Counting the Stars

Chapter 4 - Eyes Open

The first event to come my way after boarding the boat was being assigned to a bedroom. The room number and my keycard had been provided for me once I was prompted to explain which island I would be stopping by from a worker waiting inside, to which they explained that I would be on the boat for two nights, since my island would be the first stop. As the animals who had boarded before me began to disappear into their rooms, I made my way through tall, narrow hallways to find the room with the number I had been assigned to.

The bedroom was a very confined room, considering the total of animals staying aboard overnight, leaving me about six feet of walking space between a tiny bed on the right and a shelf set in the wall on the left with a round window at the end. I inched my way into the room and plopped down into a seat on the bed, tugging my backpack from my shoulders and dropping it heavily to the floor by my feet. I could tell that I was going to be in here for a while, so the best thing for me to do now was get settled.

I dragged my backpack over to the base of the bed, carefully positioning it to rest against the side before forcing out a heavy sigh and resting my elbows on my knees to catch my breath. It felt like the morning had already lasted a lifetime, not to mention the fact that it wasn't even close to being half over. It seemed like years since I had been sitting at the table with my family eating our last meal together for an uncertain amount of time. I could still picture them in my mind standing in the grass outside, patiently waiting for the boat to sail out of sight and take me away.

Could I still see them? I leaned forward to peer out of the round window next to the headboard of my bed, searching for the land where my family could have been standing, but all I could see was the calm, undisturbed water surrounding the boat that sparkled under the morning sun. I had just completely lost sight of everything I had ever known, yet for some reason, I couldn't say that I was strictly afraid.

Maybe it was because I was still slow to process the entire situation to be real. A little flutter of nervousness still lingered in my stomach, but at the same time, it felt like my eyes had been opened to the light. I was finally stepping into the future that I had always dreamed of and the immense possibilities that it held left almost no room for fear. I would just have to see what experiences would come my way and learn how to survive through them to find the best version of myself. All I had to do was be ready for it.

The silence of my solitude was already starting to feel strange and unnatural. I wasn't used to taking a trip by boat all by myself before. On the few boat trips I had been on when I was younger, I had never been without Digby and my parents. I couldn't help but wonder how they felt about this situation that I had somehow managed to get myself into. Life was definitely going to change for all three of them, and I could only wish that I could be there to see it. If only I could find a way to share my adventures with them and bring them along on my journey, even if they couldn't join me in person.

The number. Shortly before I left the house earlier this morning, I had tucked the slip of paper with Digby's work phone number into my pocket with my ticket, promising Digby that I would call him as often as I could. With the rush I had been in to withdraw my ticket to present it, I could only pray that the number hadn't fallen out with it. I scrambled to sift through the pocket of my pink jacket, desperately searching for the slim sheet of paper, before I managed to grab hold of it and withdraw it from the pocket. Everything was fine.

I pushed out a sigh of relief, shifting in my seat to lay down on the bed and dropping the slip of paper carelessly onto my belly. It was definitely going to be a few days before I would have the chance to use the number, maybe even longer, depending on the housing situation I would soon find myself in once the boat reached land again. Surely he would be eager to hear of the stories I would be able to tell when I finally had the chance to speak with him again. It would be like how it had always been for us, even with the distance that would soon grow between us.