An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)

CHAPTER 33~Day Off

The next morning is bitterly cold and our lips and skin is dry and chapped. My face was covered in flakes and it hurts and itches every time I go outside. My lips are so chapped that when I try to talk, my lips bleed. It is getting really bad, and everyone knows it, so we decided we will not work tomorrow . Instead we will take a day off to take care of personal hygiene and general cleanliness.

The next morning we all follow instructions and we are all crammed onto the largest boat to be assigned to our cabin stations. My first station is cabin A6.

I head there and sit down on a chair. As I look around, I see seven other people ,all of them had been assigned the same cabin. I wait patiently, and eventually a younger teenager strides in. She couldn't be much older than I am, but is still much taller than me. She has a large bucket in her hands. She sits across from me, and I watch as a few others walk in and do the same with the other people in here.

The teenager in front of me opens the bucket to reveal almost a hundred little tubes. Each one is the size of a thumb, and in all colors. Pink, blue, lavender, gold, striped, reds, greens, orange, black, white, rainbow, you name it! Then the teenager asked the most peculiar question.

"Cherry, pumpkin pie,coconut, or plain?" she asked me.

"What?" I say confused.

"What type of smell do you want your lips to smell like? You know what, start over." She holds up a small tube. "This is chapstick. What chap stick does is make your lips not bleed when you try to speak, and makes them not dried out feeling, OK? What smell and flavor do you want to be on your lips?" she inquires.

"Can I have coconut?"I request. She pulls a white tube out and opens it. The rich smell of coconut drifts into the air. I am nervous. What will she do? Will it hurt? Will I have to do it often?

"I'm going to do this for you today, but you will have to do it from now on." she says absently. I know it's gonna hurt, these things aren't free from everything, if they don't cost money, it will hurt. That's life, right?

She moves the tube towards my face, I get ready for some kind of pain. She rubs the tip of the tube over my lips. I just know it will burn or something!

Instead of hurting, they seem to heal almost instantly. She pulls it away, and the white milky substance inside is smeared with red, the red blood of my lips. She gives me the tube and its cap, then a new cabin number. I thanked her and I headed out to my next cabin. Cabin F7 has already been set up, and I have to wait in line to go in. After about ten minutes it's my turn. There are shelf's all along the walls. And the shelves are stocked with plastic bottles. I sit in the only open chair.

"Welcome to the lotion parlor. What kind of lotion would you like? We have mango blast, french vanilla, blueberry pomegranate xxx, orange, strawberry, and fresh flowers. Oh, uh, and the lotion makes your skin as smooth as baby skin. Which one do you want? ." she said with great tranquility.

"I don't mean to be a pain, but can I smell them?" I ask as politely as I can. Her smile is beginning to seem a bit forced. I smell them and go with french vanilla. She rubs my arms, legs, stomach and neck with the lotion, then puts a cream on my feet. I can visually see the dryness evaporating to nothing, and the rough and tough skin turning smooth and soft. I am in awe, and wait for her to do the same to my dry face, but she doesn't. Instead she gives me a paper and sends me on my way. I go outside, and walk to the picnic area on another boat.

After getting a lunch of split pea soup and fresh bread, I go below decks to find a good spot. I see Emma and Coral already sitting together. I rush over and grab a seat next to them.

We eat our lunch in silence. It is a comfort to be with them after hours of being softened up, quite literally. I see people standing around in their under clothing. Most of them seemed rather embarrassed, while some are trying to cover themselves in blankets or napkins, one girl even has a skirt made of napkins.

"Why are they like that?" I puzzle Coral. She shrugs.

"I don't know, why?" She whispers back, trying not to stare at them.

"I was asking you." I reply. I hope it's not a station, I would be horrified if it was. Then a bell rang and the announcements blared.

"Do to the current holiday, the cooks have made cupcakes. Line up in a straight line and if you behave correctly in line you will be rewarded with a rather sweet surprise. You may line up, now" say our robotic-like announcer. I grunt, we're aren't stupid, it's not like an adult will fight here.

Emma is in line before anyone else, and gets a pale yellow baked good. It has what looks like milk on top, but it is stiff and shiny. Coral and I are around 50-60 people back in line. We hear a ruckus up ahead and a guard walks towards it. Two grown adults had been fighting over a place in line and were sent away, both without a treat. Maybe I was wrong, some things just never change.

Eventually, we get to the front. I let Coral cut me and get her cupcake first. When it is finally my turn, I carefully hold my plate out. A smiling cook puts a delicate looking pastry on my plate, it looks just like Emmas. I go back to our seats. Emma had been a doll, and had waited for us before eating. We all dig in at the same time, and after the first bite we are madly in love.

"You smell like cupcakes Kari." Emma says with a grin.

"These must be vanilla cupcakes. Are we allowed to eat the white thing?" I ask, motioning to the creamy, white, milk-like substance on top of the cupcake. Emma lets out a large belly laugh.

"It's frosting. Of course you should eat it! It's the best part! Be careful, it gets stuck to your lips." She giggles.

I take a bite, cautiously. There was no word for what I felt right then. Sugar was a party in my mouth, frosting was a cloud, and an ocean of goodness washing over me. A beautiful landscape just for me. Frosting was that feeling when I found out where the map lead. That doesn't even come CLOSE to describing how wonderful it was.

"Wow." I manage to whisper. Emma laughs again.

"WOW! That's so, so, AMAZING! "Coral stutters. Emma giggles, and breaks out laughing. I gently put my cupcake down.

"What's so funny?" I demand of her.

"It's so funny that you guys have never had frosting before. It's great and all, but you are taking it over the top!" She says, gasping for air and pretends to wipe away a tear. I give her a look, and she returns to her normal halfway solemn self. She returns to her cupcake, and her expression melts into pure happiness. She gets it all over her lips, and licks away the frosting with glee.

It's funny, before the trip, if you asked me what my favorite food was, I would have said fresh bread, now I don't hardly eat bread because of all the crazy and delicious smelling and tasting foods provided for me. Here is a list of food for dinner ( not desert ) that I love to eat;

Tacos

Glutinous rice(white sticky rice)

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Macaroni

PIZZA!

And that is just the top 5! Don't get me started on deserts,breakfast,lunch and snacks. I could eat an entire elephant's ear, apparently proven. IT. WAS. LIKE. DESERT!! My all time favorite non-desert food is chicken-pot-pie. My least favorite food is when they serve crock-pot special. They throw all the leftovers into a pot the size of my dresser. Every time it gets full, they dump it into our bowls. Last time it was pink. PINK! How do you make PINK soup? HOW? I might have even turned it down in the block! It's that disgusting. I still will always try at least a bite though, as a reminder that I couldn't have always turned away a meal.

We had water back in the block, but now we have more options. We have fresh water, and now that we are on the island, we have juice! It is when you push the juices out of a fruit, and you add water. Then we get juice, and it tastes almost like real fruit. But my favorite drink of all, is a smoothie.

You have to work extra hard and get credits, but it is worth it. You bring fruits that you pick yourself, and you give them to the cooks, and they put them into a small mixer with a lid, called a blender. They add juice, ice, and sometimes other things. They turn it on, and the machine makes a loud sound, and after a few minutes, you have the most wonderful drink to have ever existed.