He could call up a friend to come over, but he was tired, and he really should get some studying done. First though, he plopped down with the rest of the casserole and turned on the television. He absent mindedly shoveled the food into his mouth while watching a movie that wasn’t that great. When he was done eating, he reclined on the sofa, and scanned his textbook for twenty minutes. That was the most studying he could manage, and then he resumed the movie. When it ended, he started another one, but only got halfway through before he was fast asleep.
A few time zones away on a large cruise ship, Jeff’s parents were very much awake. Ned and Vickie Cobble were happily celebrating twenty five years of marriage on a cruise that catered to their every whim. Even though they were both in their late forties, they were still up for everything, and mostly in shape enough to do it. Victoria was anyway, Ned had developed more of a dad bod in recent years. But that didn’t stop them both from snorkeling, parasailing, dancing, and taking in the sights at every port they stopped at. Neither stressed about their careers, and just got lost in each other for the last several days. They didn’t even miss the kids.
They also made plenty of time for sex. That was supposed to be a given on an anniversary. But their pace had taken its toll on Jeff’s libido. He couldn’t keep up with his wife, which was ironic, because he had been the one with the high sex drive most of their marriage. But that particular night, Ned had another reason to not be in the mood. Around the time Jeff was falling asleep, Ned was overindulging at the buffet. They took in a show the cruise offered, and by the time they got back to their room, Ned was ready for unconsciousness.
His wife, however, was ready for lovin’. While Ned plopped onto the bed, his wife put on her most risque lingerie she had worn so far. She liked to keep getting racier every day just to keep her husband on his toes. She was worried she might wear him out though. Something about the ocean air made her sexually insatiable.
When she came back into the room, Ned was fast asleep. She tried to wake him up, but to no avail. She sighed. As she snuggled in next to him, she vowed to start the next morning off with a bang. In so many ways for their family, it did.
The sun was just making its appearance when Ned stirred. The first thing that he noticed was that the boat had stopped. He could not feel the thrum of the engine he had become accustomed to. They must have made an unexpected stop. But he couldn’t hear the waves splashing against the boat either.
His half lidded eyes shot wide open as his mind fully awakened. His wife wasn’t next to him. He wasn’t even on a bed. He was reclining on a sofa. It was a familiar sofa, in a familiar room. These weren’t the clothes he had gone to bed in. He sat up and looked all around. There was no doubt about it. He was not on the boat. He was in his house. Was he dreaming? It all felt so real. He pinched himself. He growled at the pain, but his voice sounded off.