A Wonderful Sleepless Night

-Rechelle

Well, our room is very nice, and we’re settling in. Last night was very hard for me. I had a hard time getting to sleep, because it was so strange to be swaying back and forth, and I was hearing every new sound (Dad says it like riding in the RV). I was missing my family and my home. I finally was able to doze off for a couple of hours, and then woke up again, wide awake! I went out on our balcony for a bit, and looked out over the quiet, dark ocean. I could see another cruise ship far off in the distance. The lights from our ship highlighted the soft, occasional white caps as far as I could see. The sky was dark, but there was sort of a soft glow where the clouds were gathered in clusters all across the sky. I felt sprinkles on my face, and thought it was from the clouds, but then noticed they didn’t seem to be thick enough for rain, or fog. Then I realized someone was busy hosing off the deck, several stories above me!!

Daddy let me go exploring, even though it was about 3:30 (4:30 since the time changed last night)! I asked a young man if there was a piano I could play, and he said he was the only one cleaning one of the lounges, where a baby grand piano is, and I was welcome to play!!! I went and got my music and played, and sang my songs, for a whole hour. He told me to come back, every night, between 1 and 7 a.m. That made me sooo happy!

Then, I put my music away, and went to explore the ship. It was really nice, because I was about the only one around, besides a smattering of attendants (?) working and cleaning. I felt much more at ease when I returned to our room, and the sun was just breaking onto the horizon. Wow! That was beautiful! I woke Daddy up to see it, but when we went out on the balcony, he was cold, and sleepy, and rushed back to bed! I thought I would try to sleep again, and I was much more restful.