Mistaken Identity

Silent Sea

   Adam had set sail at a whim - very irresponsible of him, he later realized, but he had always been a daredevil at heart. Things like 'repercussions' and 'aftermaths' were fairy tales to daredevils, and in fairy tales they would remain.

   Besides the cold, deep silence he often carried with him, he could hear the seagulls and the currents of the vast ocean. The ship was an eye-catching shade of silver. Adam had chosen the coating himself, but the ship had been a gift from a Cambodian friend of his.

The man had decided to devote the vessel to ferrying passengers to distant places.

   Adam, clad in black chinos and a white shirt, shut his eyes, attempting to divert his attention from the garrulous young woman puking nonsense into his ears. Why can't a depressed person get some peace for one second?

"Oh my gosh! Your hair is free from wrinkles! And you smell so nice! Which kind of shampoo do you use?" the girl exclaimed.

   My shampoo is none of your concern. Can you not see I am trying to recuperate from losing my second-in-command?

   He concluded it was near-impossible to avoid the young lady. So, he glanced at her, making sure to make his gaze as ferocious as possible. Hopefully, she would be filled with terror and escape. Instead, though, the girl's small, heart-shaped face - thick with makeup - shone with a smile that could make a blind man gasp. And all the mascara and plastic surgery that she must have undergone to become...whatever she was, creased and wrinkled with the smile. A man perched on a wide chaise nearby choked on his drink and only recovered, dazedly, after the older lady beside him shook him, like a horse shaking off a fly. The man's face was twisted with impalpable trepidation, as though he had encountered the ghost of a man he murdered. Adam could only guess why.

"Wow! You finally looked at me!" the slightly effeminate creature exclaimed exuberantly, clasping her bony hands together as she exposed her crooked teeth for all to scream and gasp at. In horror. 

   Her teeth were not white. Adam chooses to leave it to your vast imagination to try and decrypt the intricate rainbow that was her teeth.

"I have been speaking to you for well over an hour now and you hadn't responded at all! I really can't get you. Are you, like," she paused, staring at him with sparkling, probably-fake eyes, "shy?" She fluttered her fake lashes.

   Now it was Adam's turn to cough in horror and appalment. Only, he lacked a drink on hand but his saliva generously stepped in to do the job. 

   The eccentric young lady, whose identity he could only guess(a con artist or a runaway patient from a psychiatric hospital), stared, nonplussed, as he choked and wheezed like never before in his life.

   And, when he was done, Adam gave the girl a hard look before instantly creating a cosmic gap between him and the cuckoo eccentric. However, the creature closed that distance in a single stride, her plastic surgery face beaming with stupendous naivety. And, considering the minimal effort she had exerted to reach him, Adam now came to also add her the moniker of gorilla, as her strength was something to write home about.

   He had reduced his presence throughout that day, praying she would mistake him for an apparition and then mind her own business. However, he had miscalculated. It seemed ghosts were her type. Luckily for him, the lady had been eventually dragged away by a tall, unidentified man, amidst her high-pitched screams.

   Good riddance to her, Adam had thought dismissively as he retired to his cabin, zonked to the bone by all the thinking and speculating he had done. As for whatever would happen to that talkative young lady, well, he did not care.

   He hit the hay early, welcoming dreams free from escaped patients with mental disorders. He was also hoping to open his eyes to the vast, infinite blue - canvas of his smile.