Evelyn and Patricia On A Cruise to
'No Where'
The adventure would be something to write about, no doubt. After all, we both needed story ideas. I was the crime beat and city government reporter and Evelyn covered schools for the Daily Sun-Journal in Brooksville, Florida.
We yacked about the fun we'd have lying on the sundeck, listening to island music, taking an occassional dip in the pool and drinking Bahama Mamas. And men. We'd surely meet a couple nice guys to dine and wine with.
We were booked on a 10 a.m. cruise, so we figured we would get to the ship by 9:30--plenty of time to settle in before departing.
This we did. We had plenty time to board. It's a good thing we did have time to spare, because with the two of us reading cruise material rather than watching our steps, we had to backtrack a couple of times to get in the proper corridor leading aboard.
On the ship, we went straight to the sun deck, found loungers and plopped down. Here, we decided, we would spend the most of the next six hours.
We chatted with some people sunning next to us. They were here on vacation from Louisiana. They had their kids with them. It seemed children traveled free.
Yes. Free.
It seemed everybody had kids.
All the MEN had kids
I heard someone say that breakfast was being served. So we left our duffle bags on the loungers and went to eat. I was intrigued by the watermelon display carved like a Florida 'gator.
With no airconditioner working in the dinning room, Evelyn and I were both able to stick to our diets.
When the ship started to move, we were back on our loungers and sunning on the deck.
The sun was good and hot by the time water from the ocean was finally flooded into the pool. Time for a dip, we both said looking at each other.
We stood at the pool edge, just about to take the plunge when a lady staffer called out, "Everybody out of the water. Everybody out except the kids who want to play tag."
Everybody's kids jumped into the small swimming pool. Everybody's kids jumped in. Remember--kids traveled free. Kids were everywhere.
I didn't really want to swim anyway. And the water splashed on me when the kids jumped in cooled me off. And, after all, who could ask for more than a salt-water shower?
Back to the loungers. Back to the sun. I broke out in a sweat. I sat up and looked at my arms. Among the crystal balls of water running off my stinging skin were patches of black stuff.
"I'd like to know what all this black crap is that's on me," I said to Evelyn.
She opened her eyes and took a peek. "It's soot," she said, glancing at a smokestack jutting up from the deck above us. "We're breathing all that," she said with a straight face then....
Continued on next page
Read
And Her Name Was Catharine
A novella by Patricia Lieb
