Til You Come Back to Me Again - A Love Story

Chap - 11

Eleven

"Be Like Water"

With only a few hours of sleep behind me, I was awake before the sunrise. When I had finally gone to bed, I couldn't turn my thoughts off, concern for Katia being at the forefront of my mind. I had observed Katia's shift in emotions in the past, but it was a very rare thing. However, there was something different about last night. I told myself over and over that it had been nothing, but my mind had not been able to let it go. She and I were so close, I was always aware of her, even when I was not with her.

Shaking my head at my over protection, I knelt by the bed and said my morning prayers, then quickly showered, shaved and dressed, wanting to be ready when Katia knocked.

Opening the balcony door, I stood with my hands resting on the railing, gazing out over the vast blue waters to the horizon where the sun was making its appearance, and I suddenly felt smaller than ever before. If the eyes were the window to the soul, then the ocean was the window to eternity.

The sound of the waves was soothing and tranquil, the scent clean and crisp. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the sea air, marveling at what an amazing creation the earth was. For a brief moment, I felt a solitary oneness with the ocean, like the large ship we were traveling on was completely mine and I alone owned this small part of the world. The wind whipping through my hair felt good, freeing. As I watched the ship effortlessly open a path through the water, I found myself pondering Bruce Lee's enlightening philosophy using water to describe human possibilities.

He said we should be like water, adjusting to an object and becoming shapeless, becoming whatever the water is put into.

Bruce was a great teacher and I could understand what he meant somewhat. I often pondered his words, and what I got from that particular quote was that we place so many limits on ourselves in life and we are always trying to fit ourselves into the world's idea of our potential. We have to expand our horizons and take in the lessons learned, then use what we've learned to shape our lives, placing no limits on ourselves in any way. The many obstacles in life should be treated as stumbling blocks. We trip and fall, then we pull ourselves up and get back on the path, adjusting our course accordingly to reach the goal. It is all about adaptability.

I smiled. If ever there was an example of that very philosophy, it was Katia. She was beautiful and brave, and she lived that way every day. She was my hero.

Emerging from the deep thoughts, I went back inside just as a knock sounded at the door.

"Good morning," I said, drawing Katia into a hug.

"Good morning." She moved back and gifted me with the naturally charming smile I was used to. "Are you ready?"

"Just let me grab my key."

* * *

After breakfast and another jaunt around the ship, Katia and I put on our swimsuits and went up to the pool. There were so many people, we couldn't do any real swimming. After a few minutes of floating in one spot, we got out and went up to sit in the hot tub, which was vacant at the moment. We stayed in for fifteen minutes or so, then we lay on the beach chairs and dried in the sun.

Heading back to our rooms, we ran into Cara and Shaylee. Katia told Shaylee she would meet her at Club O2 after she changed. Since the girls were going to be hanging out for a while, Cara invited me to go up and play a game of ping pong. Katia encouraged me to go, saying I need to do something fun while she was out.

So, Cara and I played a few games before moving on to shuffleboard, which was something I had never played before. I really didn't like it much, and playing it made me feel like I should have a senior citizen badge on my shirt. When I mentioned this to Katia later on, she just laughed and said we would have to play together before the end of the cruise.