CONNECTED TIME

      As Terrence Mosher boarded the cruise ship Glacial Princess, he tried to smile naturally, but he only conveyed mischievous sneakiness with his smiles. He knew this, so he stopped smiling. The problem was his serious look appeared too intimidating in a Robert De Niro sort of way. However, he thought of it as the lesser of two evils. People reacted differently to his serious look. Some were afraid and they backed off. Others just got angry with him. Both types of people seemed like idiots to him. He moved along the hallway leading to his room. On this cruise he would mainly keep to himself. Mind his own business while he worked on his experiment.

      Terrence, a time connoisseur of sorts, was really a time genius. Wormholes being his specialty. Three years ago, an epiphany set him apart and far ahead of all others in his field. He laughed just thinking about it. To think that the idea came to him while he was watching a television program about surfing, seemed crazy. Crazy but true. The circular crest of the wave falling down on itself and the man on the surfboard gliding through, inspired him to think outside the box. From that day forward, everything changed for him. His entire life. He became so obsessed with making his dream a reality that he left no time for anything else. His girlfriend left him after putting up with three long months of no attention at all from him. He didn't even care. His new love, was making his experiment work without any outside help. Now, it was almost complete. He would have liked to finish it off in his apartment, but that was impossible. From his epiphany, he knew he had to be on the ocean. A cruise ship would be perfect. No one would suspect a thing. His suitcase was filled with all the equipment necessary. If things went well, he would be done his experiment before evening. By then the ship would be at least a few miles away from land and that was enough. His room was in a central location on the ship. When he walked inside, he thought it looked smaller than the brochure had indicated, but it didn't really matter. He put his suitcase on the bed, opened it and began to assemble the device on the table by the small balcony.

***

      "Sherry honey, remember what we said we would do first?"

      "Yes Daddy, we're supposed to unpack first."

      "Then why are you going outside on the balcony?"

      "I just wanna see how far down the water is."

      "First things first, honey. Remember the..."

      "the important things first, then we can play. I know. Okay, but I'm just gonna unpack quick."

      "Try to be neat, so you can find things on your own later when you need them, instead of always asking me."

      Jacob watched his daughter sigh and then she dutifully started to unpack. Halfway through, she stopped and her hands dropped to her side. Her bottom lip started to tremble and he saw a tear slip down her cheek.

      He knelt down on one knee and held out his arms wide.

      "Are you okay honey?"

      She stepped closer and put her little arms around his neck.

      "I love you Daddy," she said with a quivering voice full of emotion.

      "I love you and I miss her too."

      Tears dribbled down his face and onto his daughters little shoulder. They hugged for several moments and then he said, "Let me help you with that." He helped her put her empty suitcase in the closet along with his. Then they both went out on the balcony.

***

      Michelle Bowers squinted as she looked at the beautiful horizon. The sun was starting to descend at the beginning of the afternoon. Finally, she could relax. Away from the busy hustle and bustle of her life. This cruise is just what she needed. A two week trip up the west coast, all the way to Alaska.