Sunrise over Saudi Arabia

[Arabella Porter]

It was four am when I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. my hammoc rocked back and forth as I pressed my feet against the rough wood of my room, glowing golden light from lantern on my desk and a pulsing green light as my belt hit full charge. I sighed and undid my hair from it's loose plat before replatting it and twisting it into a bun. I pinned it up and pulled on some brown trousers and my boots before changing my shirt. At 4:15, the ship's silence was disturbed by the sound of music coming from the upper deck. It sounded upbeat but when the ship is asleep, the slitest out of place sound can be haunting. Confused, I went up to see where it was coming from. Sure enough, a static muffled gramophone rang with an upbeat tune and a Spanish voice while Michelle, with a draped brown top and a chocolate and cream flowered skirt, twirled and danced around the deck with a broom and dust pan. The sky to the east was pomegranate with fiery orange clouds and I ran to the starboard side, gawking at the sunrise while the yolk o sun Peaked up over the horizon.

I whirled around when Michelle's mocha hand grabbed mine an pulled me into a spin. Her smile warm and her hair floating about as she danced, did I even dare ask?

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked as I started getting into the beat a bit and moving my hips.

"It's not early. Morning is when the sun comes up. People wake up in ther morning. The sun is up, it's morning. It's morning, so I am awake." She told me. Still kind of gawking at her, I asked,

"Were you sweeping the deck?" We both looked to the broom in her other hand, the brass dustpan having fallen to the deck when she pulled me to dance.

"I was enjoying the sunrise and the deck was dirty so I started cleaning" she said nonchalantly with a thick Spanish accent. We stopped dancing and I followed her to watch the sun rise over the horizon more. "I can't sleep in like these pirates. If I miss daylight, then I miss something. There's always something and if I'm to expirience the world, I better get the whole scene." She explained to me. I smirked.

"You know, we might actually get along." I told her and we leaned against the starboard side, watching the pomegranate fiery sky blaze over Saudi Arabia until the last star faded out.