As soon as you stepped off the plane you knew you made the right choice. It wasn’t the wine making business that drove you there. Although that was the reasoning you gave everyone. A break from the constant oak barrels you tend to, something to clear your mind. You promised two weeks, that was pushing it. You knew that. You finally settled for a week.
You open the glove box and step inside. The first thing you see is the little blue bicycle you rented. Looking exactly like the brochure. This reassures you. You approach the short man behind the counter. Not expecting you until later he made no attempt to mask his disapproval at your early arrival. No words were exchanged, just a few quick glances and the transfer of keys from his hands to yours. You walk around the corner and are greeted with the ship, sitting there lifeless; discarded among its own steel bones. Melancholy it sat resting upon the translucent, bubbly ground. The air seems to dance around it, you resist its strange magnetic pull at first. You hop on the bike and decide to take a closer look. It was a magnificent site.
All at once the ship was transformed. You became a part of its history, and it was returned to its former glory. The lights are bright, glorious, and laugher fills every corner. Inside – a room full of people dine. They feed each other the most breath taking fruit you have ever seen. You did come to the right place! You venture on, down the grand corridor. A group of people dressed in regal attire play a game of shuffleboard on the once-torn-apart edge of the ship. A circus performs in the elegant auditorium. You watch from the outside – graceful, fancy, entrancing you cannot look away.
The captain walks around the corner. Laughing from deep down. He winks at you as he hands you a flower crafted from a paper napkin. You follow him and he invites you to take the empty seat next to him. He knows why you’re there. You make no mention of this slight hint of recognition - it would be to complicated – and he wouldn’t believe you. He entertains you for hours with stories from past adventures. Stranger lands than this, but you’re waiting for one thing. When he finally mentions the grapes, you nearly jump with excitement. You manage to contain yourself.
You decided it would be to dangerous to leave with the grapes. You leave the ship and spend the rest of the week riding through green pastures, devising a plan. You spend your nights laying lazily by the river. The week ends, but you were waiting for it. You are ready to put your plan into motion. Arrange the paperwork, shift a few numbers around and you’ll be back within a month. You won’t utter a word about it to anyone, and never mention what you discovered. They wouldn’t believe it anyways. When its time to return, suited up – you say goodbye to the life you once knew, you know that when you return – if you return, it will never be the same again.