I had never been on a cruise, but Tina had been on many. She was an old hand at planning cruises and where to go and what to see. Also, what to do whi...e you’re on the ship. She was a platinum member of the cruise line club. Supposedly, she got different types of perks, VIP boarding and so forth.We spent the month of September picking and choosing just what to bring on the cruise. She went through my stuff four damn times before I got the OK. Finally, D-day arrived and we boarded Delta Airlines. A shard of hope amidst the chaos.They called it Specimen X, and it was relentless.Strong vine-like appendages wrapped around her legs. Vibrant orange pillars of fire glowed and pulsed around her body. Alone with the monster. It could easily maul her, but something gentle gleamed behind its saucer eyes, onyx and bright. Something almost human.The salt stung, but she couldn't pull her gaze away.It had started with routine feedings. Curious tendrils peeked over the observation tank and suckled. He reaches an arm around me and pulls me closer to him. I lean my head on his shoulder, relaxing under his strong, protective arm. We’ve known one another nearly our whole lives and never sat like this, but somehow it feels as old and comfortable as time itself. His arm wasn’t so strong then though, I remembered–not so well-muscled and manly as it was now. I used to look upon that arm as one to love and protect–not one to look to for love and protection. Yet now…I looked up into his face, into. "Well," Lee suddenly looked like a charming boy, abashed at what he had done. "I talked her into smoking some grass."The three of them seemed caught in a frozen tableau for an eternity of seconds before Rod took on a look of amusement and threw back his head and laughed and Gail seemed to grow smaller and sag back in relief on the couch, a silly dazed smile on her lips while Lee kicked his toe into the carpet, winked at Gail then turned a lamb-like face to Rod. "Like I said, it's all my fault.".