Complaints have come from all sides. They tell me that the infirmaries are collapsed with people with severe headaches and decay. Restaurant and bar managers have been telling us all day that people are in a bad mood, swearing and throwing cutlery and napkins everywhere. Today is the day when the deck has had the least amount of people, even though it is having a splendid day, and curiously, sales in the stores are down by 70%, especially those related to souvenirs and mementos of this trip.
My brains are going to burn and I don't understand what could be going on. Are people not happy? Wasn't the cost-benefit ratio good? Has the pandemic of 2023 just arrived and its symptoms are headaches and bad moods? The truth is that walking through the corridors and common areas there is an air of discomfort, annoyance and displeasure. For the first time in the hundreds of trips I have been on, I just want to stay under the sheets, in my cabin. This is very serious! We have to find a solution urgently.
I've done thousands of searches on the internet, about the weather, politics, economy, elon musk and lost balloons in space, but nothing gives me any indication of this grey cloud that covers the ship and makes life bitter for all of us.
I walk non-stop for an hour, going around every corner, looking for answers. I only come across disheveled, unruly people in their pajamas and it's 4:00 p.m. Have they just woken up or are they going to sleep? Arrgg!!!!!
Finally, I get a quiet, relatively peaceful place, a children's playroom. I sit on the floor in a corner and watch them all carefully, are they unaffected by the chaos on the ship? Apparently not...
The children come in all sizes, colors and shapes, some are playing in groups and others have chosen solitary games. One of these solitary children slowly approaches me with his games, and I start to get nervous. However, after a few minutes I realize that I am safe, this seems to be the quietest and happiest place on the ship. The kids are definitely immune to the new virus. I'm reaching into my pocket for my phone to communicate with a couple of doctors, when I hear a soft little voice coming towards me.
-My mom is very upset....
-do you know why?- I ask him kindly.
-I don't know. She's upset about a lot of things... if I don't pick up my toys, if daddy didn't wash the dishes, if it rains a lot. But this time she's really upset.
-And do you know why? - I ask him again, and I'm ashamed of the angry tone that escapes me.
-I told you I don't know - says the little boy, and this time he sounds like a wise old man. He starts to pick up his toys, surely he'll go play somewhere else.
I mumble to myself, I too get up from the floor snorting. I really don't think I can stand 6 more days in this place. I utter the following words, but they are not for the boy who sees me with his big green eyes, they are for my inner child.
-I've had enough. I'll get a coffee.
-Oh- the boy answers me immediately, with a little voice of regret - There isn't any. There is no coffee on the whole boat.
And then everything starts to make sense. I now understand why half of the passengers look like zombies, and the other half look like possessed beings.
All images in this publication are free to use in PEXELS, edited in applications such as CANVA and GIPHY. The content is original and my own.