As Witnesses

Epilogue🖤

Sunday, July 15, 2018

~*~

The fantastic group of four friends is now no more.

This is not to say, of course, that they have all gone their separate ways - over the years, the opposite has happened. The one thing that has changed is that a fifth member has been incorporated into their group. And she is just as close as the others.

It must be the product of almost nine years of being their true friends.

"Ready, Luna?" Ginny calls from the front of the line of the walkway to the cruise ship. She prefers her hair to be short, and gets it cut to maintain it that way.

"Yep!" Luna beams, her smile even more apparent. Her voice turns even more dreamy. "Just think of everything we'll be doing and seeing on this trip..."

At this, Ginny grins. "I'm so excited too! Funny story: we were planning to go on a cruise like this eleven years ago, then the year after, we had to cancel it. But at least we get to go now!"

"That's a nice way of putting it," Fuzzynerd comments, adjusting his glasses for the umpteenth time today.

The next moment, the five friends are next in line. Fuzzynerd hands all five tickets to the ticket man, who then accepts the tickets and lets them through. "We hope you enjoy your vacation with us," the ticket man says warmly. That's when the friends, all now college-age, step into the cruise ship.

It only takes around five minutes for them to reach their two rooms (which the ship calls 'suites') that are across from each other - one for the girls, one for the boys - and they all decide to leave their luggage in their rooms before exploring the rest of the cruise ship.

"See you in a minute!" Ginny calls to the boys before closing the door of the girls' suite behind her.

Until anyone decides to change the look of their suite somehow, the suites are identical. The floor is a carpet with an endless circular pattern that is colored with two different shades of gold (not real gold). The walls and the ceiling, along with plenty of the lights, are a refreshing white, with beach-themed pictures hanging from a few of the walls. In one area of the suite there is a white bed, with green throw pillows, and a nightstand with a lamp on either side; as well as a spacious desk and its own chair. In another area, there is a sofa that can turn into a fold-out bed in case there isn't enough room for everyone to sleep on the one bed, a table with a glass surface, and a TV sitting on a large chest of drawers that could double as a table to leave smaller items on. Just beyond the sofa is access to the suite's balcony, which gives way to stunning ocean views twenty-four-seven.

Once all five of them have left their luggage in their suites, they walk through the hallways together and discuss what on the cruise ship they're excited about seeing.

"I can't wait to check out the sports area - especially the basketball courts!" Lil' Catty gushes. He is still keeping the cat ears in his hair intact to this day.

"I honestly just can't wait to go out onto the open-air decks at the top at night," replies Midnight. For around six and a half years, she has been as pale as the moon, her long hair has been a deep midnight blue and resembles the night sky, and her eyes have been a cerulean color.

"Maybe they have anything related to technology or math that I can participate in," Fuzzynerd wonders aloud. "Speaking of which, the stock markets have been doing so well for these past few years! Does anyone have a prediction of what's going to happen to them?"

Midnight is quick to join in that discussion. "Perhaps they could rise up so high that their investors become too overconfident, and it crashes. But the likelihood of that happening is rather low at the moment."

"Interesting points," comments Ginny, then changes the subject: "But for now, can we not think about that? Let's keep talking about what we're excited for!"

Fuzzynerd nods. "Sure. Sometimes these things worry me, too."

"I'd love to attend the parties they have here!" Ginny tells the rest of the group. "Who's with me?!"

"I don't know, I'm not into loud noises. Though I would definitely join you in the open-air decks at night," Midnight responds.

"I second that. And I'd really like the open-air decks at any time," agrees Luna.

"Well, this is all sounding really exciting. During our time here, aside from the day trips off the cruise, we'll be sure to make time for all of those things," Fuzzynerd is already planning out the rest of the vacation.

Lil' Catty pipes up, "The day trips! I forgot about those - they'll be awesome too! Though I'm still most looking forward to us all playing some games!"

"Definitely," Fuzzynerd replies. "I calculate that we have approximately a 100 percent chance of having fun on this vacation."

"Especially because we'll always stay together!" Ginny exclaims in agreement.

Of course, that comment is something none of them would ever want to object to. They have each other, and they'll stay together, no matter what may happen on this journey. They're all grateful that businesses are going so well that they were all able to end up here, on this beautiful and amazing cruise ship. As the five of them continue walking around together, they continue their streak of inseparability.

After all, it's something that makes them who they are.