I am from the Caribbean. But when he spoke, he almost sounded British, his diction was so exacting. Listening closely, I was barely able to detect a trace of the home accent in his voice.
"Ah, is this Casey the karaoke sensation?" he asked, smiling gently at me.
"I don't know so much about a sensation," I chuckled, which quickly gave way to a groan and a grimace as a fresh wave of pain overtook me, "but that's me."
"Can you take it from here, Doc?" asked Robin. "I have to get Ariel back to her home. Also, Belle's going to want to hear about this whole ordeal." I didn't immediately catch that last part.
"Of course," answered Doc.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now," Ariel said to me.
"Only until our next meeting," I reminded her. "Remember, we still have two days left."
"True," grinned Ariel, and kissed the top of my hand, a gesture which I returned.
"Get well soon," we said to each other, and with a three-way exchange of smiles, Robin led Ariel from the room.
"So good to meet you," Doc said in a friendly tone, offering his hand, which I took and gave a firm shake. "Just call me Doc. My actual name is a little, ah...complicated."
I looked at Doc's name tag and, boy, was he right.
"So, at the risk of causing a bit of a stir..." I tried, and failed miserably, to stop myself. "...What's up, Doc?"
"Until you walked in, I was actually feeling a bit bored," he replied. "A bit...over-bored, if you will?" I gave a groan and tried to make it sound more like a laugh.
"OK, I deserve that bad pun," I admitted, and Doc laughed. "So you're already familiar with what happened, I take it?"
"I am," answered Doc. "But what's this I hear about you being joined in the water by Ariel?"
"Well," I began, "it's kind of a funny story..."
"And then Robin pulled us up, gave us a once-over and then brought me here," I finished.
"I see," mused Doc thoughtfully. "Well, that about finishes up the talking portion of what will happen tonight. Lie down and feel free to fall asleep; I'll do the rest."
I did as I was told, and when I finally hit the lying-down-on-my-back position, it hit me full force exactly how tired I was. Not only did I fall asleep immediately, I passed the hell out.
