I stirred before dawn, warm beneath the extra galley blanket. I could feel the ship pitch ever so lightly, rocking us where we’d fallen asleep on deck chairs pushed together. The smell of salty ocean air awakened my senses, filling my lungs with the newness of day and the thrill of possibilities. I sat up, and a light morning gale caught strands of my hair, blowing it in front of my face. How different this bed was from the one in Chicago. I whispered to Luke, who was still sleeping, “Do you want to wake and see the sunrise with me?” He roused, first opening his eyes, then pulling himself up to a sitting position. He was still wearing his dinner clothes from the night before, but the once-pressed dress shirt was a mass of wrinkles that brought a smile to my face. On the starboard side of the ship, a shimmering golden dome was piercing the skin of the sky. It rose from out of the Pacific Ocean like the birth of a planet.
