Half moon Allison

Allison tried so hard not to think about what a dick Carl was as she stared out the train window. Carl was her on-again, off-again bipolar boyfriend. He was the sexiest guy in the world, although he hated talking about how hot he was for some reason. He had only been diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year ago, but it felt like it had been years already.

Allison had booked a cruise to surprise Carl, but Carl absolutely did not want to go. So Allison decided to take her mom instead.

The train ride seemed like it would never end. First, she flew into Chicago, then to Florida. The total flight time was about seven hours. Allison’s mom had told Allison she booked a hotel. But when they arrived, they were turned away because her mom had never sent in her credit card.

The hotel suggested the Purple Roof Inn. The name sounded strange, but they were tired. The original hotel gave them a ride there, and the driver was reckless, honking at cars and making unnecessary lane changes. Allison wasn’t surprised when he seemed shocked to get a tip.

The Purple Roof Inn was run-down and didn’t have a purple roof. The front desk man was odd and told them it was only two hundred dollars a night. As they checked in, a strange smell of food filled the air.

“What’s that smell?” asked Allison’s mom.

“It’s chicken liver and vow heart,” said the man.

“You eat that?” asked Allison’s mom, puzzled.

“Yes, I love it, it keeps my brain healthy,” he said, proudly.

“Have you tried chicken nuggets?” asked Allison’s mom.

“Have I tried WHAT?”

The hotel was small and easy to find. They were given a room with two beds, but Allison didn’t want to sleep with her mom. It was 2 a.m. Florida time, but 10 p.m. Tucson time, and she didn’t feel like sleeping.

She decided to ditch her mom and find some wine. She walked outside and heard music from the Reef Coast Hotel.

She found a way into the bar, and when she walked in, the bartender said, “Sorry, the bar’s closed.”

“Please, just one drink.”

“I’ve been up all night,” she said.

“Me too,” cried Allison.

The bartender stared at her and then sighed. “Fine, I’ll sell you a drink, but you have to listen to my warning.”

“Your warning?”

“Do not accept luck you have not earned.”

“How do you earn luck?” Allison asked, annoyed.

“Here’s your wine, it’s on the house,” the woman said.

As Allison was sleeping, she thought about Carl and how mean he was. He’d be the kind of person to tell some random tourist to not accept luck they haven’t earned, and he’d not even know what it meant himself. Sometimes people have good things happen, and sometimes they don’t. Luck hardly seems like something you can earn, and if you have to earn something, you can lose something too. Luck certainly doesn’t seem like the kind of thing anybody could work hard enough to get. No job in the world doesn’t deserve luck because working sucks so much, and most people have a job or do something with their day, that a little luck could make better. Carl was supposed to be on this trip, even though he hadn’t worked in two years. Not working for two years made him feel unworthy enough to go on a trip, and perhaps he didn’t love Allison enough to be on a trip with her. But he should have come because even though he hadn’t clocked in at a building or online, he’d worked. He worked on himself and surviving bipolar, and he’d worked on his relationship with Allison and his parents. But the feeling of not being good enough and being unwell burned deep in his soul and heart, and perhaps he just didn’t love Allison.

Allison woke up at 4:37 a.m. to see two figures outside her window, mumbling. She stayed quiet, hoping they wouldn’t notice her. She grabbed an umbrella, just in case, and opened the door. But by the time she opened it, the figures were gone.

When she turned back to her room, she saw a message on the window written in purple marker: “Do not accept luck you have not earned.” Allison was officially creeped out.

The next day, she convinced her mom to be one of the first to board the MS Nieuw Amsterdam. Once on board, Allison was upgraded to a spa room. She missed Carl so much more now. She thought about what could’ve happened if he had come with her.

The first stop was Half Moon Cay. Allison had booked excursions, but when she checked her phone, she saw that the snorkeling excursion was canceled. She was disappointed, but she and her mom booked the only available tour, an eco lagoon tour. Allison was hoping for something more active, but she went along.

When they got to Half Moon Cay, Allison couldn’t help but run into the water. It was like a dream. She and her mom joined the eco lagoon tour, which was run by two young Bahamian women. The tour guide explained the importance of the islands working together as one, and that taking things from the islands could bring bad luck. She mentioned the sea cucumber, which could bring seven years of good luck or fourteen years of bad luck, depending on which end you kiss

 The tour guides had one they were handing around. The sea cucumber looked just like an infected, slimy penis. Nothing like Carl’s penis at all, but still a penis. This sea penis, called a sea cucumber, could lead to seven years of good luck or fourteen years of bad luck, according to the tour speaker. Depending on which end you kissed. Allison knew what she had to do when the slimy penis started to get passed around. Once the sea cucumber was in Allison’s hands, it squirted out some liquid. The squirt looked like it was cumming like a man would during sex. Allison kissed that side that squirted, but she didn’t just give it a peck. She licked the side the liquid squirted out of and sucked on it a little. The liquid that came out seemed to just be water everyone just seemed to be a bit of a prude.

When the sea cucumber came around, Allison kissed the side that squirted liquid out of it, even licking it. People were shocked, but Allison thought she’d earned the good luck. On the way back, the bus broke down, and the group had to walk seven miles back. No one looked for the group.

When Allison tried to get back to her room, she couldn’t. The key was invalid. When she walked down the hallway, the line was going around the staircase. Allison was so annoyed, but she waited, got a new key, just to have the same issue repeated.

Once Allison finally was able to get to her room, she checked her phone, only to find that her uncle, who had been the one to pay for her last six cruises, had found out she was on this one and hadn’t invited him. It was shitty, especially after Carlos had decided not to come, but she couldn’t take her uncle or invite him because he was an asshole, and she didn’t want to hear about her weight gain or excessive drinking, although she had planned to work on both of those when she got home.

Before she could dive into her bed, there was a knock on the cabin door. Thinking it was the room service man, Allison answered much quicker than she normally would. But it wasn’t the room service man. It was nothing, not a single person. As she started to close the door, she saw it and sighed. It was a note. Allison couldn’t help but wonder what she had done to deserve this. She just wanted to miss Carl and be alone.

“You kissed the wrong end of the sea cucumber. You must do the following:

1. Get a hair from a donkey tail in GRAND TURK
2. Get a stick from a MAMA JUNITA rum bottle
3. If you ignore this message, be ready for fourteen rough years. If you find everything, bring it to the third statue on Half Moon Cay Lagoon during your last stop back.”

Allison barely had to think about it to know that she didn’t want or deserve fourteen rough years, so she made a promise to herself to get the things on the list.

The next day, they were in Grand Turk. Allison had packed the beach bag and made sure they had everything they needed. But what does one bring to find a donkey on a strange Caribbean island? She brought some granola bars. Allison just hoped she’d see a donkey.

The pair started the day on the island with an excursion her mother had picked. A bus rounded the island that served you endless rum. Allison had hoped not to drink too much this trip, but if she was going to be tugging on a donkey’s ass, she had better have some rum. The island tour was great, and Allison saw lots of donkeys.

The final destination was a beach. Allison and her mom sat and talked at the beach for about thirty minutes. At first, the talk was dreadful, but as minutes turned to hours, it got okay. They talked about her sister and dad. Absolutely not about Carl, and thankfully not about work. As they were talking, three donkeys slowly approached.

Allison started letting them come closer. She barely thought about it when she started petting one’s back, lower and lower, until she got to its tail, where she grabbed a strand of hair and quickly yanked it off. As the donkey ran away, Allison realized she’d almost rather have kept petting that donkey and face fourteen years of bad luck than have yanked its hair like that.

This life was even stranger when Allison started talking to a local, and she said that some donkeys had walked up to her. The local man from Grand Turk quickly asked Allison and her mother if they had picked the donkey. When the girls answered with a shocked “no,” the man explained to them that when they see a donkey and they invade their space, you need to keep them calm. It was very sad, but Allison remembered that donkeys are one of the most eaten animals in the world, and stayed strong, just thankful this donkey was alive and able to help her by giving her some of its hair.

Once back on the cruise ship, Grand Turk looked like a small island, impossible to house four thousand people. As impossible as a sea cucumber causing fourteen years of bad luck, but still somehow true and believable.

Tomorrow, they would be in the Dominican Republic. Allison’s mom had been very scared to go to this port because she thought it was a different, more dangerously scarier port in Africa. Allison thought about her misunderstandings and the annoying and unfair effects of them. Like how Carl had misunderstood that cruising was the best thing ever and would absolutely help his mental health.

The Dominican Republic was beautiful. One of Allison's favorite movies about dinosaurs was filmed in the Dominican Republic. Once at the port, Allison felt like she herself could be in the movie. But before she could enjoy the port, she had a job to do. She had to find Mama Junita sticks and relieve herself of the bad luck she'd get if she didn’t.

A taxi driver picked her up and drove her around three times. Allison could only assume that was part of the curse because although she wasn’t a good tipper, she looked like she might be. The taxi driver was a fat light-skinned man with sun-kissed skin. Allison begged him to take her anywhere with Mama Junita. The man said that was a pretty easy task, as everywhere on the island had it. She soon realized she had entered another death trap and kissed the ground when he finally got her to the safety of a shop. Luckily, the shop had one bottle left. The bottle was going to be sixty dollars, but the cab driver got the shop owner to lower the price to thirty.

“So, what made you want to try this type of rum so bad?”

“I don’t, I just need the sticks.”

“Why?”

“To break a curse from kissing a sea cucumber.”

“Oh, beware of island curses.”

The two gazed into each other's eyes. Even with island curses, there was a chance for love everywhere. Love was the strongest thing. Allison knew she didn’t love this guy, but the feeling and connection they did have, although meant to be short, was stronger than any curse.

Once back on Half Moon Cay, Allison brought everything back to the lagoon. Once at the lagoon, she saw the woman was waiting for her. When the woman saw Allison, she explained that she was glad her note had gotten to her. Allison didn’t say anything. She just handed her the items. It wasn’t exactly hard getting the stuff, but still, she was glad the ordeal was over. The woman tied two pieces of wood from the Mama Junita bottle into a cross with the donkey hair. She held it close to her heart and whispered what seemed to be a ritual chant. After a few minutes, she handed it back to her. The woman then told Allison all she’d have to do was go out on the main deck during the lunar eclipse tonight and think about all the good you want—for you and for your family—and your bad luck will be behind you.

So Allison did just that. She wished good for everybody. Even Carl. When the blackness covered up the moon halfway, Allison could feel all the bad luck and negativity leaving her body. The lunar eclipse made the moon look like it was going through all the phases it typically goes through in a month in a few short hours. Like when life and the abundance (or lack) of luck happens to a person.