An Inch Of Infinity (Short Version)

CHAPTER 48~New Years Eve

    "We got all of it." says Maiki. "We got it all, there's nothing left in there. Now we have to take it all to your camp."

We pile all of the crates we can onto the cart, but there is still a lot left over. We all grabbed a crate if we could. Some people carried two, some crates needed to be carried by two people. Soon all the crates were taken care of. We began the long, uneventful walk back to camp. Kiki complained the whole way there, about her feet hurt, the crates were heavy, her back hurt, we smelled bad, she needed a bath. You get the picture.

When we finally got back to camp, it was dark. Someone had strung up paper lanterns, and they looked beautiful. The lanterns were different colored, and were strung from the outskirts of the camp, to a pole in the middle. There were people all around the camp. A few turned their heads when we came back. Soon everyone had gathered around the survivors and were asking questions, or were helping load the crates onto boats.

The cooks had made a feast for new years. I completely forgot! All of our leftovers had been kept aside. There was potato salad, fruit bowls, hot dogs, and burgers, and all sorts of things.

There were picnic tables set up all around the camp, and the aroma of food drifted into my nostrils with glee. I found my way to the sushi table, and asked how much I was allowed to have.

"As much as you want, but the janitors will not clean up after you if you make yourself sick." says the older women guarding the table. I get a huge plate piled high with sushi and go sit on the grass. Something is missing. I finish my sushi, then I realize what was missing.

I ran into our cabin to retrieve it. Zoey is in there. She looks sad. I ask her what's wrong and she jumps. She says that someone stole her blanket. I snap my head to see if mine was on the bed. It was not. We searched the ship up and down. Finally we found them, along with almost a hundred others in a supply room. We brought ours back to our room, then got on the announcements.

"Please excuse this interruption, but there seems to have been another prank pulled on boat 4. If you own a quilt and can not find it, please report to the deck." I say with a silly deep voice and with the flair of an announcer. We hauled up boxes of quilts. People began to crowd around to get their quilts back. I went back into the cabin, and pulled out the MP3 player. I put it on my playlist, and set it for loop. Then I hooked it up to the speakers on the deck. Soon there was music blasting out over the party. Some people started dancing, and it turned out to be a real blast.

I headed down to eat more food. There was Emma's stew, along with other contest winners. Ours wasn't the most popular, but it was easy to make, and had a good portion of the pot emptied into bowls. 

There was a table of juice. There were beverage dispensers all around the table and on a stand in the middle. There were also little wax paper cups coming out of a dispenser labeled dixie cups. I eagerly grabbed a cup, and circled the table like a shark or a hawk, circling its prey. Only one container was empty, labeled lemonade. It must have been popular. Then Olivia, Coral's mate, came crashing through. She saw the cups and shook her head as if in disgust, and put her head under the faucet of the cranberry juice dispenser. When she took breaks, it was only to breath . When she was done, there were now two empty dispensers.

  I tried each one. There was even a little cranberry juice left. My favorite was blueberry-pomegranate. I saw Lilly and Tyler. She was only eating some foods, and kept asking dumb questions about calories and carbohydrates, and fat and sugar. I had momentarily forgotten that she was pregnant. Lucky, Tyler didn't notice. She had to tell him sometime, and if he wasn't being kept alive by a machine, I'm sure she would. Then again, maybe she should tell him. He has a right to know that he is going to have a kid. Lilly saw me, and as soon as Tyler started to talk with some friends, she ran over to me.