Arisu

       You look behind you as the boarding plank is hoisted onto the ship. Some hands move about the ship, and before you know it, the ship is leaving port. The group of passengers assembled, a young man in decorative garb stands before the group. You soon notice that Rosie is not longer beside you and Sam. The gaze of the group quickly falls upon him. Satisfied with the attention, he speaks.

“I will be your captain on this voyage. My name is Captain Alexander Andino, and I would like to thank all of you for selecting the Mistress of the Sea for your voyage today. I’m positive that this voyage will be a pleasurable experience for all 10 of you. You will be given the key to your room. Don’t worry, we won’t be on the water overnight, we just feel that individual rooms offer privacy and a place to rest up and store luggage. Thanks again for selecting the Mistress of the Sea, and I look forward to traveling with you all in this wonderful weather.”

The captain takes his leave and walks toward a room near the stern of the ship. A young sailor walks around and hands each passenger a key. You take the small, dirty brass key and stare intently at the small patch where the room number is. You can barely decipher it, but you eventually find it to be #3. Rosie walks over to you and Samantha and sees what numbers you two got. Rosie got #8 and Sam got #4. You’re thankful that you and Sam get to have each other as room neighbors. You walk down one story of the large vessel and face along the wall until you come to your door, #3. You fish the key out of your pocket and insert it into the key hole. You twist it and try to push the door open, but it won’t budge. You ram into it, leading with your shoulder, and the door flies open.

You look into the room and find it to be a little unappealing. Of course, you know you shouldn’t have been expecting anything lavish, and you did only have to pay €30, but the room still looks more like a sailor’s quarters. You see a large hammock against the wall, as well as a large chest. There’s also a small nightstand with a bolted down candlestick. A lantern suspends from a small loop in the middle of the ceiling. At least you won’t be expected to sleep here. You quickly drop off your luggage and lock your door. You can’t imagine yourself wanting to enter your room for any reason other than collecting your luggage once back in port.

You keep walking down the hall to see if there is anything other than rooms, and after a little bit you find a large door with an engraving above saying “LOWER DECK” in harsh, jagged lettering. You wonder what it could be that’s in there.