Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine #6

“I said, hello, gorg...”

“Hello,” Karen interrupted, her head swimming, feeling the effects of sun and sickness.

“A fine day at sea.” His Australian accent was charming. He knelt down next to her and extended a hand. “Noah.”

Karen took his hand and he shook her arm violently.

“Is…is this your first time on the reef?” Karen asked, because that was the thing to ask when you were on the Great Barrier Reef.

“Crikey! Hundredth, I think.”

Karen attempted a smile. “Does it get old?”

“No! Never.”

“It’s my first time.”

“Have you signed up for the scuba diving lessons? Do you have your semisubmersible time? They run a tight ship, they do.”

Karen dug in her bag and pulled out the red ticket she’d been handed at the office and shook her head.

“I’m just snorkeling today. And,” she read the ticket, “I have the tour at one thirty.”

“Not to be missed. Just make sure you’re back from your first dive in time to eat. And, believe me, you’ll want to head back out for a last dive before we leave.”

Karen slipped the ticket back into her bag, touching the waterproof disposable camera she’d stupidly lugged through security in Chicago O’Hare and her connecting flight in Los Angeles, and made a mental note to take it out on the reef.

“I’m sorry,” Karen said, feeling lightheaded, wiping the sweat as it dripped down her neck. “Do you work for the ship?”

“Crikey!” Noah boomed and Karen nodded her head, shakily rising to her feet.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Karen said, reaching back down to grab her bag, a movement that brought a scary amount of black to her vision. “But I think I really need to get inside. It’s been a long trip.”

“No worries,” Noah said, plopping down onto the Astroturf. “Enjoy the reef!”

Inside, the catamaran’s cabin was taken up almost entirely by tables and bench