The first morning Ty had experienced the Hamilton's early morning energy, she had been impressed. But when they greeted her the next morning, after she had hung out late with Hudson and the crew, her admiration turned to annoyance. Their energy radiated off of them like sound waves, crashing over her delicate senses and she began to understand Hudson's grumpy disposition the morning before.

She hadn't had much to drink the night before, but her lack of sleep was making it feel like she had. Stepping off the boat in Mexico, the light had felt too bright and the sun too hot.

When the Hamilton party appeared a few minutes later, she had taken cover behind her coworker Kenny, hoping his body would shield her from the worst of their energy until she could finish her coffee. After chugging the rest of the cup, she could feel the coffee starting to clear her head. Even so, when Hudson found her and said good morning, she only heard indistinct sounds.

"You look rough," he said with a sunny smile.

"That's what every girl dreams of hearing in the morning," she grumbled, still focused on her coffee.

"You must have not followed Kate's drinking protocol."

She looked at him for the first time and saw he wasn't suffering from any of the after-effects she was. "I barely drank," she said.

"Then you must have been drunk on my company," he grinned.

She looked at him flatly. "I hope there's a protocol for that."

"There is. Spend more time with me." She glowered at him as he explained. "You see, the bad effects only happen when you are away from me. So, the solution is simple: the more time you spend with me, the less you suffer."

She eyed him suspiciously. "That seems very self-serving on your part."

"Completely, but I like hanging out with you."

She slowly smiled, his words buoying her up. "I guess being selfish every now and then isn't so bad."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Think what?" Kenny asked, tuning in to their conversation. He turned and gave Hudson a curious look.

"Mr. Hamilton here had a serious concern about there being spiders at the Ruins," Ty answered smoothly.

"Yes, I am deathly afraid of spiders," Hudson said, monotone. Even a deaf person could have heard the sarcasm, but Kenny was only half listening and nodded along in understanding.

"Nothing to worry about," he reassured Hudson. "Ty and I will take care of everything, and make sure you have a great time."

"I'm sure you will," Hudson said directly to Ty. She grinned widely. He gave her a daring look before he walked away.

She tossed her coffee cup in the trash and turned to Kenny. "Alright, should we get this show on the road?"

Ty loved the bus ride from the port to the ruins. The downtown area around the port was filled with tourist traps selling cheap trinkets and shirts. But once they were past that, the landscape became brightly painted stone walls surrounded by lush trees.

As they got closer to the ruins, the stone walls stopped and there were only trees. The foliage was so thick and tall, it cast the road into a deep shadow. Then they were abruptly thrown back into the sunlight as the tree line gave way to the ruins.

Over five years of working for the cruise line, Ty had led this excursion thousands of times, but she was still in awe every time they broke free from the trees. One moment they couldn't see much and the next there were the ruins, imposing and ancient. Everyone on the bus had kept up a steady chatter on the ride, but they fell silent as they took in the view.

As Kenny oversaw everyone getting off the bus, Ty looked for their tour guide. Marie was a short woman in her fifties. She had charcoal eyes and a rich history written on her face. Ty had liked her right away. She had a melodic voice and a quick smile. She spoke excellent English but after Ty's first few months of leading the ruins excursion she had started working on her Spanish. Now she easily greeted Marie in Spanish and heard the latest news about Marie's grandchildren.

Once everyone was off the bus, Kenny led them over. "Everyone, this is Marie," Ty told the group. "She will be our tour guide today. She grew up in this village and has some amazing stories to share with us."

Marie was a born storyteller, expertly weaving the stories and history of the ruins together. By the time Marie led the way to the entrance of the ruins, the group was swept up in the history and eager to explore. When Kenny and Ty let them lose in the dim interior of the ruins, they disappeared quickly.

The inside of the ruins was a large maze of small rooms with dirt floors and stone walls covered in ancient writing. Marie said historians could only translate about one-fourth of the writing. Ty and Kenny followed the group inside and moved throughout the rooms to offer assistance if it was needed.

Ty wandered towards the back until she came to her favorite room. It was small and dimly lit by two lamps tucked away in the corners. Every inch of the walls were covered in writing. With rudimentary lessons from Marie, and Ty's own googling, she knew the meaning of a handful of symbols.

She was trying to find the markings that meant rain when someone entered the room. She looked for a moment more before she stepped back and found Hudson.

"Doing a little light reading?" he asked.

She laughed. "What do you think about this place?"

His teasing smile gave way to a more serious one. "It's amazing. The architectural engineering alone is impressive. If you think back to what civilization was like throughout the world at this point in history, this structure is decades before its time. And to have a complete written form of language."

Ty grinned. The wonder in his voice mirrored how she felt about the ruins. "This symbol right here," she pointed to a swirl with two dots above it, "means stormy weather. And the one next to it means harvest. Marie told me this is probably a record of the seasons. These symbols would mean they had storms during the harvest that year."

He gave her an impressed look. "Does this mean you put 'comprehension of ancient symbols' next to 'speaks Spanish' on your resume?"

"How do you think I got the job on the cruise ship?"

"I didn't realize reading ancient writing was such a sought-after skill."

"You'd be surprised."

He motioned with his hand for her to show him more. She moved along the wall, trying to find the ones she knew.

"This one means family," she pointed to one, then motioned to the row that followed. "They don't know what these mean, but I've read that they suspect that each marking represents a specific family, like a last name."

She kept moving along the wall and Hudson followed. "Take this group of markings. This one means goddess." She picked out one with points. "Not in the sense of a higher power, but as the figurehead or ruler of the people." She worked hard to keep any humor out of her voice as she pointed to one with clouds next to it.

"This one means record keeper or someone who could read and write these symbols. And this one," she pointed to one with a figure with multiple limbs, "means someone who engaged in physical activity, something beyond just the work they did to cultivate the land."

She looked at Hudson to make sure she still had his attention before she continued. "They aren't exactly sure what type of activity they meant but," she moved further down the wall, "they have conjectured that if you combine these two markings it could point to some form of aquatic activity."

Hudson stopped examining the writing on the wall and looked at her. She looked right back, not letting her face betray anything.

"Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "So if I understand you correctly when you combine these markings, it says that someone who could read these writings and also do aquatic activities," he looked at her pointedly, "was on the level of a goddess."

She nodded seriously.

"Very interesting," he said. "Well, you know how to read these markings," he pointed out. "And you teach water aerobics, which is an 'aquatic activity'." She nodded slowly like the information was just falling into place for her too. "I guess that means you are considered to be on the level of a goddess," he finished.

She shrugged. "I mean, if that's what the wall says..."

"Wow," he said in amazement. "I didn't realize I was in presence of a goddess."

"I prefer 'your worshipfulness', but I'll forgive you this time," she said in a superior voice.

He laughed and sank into a deep bow. "In that case." When he came up, he was still grinning.

"I mean, I could be a little off," she admitted with a laughing smile. "I'm not fluent."

"Any other interesting information I should know," he said, motioning to the wall. Ty studied the wall intently. Before she could land on a new silly explanation, a group of voices began to draw near. Ty became aware of how close she and Hudson were standing and took a step back as the group joined them in the room.

One of the guys was telling a story about some expedition he had been on and it took the group a minute to notice Hudson and Ty were in the room. By the time they did, Ty was already halfway into the next room.

It didn't surprise Ty that the Hamilton group was able to find a way to weave competition into the excursion. Once everyone was done exploring the inside of the ruins, Ty and Kenny led them to the ruins they could climb, and the races started immediately. It didn't take any encouragement from the group to get Hudson to join. Ty and Kenny sat back and watched, calling out their pick for the winner of each race.

What started out as a group activity quickly dwindled down until it was a competition between just Hudson and Grant. They were almost evenly matched. Grant had longer legs than Hudson, but Hudson was craftier. Where Grant ran a straight shoot-up and hit large steps that needed climbing and uncertain footing that slowed his pace, Hudson charted the path with the least resistance, keeping his pace more consistent.

In the end, Grant was named champion even as Hudson argued the illegitimacy of his last victory. He was still trying to contend Grant's win as the bus pulled back into the port. He completely lost the interest of his audience once they disembarked the bus.

The port was buzzing with activity and the air smelled of savory meat. The group quickly dispersed as people sought out food and to look at the colorful wares of all the vendors. Ty wrapped up the final details with the bus driver with just enough time to grab some food before she was needed back on the ship. She was pleased to find Hudson was waiting for her when she stepped off the bus.

"Hungry?" she asked.

"Starving," he said. "You got a favorite place to eat?"

She smiled brightly. "Follow me!"

**********************************************************************

HoDHUfabdbv (Gibberish)

(I heard that's one the hardest languages to learn and even harder to understand. But considering Ty can read the writing the ruins I'm sure she'd understand it)

This chapter, thoughts? 💬🗯💭🚢

Okay, now that we've gotten thoughts out of the way I'm jumping away from the story and just creating my own route, you know like I do!

If you had to  be stuck on a deserted island with three fictional characters who would they be?

For me, the first one would be Captain from A Secret Service (Book plug!). I chose him because I feel like he would know how to survive.

Second, Raif from A Pirate's Tale. Why? I don't know, I just feel like he'd be a goos addition. And despite his nonchalant way I think he'd be helpful to have.

Third, Taylor from Nothing Super because she could teleport us off... Okay so if she can do that then maybe the first two aren't worth having. But I would still want them there just so I could met them.

What can I say, I gotta take what opportunities I can!

Vote, comment, follow and make the wise decisions in your deserted island companions. Don't choose me, I'd be useless and I'm only half fictional.

(If you're thinking to yourself, wow this chapter felt a lot like Celebrity Cruise...
Guess what you, Noodle! It's cause this is a rewrite and you didn't read my beginning author's note where I said that, so rude.
But yes, that's why this is familiar)