Their first few days at sea, Li Mei and the kids mostly roamed the ship, familiarizing themselves with all the different decks, hallways, and common areas. It wasn’t exactly a “Luxury” ship but it still had plenty of things to do for its passengers, including a fitness room, tennis, and shuffleboard. Much to Xeox’s surprise, she ended up being quite good at shuffleboard and ended up signing on for a tournament and won handily.

Cessy: “That was amazing, Xeox! You did so great!”

Boq Boq: “Indeed sister, that was a fine display of physics and physical coordination!”

Li Mei: “And look! You won a free dinner voucher at the ships restaurant! Maybe we can all go together tonight.”

Xeox: “Indeed it was an excellent match. However I’m surprised there were only 4 other opponents. It seems for such a large ship that there are not that many humans aboard.”

Li Mei: “I’ve totally been wondering about that too, Xeox. Like, this ship is supposed to take us to Menewsha and then even beyond to other places for the rest of the passengers but like, there doesn’t seem to be that many “other passengers”.”

The group of Menewshans ended up having a fine dinner at the onboard restaurant instead of the cafeteria. The food was delicious and the best part was it was free thanks to Xeox’s voucher! The next few days passed along quietly until one morning when the ships horn blew and woke them all up.

Li Mei: “That sounds like the horn used for docking…”

Cessy: *yawn* “Y-you mean we’re there??”

Cessy jumped out of bed, sleep suddenly forgotten as the excitement of being home charged though her.

Li Mei: “Hang on, Cessy. Like, don’t get too excited. We shouldn’t be anywhere near Menewsha yet. We are barely into our voyage. Come on kids. We totally need to check this out.”

Li Mei and the kids all dressed and headed out to the main deck. The site that greeted them however was quite a surprise. The ship was already at anchor and a tropical landscape stretched out before them, coconut trees swaying gently in the salty breeze.

Cessy: “This sure isn’t Menewsha at all…”

Li Mei pats Cessy on the shoulder and walked over to a deck officer overseeing the departure and arrival of people on the ship. After a brief conversation she returned to the group to give them the news.

Li Mei: “Alright you three. Here’s the deal. So like, the ship didn’t get enough passengers at the last port so they totally made an unscheduled stop here to pick up more people. The deck officer said they are going to be here for a week while people arrive.”

Cessy: “Another week!”

Boq Boq: “Worry not, friend Cessy! This gives us more time for pirate adventure, OW!”

Xoex stopped Boq Boq mid-sentence with a bop on the head.

Xeox: “No more adventures, brother! Friend Cessy wants to go home.”

Boq Boq: “You’ve bent one of my antenna!”

Li Mei: “It’s alright, Cessy. It’s a totally short delay! Like, we’ll be back on the open ocean before you can blink! Lets go do some shopping to pass the time alright? Shopping always cheers me up!”

Despite the frustration of the delay, Li Mei managed to get Cessy excited for a shopping trip. Over the course of the next week, she took Cessy and Boq Boq and Xeox shopping every single day. Mostly they purchased presents, but Li Mei managed to find several fashionable island outfits including a cute floral print skirt and a cute new bathing suit.

The ship slowly filled with people, making the otherwise quiet ship feel alive with activity. Before any of them knew it, it was time to depart again. This time, as Li Mei and the kids watched the Tropical city slip past the horizon, the entire upper deck of the ship was filled with people as they ship set out once again into open waters.