All I could remember was that we were being chased by the local government.

It was me
and a group of young people. We were from a city, some would describe to be on the wrong
side of the tracks. At some point we were forced to split up to lose the trail of our pursuers
But now not one of us could find a way to each other. This, I knew, not from seeing it in
action. All the information was just in my head.

I awoke only to stumble upon a humongous truck that had a deck and some sort of a bridge
on a ship. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was actually a ship. It was already getting late.
The clothes on my back were not enough to shield me from the cold.

And so I boarded the ship. In it I found a man I believed to be its captain sleeping on the
bridge. My entrance had awoken him but he didn't seem too bothered. He had white hair and
sodden sailor clothes. His jaw protruded slightly from his face as his teeth clenched a lit cigar
that showed no signs of burning out.

"Just leave your cat outside," he said. I was perplexed by this, until a cat screeched at him
from beside my feet. I did have a cat. And it was my pet. I put down the cat and led it off the
ship and entered the warm room the captain was in.

"Your friends will be here soon. Just make sure to leave before sunup. Go to sleep," the
captain said. Never moving a muscle in his body. When he spoke, only the cigar moved,
bobbing up and down, thin smoke slithering upwards to the ceiling.

I didn't understand what was happening. I found myself a blanket and got to sleep.

When I awoke, crew members started climbing up the ship bringing in different kinds of
supplies. The sun was not up yet, but the air was getting warmer by the minute. I noticed my
companions asleep on the deck and I felt relief. How did they find this ship? I was sure we
parted ways. (Did the crew find them somehow?)

"Why aren't you leaving?" a crewmate asked me.

"I don't know. We honestly don't know where to go."

"Well you better decide on it because the ship is leaving as soon as the water rises," he said.
Water, he said. I got confused by this, so I said, "Sun, you mean. Before the sun rises."

To which he just replied, "Yeah, that, too," showing both amusement and confusion. I
couldn't say I empathized with both emotions.

I somehow lost track of time, probably because I didn't want to disturb my friends from their
rest. But as soon as the sun came into my periphery the gray streets of the city began to fill
up with water. Finally, when the sun was shining on the deck in full glory, the ship started to
rev and it began its voyage.
I ran straight to the starboard to witness the water level rise so quickly. From behind me, the
captain spoke, sounding disappointed and annoyed.

"Did I not tell you to leave before sunup?" he said.

"You did. I'm sorry. But if we did leave how were we supposed to survive all that water?"

He gave me a pensive look. I could sense it was full of sadness and regret, made heavier by
a level of resignation. (Include a narrative how he learned to sense this) I hear him sigh
under his breath. He took a long drag from his cigar, the tip burning hot red. The cigar
seemed to retain its length.

"Tell your friends to help out. And buckle up. In a few minutes we're going full speed."

I did what he told me and my companions assisted the crew. I took a look again at the water
below, now aquamarine in color. The blocks of buildings that towered last night looked like
coral reefs from where I stood. For a moment, I thought I saw someone move, almost like
someone down there was alive.

The ship was surprisingly fast. It sailed at the speed of a truck cruising down an expressway.
The captain wasn't kidding around when he told us to buckle up.

The sea of water was wide and by that time, everywhere you looked you could see only the
horizon.

When I adjusted to the boat's speed, I climbed on top of the bridge and hugged its roof to
prevent me from getting blown away.

"It's wonderful, isn't it? This blue expanse," said the captain. He was standing on the bow.
He didn't turn to look at me.

"It's majestic," I said. And then a pregnant pause, a silence made louder by the sloshing of
the water, the whirr or the ship's engine, and the sound of the wind on my ear.

"How did you get to my ship, boy?" the captain asked, breaking through the white noise.

"Well, my friends and I were being chased by the police. They were on our tail for weeks and
we couldn't shake them off. We decided to split up to lose them. And then I ended up here."

"No, boy. I meant, how did you find my ship?"

I tried hard to remember but I had no recollection of it whatsoever. I just told him how I saw
this large hunk of metal and I climbed on board.

"Such a shame. You're too young to be here," the captain said.

"What do you mean?"

"And you never even wondered how for the first time, the city was flooded with water. You
just took it all in. No questions asked."

I was taken aback by this. He was right. It was weird how easily I was okay with this. Didn't
we have somewhere to go? Why were we being chased in the first place? As I tried to think
about all this, I felt a knot in my stomach.

"You can sit down properly, you know," the captain said. "The wind will not blow you away.
And you're probably very confused, causing you to feel so many negative emotions in your
body. Best to sit properly now."

And so I did. I looked behind me and my friends looked like they were having a good time.
None of them was wondering what was happening. Only a minute ago I was the same.

"Where are we? Or, I guess, where are we going?" I asked him.

He takes a moment to take another drag from his cigar.

"Ever noticed how you don't smell the sea, boy?" he said.

"Uh...no, sir," I said, before trying to take in the smell of what I hoped was the ocean.

"That's because we aren't at sea. We're just on a ship traveling over water." he said. "I call
this place, The Blue Expanse. Pretty nifty name, huh?"

"A little on the nose," I said. The captain laughed. His cackling reminded me of my father. I
laughed, too, albeit half-heartedly, not because of my retort, but because I realized I can't
remember anything else about my father, if I even had one.

He took a drag from his cigar again and I heard him curse under his breath.

"Is everything okay, sir?

"Nothing. It's just that I've been smoking this cigar for years and I couldn't even taste it."

He stood quiet again. Years, he said. He's been here for years.

I kept waiting in suspense for him to continue speaking until I couldn't take it anymore and I
asked him where we were going.

"Who knows. I might look like the captain but the ship decides where it wants to go. My crew
and I just start it up and it just sails on its own. By night, the water slowly goes away and we
find ourselves in another city."
"Another city, huh?" I said, failing to hide the excitement in my voice. "We can get off there!
Surely at that point the police won't be able to follow us."

The Captain sighed. "What's your name, boy?"

"Quentin?

"Is that a question?" he asked. I felt a lump in my throat. For a moment, I was unsure.

"Quentin. My name is Quentin." I said, making sure to say it twice to be certain I was correct.

The captain turned to look at me. "Quentin, that will not be possible."

"By now, your friends will have made bonds with my crew members. Some of them will have
already forgotten why they're here or where they're from. They will remember bits and
pieces. Your name. The fact that you're friends. But they will want to stay in this ship.

"You and I, we're different somehow. We remember a little more. I'm sure by now you have
an idea what's really happening here."

The captain's words were heavy and they loomed over my body. Once again, I felt like I was
carrying the world. It was the same from before we got here. I knew truths too heavy for my
friends to understand but I had to lead them away from it. And now we're here. I feel in my
stomach that whatever it was we were planning to do, we failed.

I looked at my friends, all happy and content.

"Quentin, look!" Emery yelled. "He's a juggler!" he said, referring to one of the crew members
juggling three apples in his hand.

"It's amazing Quentin! He said he's going to teach me! He doesn't speak our language, but
somehow I understand him just fine."

"You're right, Emery, that is amazing!" I said, faking a smile. I looked away before anyone
could notice the sadness in my face. They always said I failed miserably at hiding my
feelings.

I turned to the captain and I asked him.

"So why are you here? How did you find the ship?"

The captain laughed. "Oh, how long did I wait for someone to ask me that." His laugh faded
into an empty chuckle.

"I wanted to get away. It was 1945. War was raging. I hated it. Being a sailor sounded
romantic and adventurous, so I embarked on a journey, abandoning everything behind. I
was to become a nomad. I stole a small boat and began my voyage. I didn't last a night. My
boat capsized from a storm. I woke up here. There was hardly anyone here. There was only
a man and his immortal cigar."

"There was a man? Where is he now? Did he manage to leave the ship?"

"No. After we moored to another city, he just vanished. I'm pretty sure he didn't escape
because after that I tried and I was unsuccessful. I always woke up here, wearing sailor's
clothes and a cigar in my mouth."

"1945 is a very long time ago."

"I know, Quentin. I know."

(Share why they were being chased.)

(Have them eat lunch together. More exposition as to the nature of the ship.)

I didn't notice how quickly the sun had made its way towards the horizon. The once blue sky
was turning pink and the ship was beginning to slow down.

"I'm sorry this had to happen, Quentin. I'm sure you had dreams, too. We're about to arrive.
It has been a long day. Get yourself some sleep."

We didn't do anything the whole day, but I did feel very tired. I heeded the captain's orders
and went to sleep.

When I woke up, the crew was hauling in some new stuff again just like last time. I looked for
the captain but he was nowhere to be found. On the bow of the ship was his coat and the
cigar, still burning. I donned his coat which fit me perfectly. I tried to smoke the cigar. It was
my first time to ever smoke anything. The captain was right, it didn't taste like anything.

The sun began to rise again as the water slowly buoyed us up over this different city. I
looked at the crew. No stowaways this time. The ship hummed and revved and away we
went, cruising the blue expanse.