Art

Kathryn and I board a spiral contraption sitting on the surface of a river. It is dull red cylinder enclosing a spiral staircase that descends into the interior of the contraption. There are other people inside who come up and crowd the staircase as we try to get on. Then it twists down into the water. I expect water to come pouring in from above, but when you cannot see the sky, the water cannot get to you.
The machine transports us down the river a ways, then reemerges. I climb to the top and make some remarks. Then it descends again.

Later, in the modern art museum I surprise a man after a suspended look and kiss his behind a glass wall. I am surprised that I did not notice his unshaven face in the seconds before, and he is a terrible kisser.

Meat

First, I am a part of corresponding scenes from each of the Jaws movies. It is the part where the hunky dude decides to show off for the cute girl and go swimming, even though she begs him not to because it's dangerous, but he does anyway and gets eaten.

Then Kathryn calls me up and wants to go get dinner at Southcenter. I ask what she wants to eat and she describes this elaborate plan to steal either a cow or raw meat from some company, and take it to the steakhouse and have them cook it for us.

Instead we go to a fabric store where I find a really cute fabric, but it has some matching mesh attached, which Kathryn's mom explains is for the architecture student's models.

That wasn't supposed to happen

Kathryn and I are working at Solstice, and we are keeping the cafe open late for a show of some sort. I feel alright about this until we try to use the cash register and the "3", "00", and "cash" keys are broken off. In a panic, I try to get the espresso machine mechanic to come back and fix it, but he has already left. When I turn back, someone has started a list of everything sold and convinces me it will be alright. Matt, A-Strike, Jacob, Eva, and some other band members approach, and I greet them warmly. Later, they are over talking to Devin, who I think is also helping with the event, and I overhear A-Strike say, "Yeah, and I keep getting these e-mails from the dream blog- we all have, since our names were first mentioned it put us on its e-mail list and won't stop sending us updates!"
I can feel my cheeks burning.I say, "No... not all of you?"
A-Strike says, "Yeah, we're all on the list now!"
Shit! I just had a dream about making out with Matt. I turn to him, and he looks at me for a second before turning away in embarrassment. I ask, "Matt, can we talk outside for a minute?" He nods, and we step out into the alley. I say, "I'm really sorry, Matt, that shouldn't have been something you had to read."
He says, "No! Look, it's okay, don't worry about it Jenny!" much in the way Kris said I shouldn't worry about being a jerk.
I continue, "I just think, well, it wouldn't even have been weird if Andrew hadn't mentioned it and-"
"Exactly!" He cuts in enthusiastically, and says, "Good, I'm glad we're clear on that!" and he hugs me, and we both get a little too intimate.

I am on an a hike with a group of classmates, including my secret lover, and a teacher. We reach vantage point on a steep cliff, overlooking the sun setting on the ocean. Everyone begins to move down the steep path to the beach, and I quickly try to find a way to indicate to my lover that we should stay behind. Just as the last student rounds the bend, I turn around, and almost stumble over a body lying face down on the ground. I gasp in shock and then decide the man is probably taking a nap. I shake his shoulder and say loudly, "SIR, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" several times, before backing off and realizing I probably shouldn't touch the body. I do spot a wallet nearby and pick it up. I pull out photos of a man, who I presume is the body, although I can't see his face. The name on the credit card says "Wilder". I yell to my brother, who appears at my side. "Nick! Do you recognize the man in this picture? You had Mr. Wilder for English in high school, didn't you? Is this him?"
Nick nods.

I find myself suddenly underwater, unsure of which way is up. There is too much pressure and I need to get to the surface. I do i somersault, looking for the sun, but there are odd glints of light in the dark water in every direction. Suddenly there is a powerful rushing, something shooting up beneath me from great depths. A giant iron capsule nearly slams into me as it rushes to the surface.
I get a flash of the future: the scariest mutant sharks I can imagine are thrashing around in the water around me, having been released from the capsule when the chain anchoring their isolation chamber to the floor of the ocean snapped-
I am underwater still but there is no sign of the capsule or the sharks. This time I notice a chain leading down into the depths and I understand it leads from the capsule at the bottom to a buoy on the surface. I immediately start swimming to to the surface, knowing I have to get away before-
The capsule explodes from the water near me and shoots into the sky. I frantically swim towards the same cliffs I stood on before with the body of Mr. Wilder, hoping I can get away before the capsule falls from the sky and the sharks are released.
Now I am with someone, a friend, possibly my lover from before. We are still about a hundred yards from the base of the cliff, but we can see the bottom is not more than twenty feet away. We hear yelling from the cliff- we are saved!
But then we get a better look- the figures line up, each one carrying a large stone over his head. One by one they throw the stones, and all I can do it sit there and think, "Are they really throwing stones at us?" until one nearly hits me over the head and I have to dive underwater.

I examine several packages of macaroni from the cupboard, reading the instructions and trying to decide which one to prepare. They all have strange complex instructions, though, such as, "At 4900 feet, boil 10 quarts water for 30 seconds, then remove half, saving one cup for later use. Add half package of macaroni..."

I walk across campus, soaking wet, giving a tour to the same group that was at Solstice earlier, now also including Anna, Kellen, and Alex. We arrive at Red Square... but it is white. I assume it is ice- they must have removed red square, installed a lake, and it froze over. Kathryn suggests, "Let's go swimming!" Everyone agrees, the weather is as nice as can be (cloudy), and starts removing their shoes.
I am the first one ready, running backwards as fast as I can with my elbows out behind me to break through the ice. Alex and Kathryn are close behind. When I reach the "shoreline" and throw myself backwards, however, I do not crash through ice. I get tangled up in the white butcher paper that is actually covering the lake, and my feet get stuck, in what I fear is mud.
"Stop!" I yell, "You're going to get covered in mud!" Alex is already in, though, and he explains that the bottom is paved, with stairs leading down from the edges.
A campus police officer blows a whistle and walks up to us across the butcher paper surface of the lake, explaining to me as I sit tangled in the soggy paper that Alex is right: red square is actually a paved pool, but it is closed for the winter. We thank her and crawl out of the pool, moving into the lobby of a small art gallery to wring ourselves out.

No more hoops for me

I sit in on a lecture Ms. Kestle gives to the IB English class in Meany Stdio 267 about how difficult writing essays will be in college. She looks to me to affirm her claims but I just say, "Sure... if you want to believe that," because my essays are obviously shit and I do alright. Bored with her class I walk down the hall to talk to my dance teacher, Kory, and another instructor, Jurg. Just then class is dismissed and Mr. Fosberg asks me to guide everyone to the cheap food.

I take a group of some boys and a girl to the Hub, but since we come in through Allen Library we end up in a small three-story house that has been converted entirely into a Christmas display. It is terrifying. There are nutcrackers and elves and fake snow everywhere. We eventually find our way out and into the bathroom. I have to pee, but Mr. Fosberg yells that class is starting.

We all file out through another door, which leads to an outdoor pool. This is supposed to be Kathryn's family reunion, but Mr. Lerwick is ruining it and teaching gym class instead. We all pair up and wade grumpily into the pool. Then Mr. Lerwick gives us a long patronizing talk about how we've all been slacking, as we tread water, steadily becoming exhaused. Finally he gives us instructions for one partner to stand on the edge of the pool with other other in the water. The exercise involves the partner on the side gently tossing a piece of Styrofoam in the shape of a triangular prism (like something i keep having to draw for art) at the partner in the water, who is equipped with a hula hoop and a giant floating Q-tip. There is also a specific procedure for throwing the Styrofoam back to the side that I pretend to understand until Mr. Lerwick turns his back and leaves.

I get out of the pool, exhausted and rebellious, but when Kathryn and I lay down on the nearby lounge chairs, Lerwick returns, asking if we finished all of our repetitions. We give him the, "What do you think?" look and he replies, "Don't try to lie on this one! That's why I had this tree installed next to the pool!" We look at the pool and are astonished to see a huge deciduous tree with partially bare branched overhanging the pool. The rest of its leaves rest, yellow and orange, completely covering the surface of the pool. As we watch more leaves fall a a constant rate, as new ones constantly unfurl and yellow on the tree. Kathryn and I laugh in astonishment as Mr. Lerwick says, "I knew it! All I have to do now is show the undisturbed surface to the Superintendent and you'll finally get punishment!"

As hilariously entertaining as he is, we leave Mr. Lerwick by the pool and walk out to the playing field, where Mr. Sullivan sits in the bleachers. My bike balances, waiting for me, on the pitchers mound. I get on but feel unsure of how to ride it. I seem to be sitting on handlebars. I tell Mr. Sullivan that mom's bike had handlebars that fit my ass better, and create a mirage to show him what I mean. Then I get confused, because that bike wasn't even the right size, and besides, I like my new bike much better, and I tell him so. The mirage vanishes. He nods and encourages me to continue, waiting to evaluate my bike-riding skill. I get on the bike and pedal a few feet, but feel unsteady and decide it's best just to get off. I don't really need to do the evaluation right now, or I don't know why I need to do it in the first place.

It was a perfect day

The temperature is just right, the air is clear, and the light is not too bright. Looking east to the Sound, the tide is out, and I feel perfect as I am. I wish I could go down to the water, but I have obligations, so I call Alex and tell him he needs to take a break and go down there.

-

I try to go to McCarty to pick up a key to my new home, but since I got there from my dorm, in a building a minute and a half to the southwest, I cannot obtain the key, because I don't live in that dorm anymore, I live in Fremont. I have to go somewhere else to pick up the key because the person I an trying to pick up the key from would only live in McCarty if I lived in the other dorm. I try and figure out where the person with the key lives now that I live in Fremont, or if they might be in a different place altogether since I am about to move.
I lose track of my thoughts when I run into a cluster of people standing in the way of the exit. Trying to go around them, I realize it is actually a line of people, extending down the hallway and all the way up the wide wooden stair. Actually, down every hallyway and up every staircase. A rythmic flashing catches my eye, and I understand that the building is filled with students standing in line for copy machines. Each one holds about three hundred pages, and must make copies of them before going to class.
I finally find my way out of the solid maze of students and out to a parking lot. On my way out I notice that one of the boys I am walking next to looks like Vinh from my tea class, but I can't tell for sure because I don't want to interrupt his conversation. Eventually I am almost sure it is Vinh, but he is ignoring me because I never got back to him about getting chai. He gets into a sportscar in the parking lot an I walk down the line of cars, looking for Kathryn's van. When I think I've found it I hesitate, debating whether it's really white now, but Kathryn's dad rolls down the window and sticks his head out. The other doors open and Kellen and Anna get out. Then Devin and Kathryn come over from a nearby car. Kathryn's dad says they've been waiting for me to start the summer programming class. They do this every summer in this parking lot, because it's too expensive to get a classroom. This makes me really nervous, because as much as I would like to take a class with everyone, I haven't taken math in two years, and Devin is already talking about algorithms.

I go back to my dormitory, which actually looks like my Fremont Studio (no wonder I was confused), and lay on the floor, looking through the bookcase. I pick out a book titled "SURPRISES!", thinking that maybe it's full of ideas for giving people really cool surprise parties. Instead, I am disappointed to see that it includes 10-12 illustrated summaries of historically surprising engineering feats.

Famous Figures

The flashlight with no batteries works.

I make out with Michelangelo/Chewbacca in a secret cupboard in the basement of the house where I live.

I am recruited by Laura to be part of a new fashion show. I learn at the rehearsal at Burien Dance Theatre that it is a modern dance fashion show, and my theme is "happy". The first time through I am really bummed to have such a stupid theme and dance rather poorly, but afterwards I realize the awesome possibilities of the show.

I go outside to sit down with my dad on the curb by a huge solid blue fence, which is about fifty feet high, enclosing a large portion of the street. Water splashes over the top, which I conclude must be from the waterslide on the other side, and this is the Burien February Carnival. Anna walks by and asks what I am doing in Burien, but listens uninterestedly as I tell her about the improvisational modern dance fashion show.

I go back inside for the second rehearsal of the day, and this time feel really connected. The musicians seem rather impressed and the stage hands send out the other dancers. They are all breakdancing men. Feathers fall from te ceiling near the end of the number and inspire me to try to fly again. I can't believe I almost forgot that I fly.

After rehearsal I ride the 125 through Shorewood with Kathryn. It is almost Christmas and I haven't done nearly enough shopping, so I stay on the motionless bus for a long time, hoping it will go back downtown. It is a very sunny December. In fact is is alot more like June. Kathryn informs me that my mother has decided that when my lease is up in Fremont at the end of February, I will move in with her family because I will be less likely to catch the bus in the morning. This is a terrible solution, and I get off the bus and walk back and forth, east to west along some streets in Arbor Heights, trying to see which one will lead to Roxhill Park, where my mom is walking the dog. Teenagers look at me strangely as a pace the street.

At the park I worry about getting my shoes muddy wading through the swamp, but they have fixed that. I catch up to my mom, who walks hurriedly in the direction I just came from. A group of young Latino boys in purple jerseys plays soccer nearby, and when the ball comes in our direction my mom kicks it back to them neatly.

Back in Shorewood my parents have a Chelan condo, which my mother shows to the Kolpacks, who will be staying with us. I show a friend the coat closet, and then switch into narration mode. I am Chrissy, the youngest child, who can't help but dance, regardless of the consequences. I come out of the closet dancing to some really good indie pop, and meet my dance partner in the living room. This is another part of rehearsal for the fashion/dance show. My partner is in his twenties, and I wonder about the implications of dancing like this with an older man, but in the true character Chrissy, I feel compelled to keep dancing (plus he's really good).

When we are through with the rehearsal the man mentions that he was supposed to enter into a simulation like the one I had with Michelangelo/Chewbacca, and that other one with Descartes, only in his he is supposed to be Nicole Kidman's husband. Subconsciously I am aware the Nicole Kidman's husband is Daniel Craig, and I try to tell the man it will not work, because I'm fairly sure he's already a movie star, and I don't think movie stars are allowed to participate in simulations of movie stars.

He doesn't think it matters, and, determined to complete his assignment, begins the simulation anyway. I am supposed to supervise, but I have trouble telling which man sitting at a nearby table in the smoke-filled club is my dance partner and which men are part of the simulation, because they are all incredibly handsome and masculine-looking, and they are all making kissy faces at Nicole Kidman, who is sitting at the table across the way.

I notice the band playing on stage, and get really excited when I recognize the profile Count Basie at the piano. I think about this a bit, and decide that it can't really be Count Basie, but some lookalike they hired for the simulation. It dawns on me that Nicole Kidman isn't really Nicole Kidman either.

Another of Andrew's great ideas

I am downtown after school with my backpack and drawing portfolio. I have to go to the Opera, so I stop in a stuffy women's clothing store, where many women buy fancy flip-flops. The saleswomen are suspicious that I am mentally handicapped, and have escaped the care of my parents, so they call my dad to take me home. He arrives, awkward in his suspenders and cut-off polar fleece, and talks to me soothingly.
Eventually I give up trying to go to the Opera and end up heading south on I-5 in the backseat of Andrew's car. I talk to Kathryn, who is in the front seat, then Alex appears and we understand each other. Then Ariana appears between us and sings. I rummage around in a paper sack and pull out a plain bagel that as been slightly tainted with blueberry. Ariana asks, "Is that for me?" and I lie and say yes. I take the blueberry-tainted pepper bagel instead.
Andrew mutters something about a watershed, and veers off sharply to the left just before the tunnel, where there is an exit I've never seen before. Although this is somewhere on Capitol Hill, the exit is steep and overgrown with blackberries, and leads us to a snowy field. We all jolt around as he drives us into the middle of the field. I hear a strange noise. Creaking.
"Andrew!" I say, "This is a lake! Are you trying to kill us? Get us off of here!"
He doeesn't believe me, go I get out of the car and brush the snow off the surface. It just looks like ice and Andrew is not convinced. I decide to at least save my own ass and head for the shore. As I walk, my footsteps reveal a different surface. Examining it more closely, I discover it is dark wooden planks, similar to the flooring in Solstice. Everyone else approaches and enthusiastically brushes off a large area. Andrew says, "Look, they've reinforced the lake, it's safe!" Then he comes up with the idea to use our matching planks to reinforce the lake even further, so everyone pulls out a hammer and nails planks on top of the existing ones.
Deciding it would be a better use of my time to go to work, I walk over to the espresso machine on the south end of the lake. The order is a triple tall two percent caramel latte to go, but there's something wrong with the beans... someone has filled the grinder with hard candies. This seems like a really bad idea, but I figure someone knew what they were doing, so I pull the shots. They come out multi-colored, and then deflate to a sugary residue.

I never believed in an afterlife

I sit in front of the coffee table preparing rootbeer floats with my dad for Doan's birthday party. First I have trouble finding glasses. We have pint-glasses, but then all I can find in my grandma's dishwasher are like giant martini glasses with no stems. We use these anyway. Then, the only ice cream we have is Godiva chocolate raspberry truffle. I am not convinced this will make the best tasting rootbeer float, but my dad starts scooping anyway because it's melting. Then, I start slicing orange poppyseed bread from work to put in there as well, because we have to use it before it gets stale. Finally, we run out of ice cream entirely, so I head up to Kathryn's to borrow some from her.

As I pass by Shorewood, I pause by the basketball courts to rest. It is starting to get dark. As is sit there, a shadowy figure crosses the field and steps up to the fence by te sidewalk with a vendor's tray and a ziplock sack. He whispers to the nonexistent passersby the goods he is selling, which include candy such as pixie stix and cocaine. I start to worry that if he notices me he will think I intend to tell the police and maybe kidnap me or something. I decide to try and continue on indiscreetly.

I slowly start tiptoeing down the hill towards Kathryn's house. When I start walking more normally I hear footsteps, but i can't tell if they're mine or the drug dealer's. I walk faster and the footsteps get louder. Finally, as I turn the corner, practically running, I turn halfway around and say,"Can I help you with something?" to the guy, but keep walking at a slower pace. He is probably younger than me, but is seriously tough-looking with cornrows, a black bandadna, and I think a gun as well.

To my surprise he asks me some totally innocent question that I don't know the answer to. We're still walking towards Kathryn's but it is so dark now that I am completely blind. The drug dealer, on the other hand, is completely fine (because those drug dealers, you know, they have night vision). I stumble and grab his hand, and he guides me the rest of the way to Kathryn's house. By the time we get there he's really friendly, which makes me really uncomfortable, but when he reaches out to hug me goodbye I comply because he has a gun. Then he kisses me twice on the lips, and once on the neck as I take his arms off me and turn away.

He stands in the driveway for a few moments to make sure he's brought me to the right house, and finally leaves. I walk up to Kathryn's basement window, looking to see if anyone is up before I knock on the door, since it's 3:30 AM. Then i figure, if it really is 3:30 AM it would probably worse to be spotted suspiciously looking in windows. Then I realize that none of this is relevant because it's actually 8:30 PM and I knock on the door.

Kathryn's dad answers and lets me in the front door, but leaves me enclosed on the landing behind a waist-high gate. I wonder if it would be rude to just step over this small gate. Kahtyrn comes upstairs before I can finish wondering and lets me through. I turn to her and say, "Kathryn, you won. You know what this means, right?" She nods and says, "Yes, and I haven't changed my mind either. I want you to have it all." It is understood that Kathryn has won a huge sum of money, and she cannot accept it for moral reasons, but she wants me to have it because I will do the right thing. I'm not entirely sure Kathryn has the right idea, but I don't argue, because, as I tell Kathryn, "Aaron, Holly, and Sally are already on their way." She nods and I turn around to lock the door. I get the gate locked, then try to lock the door, but can't reach it. Instead of stepping over the gate again I unlock the gate, lock the front door, and the relock the gate. Aaron Smith is already in the driveway, and he will claim he prize for his own religious purposes if I do not get to the prize office with the official scroll. Kathryn tells me we can escape through one of the barbershops on the east side of her house. She leads me through a hallway, and I start to ask her again if she is sure of the decision,when we enter the kitchen and I finally look around her house. It is a wreck. All the furniture is broken, the applicances are all gone, the linoleum floor has been ripped out, and everything is covered in filth. Kathryn and her family have been living in poverty, and I didn't even realize it because I hadn't seen them in so long. I tell her, "Kathryn, you know you have to take some of this money, right?" She nods and leads me further back into the house.

By now Aaron is in the front door, and working his way past the gate. I open a door and see room with a window leading outside, so I go inside. Kathryn says, "No! That's Robert's bedroom! You have to go through one of the barbershops!" But I'm already halfway out the small window. Kathryn soon emerges outside from a room next door. Aaron is coming down the hallway, has almost found us, so we toss the scroll I had been carrying into the bushes and rush across the street. There is a giant cedar tree in the neighbor's yard, so I leap up, seize the end of a branch, and swing into the tree, pulling Kathryn up with me. Just then, Sally and Holly pull into Kathryn's driveway as Aaron comes out through a window. He tells them, "No sign, but there's still time." As Sally and Holly respond, I swing unnoticed over their heads on a particularly springy branch and pick the scroll out of the bushes. As I fling myself back over to the branch next to Kathryn, Devin walks down the street and informs me that the party will not take place until next weekend, because Kellen and Doan are both out of town. Sitting next to Kathryn on the branch, I unroll the scroll to see that it has already alotted Kathryn her share, appropriate for buying a new house and repaying er family's debts: $119,000,000.00. I don't remember the exact amount of my share, but it was something like $439,500,000.00. I ask where Kathryn thinks her family will live now, and she points across the street to a house like a grey cement wedding cake and says, "Well the neighbors have a nice house for sale." I try to confirm that I will perform the appropriate deed with her money, but I can't remember what it is.

Next we are standing in a room I have never been inside before in the care home where my grandma last lived. I am crying, and when Kathryn asks what's wrong, I say, "She had a stroke. She was supposed to be dead, but she had a stroke." Two nurses with a defibrillator move away from the bed, and reveal my grandma laying there. My dad is nearby and the rest of my family is around somewhere. I am hysterical. "Where have they been keeping her since she died?! What have they done to her?!" My dad looks a little hurt, but then gives me a small, understanding smile, which I do not return, and gets up and leaves.

My grandmother rolls over, gets out of bed, and puts on her robe. She walks out of the room, past my brother in the hallway, to a nearby kitchen. There she turns on the stove and bustles about, making breakfast. Apparently a few months dead have cured her of Parkinson's. I'm standing there next to Kathryn, who looks at me questioningly, and Nick, who is calm. I ask him if he knows what is going on, and he just shrugs. My grandma hums to herself and flips a fried egg of the griddle. Then she serves a scrambled eggs to my dad, and a poached egg to my mom. Then it looks like she's trying to flip another egg, but has trouble. She turns around, glancing at me briefly and saying, "Look at me, I can't even make a proper grilled egg for you." I realize that she has made each member of my family our favorite type of egg. She pries open a waffle iron to reveal that my egg of choice is a waffle-egg. I start crying.

Now my mother is taking our entire family and many friends on vacation to Gig Harbor. We paddle up to the floating dock at the marina in our tiny rowboat and hop off. I have the directions and lead the way to our motel. To get there we go up to the street first, which looks like Pac Highway, where there is a strip club across the steet with huge plate windows. However, all we can see from the outside are sleezy men sitting in chairs. The dancers, it seems, are encased in mirrored columns. I assume they are the two-way mirrors, (which doesn't make sense, because then the dancers would be seeing out and the viewers wouldn't be able to see in.)
I puzzle over how that works and continue leading the way to our motel. The directions lead us out onto another floating dock, with components that look like a combination between a giant put-put golf course and a playground castle. This is the motel. "Thanks, mom," I say sarcastically. "Another great choice. This one is right up there with Hotel Diva". As we reach the end of the dock, we meet the manager, who is the grandpa who died when I was 5. To get into the hotel we have to climb over the tiny castle rooftops and through an opening.

At this point our mission becomes clear. My grandpa has been holding my grandma captive, under heavy sleeping pills, but we can wake her up and must take her away. My mom and dad distract my grandpa while Laura and I make our way to the bedroom. There we each kiss my grandma on the forehead, like we did when we said goodbye for the last time. Her eyelids flutter, and she opens her eyes and smiles, in a very Sleeping Beauty-esque fashion. She gets out of bed, and puts on her dressing gown, very similar to before, but now she is much younger, probably in her forties. She begins to feel like our mother; I think Laura becomes Aunt Vicki and I become Aunt Anne. In any case, we are in a hurry to get away, but not because grandpa might find out she's missing. Now we just have to make the next ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. I run down to the dock where my brother has my grandpa's old rowboat ready, with my sister's friends Michelle and Modessa inside, and My mom has some kind of small barge, and a tiny one-person floating pod ready. I want to ride with my grandma, but my brother tells me that to balance the weight out, Laura and I must go in his boat and our grandma will go with my mom.

I get in the boat last, and am surprised when I step up to my knees in opaque black water. Nick says the boat works fine like this and tells me to sit down. Now I am up to my waist in black water, getting ready for a long boat ride, but when Nick starts rowing, the boat submerges, and becomes an unenclosed submarine. There is a window in the bottom, and I watch several clumsily-drawn silhouettes of manta rays swim underneath. I want to make a joke to my mom about manta rays being "strictly underwater", but she is too far behind. Then a clumsily drawn silhouette of a shark swims underneath. I point it out to my sister, and she makes a remark about what a shame it is that we're no longer able to make art projects like that. The view under the boat becomes thumbtacked to the wall as a watercolor painting that one of us had painted at grandma's house years ago. The shapes of sea creatures are still moving, and I see another shark coming closer. It opens its mouth to reveal messy, but sharp white teeth and almost eats me.

We quickly surface and enter the Bremerton ferry terminal, which is organized like an airport, and decorated with giant wreaths with purple bows. I direct my mom and dad through the food court, where everybody from our group picks something to put on our tray. We end up with Vietnamese-Mexican-Greek food, among which I am proud to point out to Kris' cousin Clayton is my family's own homemade hummus.