Writing Prompt 3: Being on a cruise ship and having to stay on it because there had been someone contaminated with the virus on board.
The Peltzer family weren't the richest people around. Two years they had saved up for this Disney cruise, and of course, something just had to fuck it all up. Despite there being half a dozen different events scheduled for this hour, all four of them were holed up inside their cabin.
Charlie, the teenage son, sat on the bed with his little sister Sarah curled up in his arms. Marian, his mother, wiped hot tears from her cheeks as she tore apart one of the family suitcases looking for something that could be made into a makeshift face mask. And Tony, the Peltzer patriarch, dug through the minifridge, gathering up all the alcohol in his arms.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding." Tony grabbed the last few containers inside before standing up straight and slamming the fridge shut with the side of his foot - together, it'd be a 53 dollar charge, but that was the last thing he was thinking about at the moment. "One Chinese guy decides to eat bat soup and now we're all gonna die."
"Tony, don't say that in front of the kids!" Marian scolded her husband, but didn't make a fuss when he slipped her one of the little Kahlua bottles. She popped it open and began to chug it. "Sarah, cover your eyes please."
"She's seen you drink before, mom." Charlie said. Turning to his son, Tony tossed him one of the beers, which he caught with a quick hand. "Whoa, really?" he asked, looking at the bottle.
"Sure thing, if we're dying who gives a shit?"
Marian snapped at him again, voice cracking with a sob. "Anthony, quit saying that!"
"It's true, Mary!" he yelled back. "It's true!"
While their parents squabbled, Sarah broke her silence and looked up at her brother.
"Is it true?" she asked in a voice that was small, even for her size. "Are we really gonna die?"
"Uhh..." Charlie had popped the cap off of his beer and was sipping it slowly. He had never tried beer before, and he was truthfully pretty disappointed with how it tasted. "Probably not, I mean, it's only three people I think, and they've got them all quarantined."
Suddenly, they all heard violent retching from the next cabin over.
"Okay, well," Charlie scratched his nose. "Maybe they're just seasick."
"I'm gonna ask for a refund." Tony said, pinching the spot between his eyes. He'd already downed half the bottles in his arms. "I'm done, that's it, I'm going up to the cabin and I'm asking for a refund."
"Tony, don't-"
"Mary, I paid two grand for a relaxing week of fun and whimsy with Donald and Mickey and... and whatever the fuck the dog's called!" he jabbed a finger at her. "Not a week of listening to people puke their guts out and die through the thin metal walls of an aquatic coffin!"
With that, he dropped the empty bottles in his arms into the trash, then stormed out through the door, which he shut with a loud slam. A few seconds later and he walked back inside sheepishly, pulling off one of his shoes. Charlie could see the soles were covered with what looked like the world's grossest milkshake.
"Some guy hurled out there." he said, yanking off the other as he hopped on one foot. "Mary, get me my slippers, will you?"
I had a lot of fun writing this but I'm gonna cut it there I think.
