New Horizons - sort of...

 

Unbeknownst to Frank and Marge, the cruise ship captain reported the missing lifeboat to the U.S. Coast Guard, along with a description of the culprits.

Knowing the course the cruise ship was on; the coast guard charted the area where the lifeboat would most likely be located.  They dispatched two search boats along with a copy of the official complaint that had been faxed by the ship’s captain.

Meanwhile, Frank and Marge were delighted to find their lifeboat not only contained first aid supplies, but a small container of emergency food and drinking water.  Believing he was being kind to the fish, Frank had been tossing bits of the Sun bread overboard, feeding whatever schools of fish were following their boat.  Marge did not find this at all amusing, seeing it only as her husband depleting their food source.

Neither of them knew what time it was or even what day it now was.  Of course, you and I both know it had only been since yesterday that they left the cruise ship, but Frank and Marge were prone to exaggerate everything.  Neither would admit to the other they were scared and both found bathroom breaks to be awkward and embarrassing, but they pressed on.

“Maybe we should sleep in shifts.”

Marge looked at him for a moment and finally said, “Why on earth would we do that?”

“So at least one of us is awake if a rescue boat comes along.”

“Do you think they will be so quiet that we’ll sleep right through it?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“Maybe we should hang a sign over the edge of the boat.  Please wake us up if you’re here to rescue us.”

“Forget it, it was just an idea.”

“Frank, is there any more cereal in the food container?  I’m a little hungry again.”

“There is, but the Horizon brand milk is out of date.  There is that bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream.  You could use that instead of milk.  It's about the same color.”

And as the sun slowly dipped out of sight, the two once again lit their lantern and dealt out their emergency playing cards for another round of gin.

Side note:

As the narrator I was allowed to have access to the lifeboat before Frank and Marge even thought about taking it, so I placed a deck of cards there, just incase they should need one.

I did good, right?