A snippet of imagery

The cruise had been rough all day. Sea legs were hard to come by as the ship keel raised and lowered through the high swells. Melissa crawled her way from the stateroom’s bathroom to the bed. If only the rocking would stop for a few moments, she might be able to finally fall asleep and get through the night and hopefully the storm.

She finally made it to the bed and laid on her back, staring at the ceiling. When she tried to close her eyes, waves of nausea would return. Her eyelids were heavy, having been ill for several hours. The doors in the cabin knocked back and forth, squealing on their hinges and banging open and closed. Each sound would make Melissa come out of any rest she might get. Finally, exhaustion overcame the nausea and she succumbed to slumber. As she slept, the bed felt as if it was falling away from her and then catching her as the ship came back to center.

A loud thud shook the entire room as if they had hit a wall. The sound of breaking glass startled her and her cabin mates awake. The ship shuddered and groaned from the impact. Yelps for help throughout the ship could be heard as the passengers awoke startled from the event.

A steward knocked on the door. “Everyone alright in there?”

Rich, one of Melissa’s cabin mates, answered the door. “Yes, but we have broken glass everywhere.”

The steward looked as green as Melissa. He came in the room and assisted with cleaning up the broken glass and removed all other glasses from the room.

Melissa looked around the room. It looked like it had been tossed by burglars. The shelf where the glasses had been stowed was missing its metal bar. Melissa saw the bar and put it back in place.

The waves continued to rock the boat. Melissa became woozy again as the adrenalin wore off. Rich helped her back to bed and he finished straightening up anything that needed immediate attention.

The next morning, all of the rough weather had subsided as they had pulled into port. All of the passengers and crew had a rough night. The steward who helped them the night before came by to check in.

Rich inquired, “What caused that horrible thud last night? We know it was rough, but did we hit something?”

The steward looked at him. “We hit a rogue wave last night. The crew will be checking for damage to the hull now that we are in port. The bridge indicates it was at least a thirty-foot wave.” Melissa’s eyes grew wide, no wonder it felt like she was falling last night….she was.