Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it. Love Mica xx, Yorkshire England.
Please note that I am a British woman, and I write in British English and vernacular, so for me a fanny is the correct term for female genitalia, a pussy is a pet cat, and the ass is a bum or arse.
Pete started the engines again and we were moving. He gave me some wipes to clean myself and I put my clothes back on, some rolled up wipes inside my fanny to stop the drips.
"We will motor until we can get a signal and you can phone your folks, they will be worried," he had said.
I was sat on a seat near to where he was standing driving, if that is the right word, the boat. It seemed ages and then he slowed the engines and then stopped them.
"I have a signal, try your parents," he said.
I took the phone from my bag and picked it up to be near my face.
"Hey Siri, phone Mum," I said.
"Oh thank God," I heard my Mum's voice, "where are you, are you okay? We have been worried sick." I could hear my Dad in the background asking if it was me.
"I don't know where I am Mum, I am on a boat, a man saved me and took me to safety, I am alright but I don't know where we are."
"Man, what man?" Mum asked.
"It doesn't matter Mum, I am safe, okay?"
"We need to know where you are so that we can fly up and get you."
Pete tapped my shoulder. "Hang on Mum," I said.
Pete held my hand. "I will take you to that town over there, and I will find a hotel or a motel for you and then you can tell your parents where you are," he said.
"Mum, we are going to land, as soon as I have a hotel or motel booked, I will ring you and let you know where, okay?"
"Yes, go, stay safe, we are sorting out flights, your Dad is not sure how near we can get, there is an exclusion zone set up by the volcano, we will get as near as we can and then drive."
We exchanged kisses and then I ended the call. I didn't have a charger so I didn't want to waste the battery. I sat next to Pete as he drove us to shore. Behind us I could still hear the volcano, its roars quieter now that we were further away. The motion of the boat changed, it stopped going up and down and side to side, now it just swayed a little side to side.
"Nearly there," Pete said. I couldn't hear the volcano anymore, its roar had faded away a few hours before. There was slushing sounds and a few bumps and then we were stopped.
"Hang on," Pete said and I heard him jump onto the side where we were stopped.
"Okay, right, we are moored safely. Wait here, I will find out where we are and hire a truck and we can get you sorted. We are in Crescent City according to a sign over there." And then he was gone and I was sat on a boat gently swaying and all alone.
"Hey Siri, phone Mum," I said.
"Hi Mum, I think we are in somewhere called Crescent City, I am going to find a hotel and then I can let you know where I am."
"Oh thank God sweetheart. Are you alright, it has been hours."
"I had to turn my phone off mum, I don't have a charger, I was only going to the shops when it all happened. I need to save battery."
"Okay sweetheart, we will get a charger, your Dad will sort us out. He guessed that you might be there, there is a flight we can catch in an hour, we can be with you first thing in the morning."
"Okay Mum, love you." I switched the phone off.
I sat there for about twenty minutes or so and then Pete came back.
"Okay Celia, I have a sedan, it's not brilliant, but we only need it for today, let's find a hotel."
I stepped off the boat and the ground felt really funny, it just wasn't moving, my knees were compensating for movement that wasn't there, I nearly fell over just standing still. Pete took my hand and led me along the gangplanks, up some steps and then across a gravelled car park.
"Here we are," he said and I heard a car door open. He put his hand on the top of my head and I ducked in and sat down, doing up my seat belt. The door shut and then I heard the drivers door open and Pete got in.
"Right love, let's find you a hotel, the guy at the rental office suggested one, he said it was one that didn't rent the rooms by the hour." I wasn't sure what that meant, but I supposed I could guess.
We drove for about five minutes and then Pete pulled up. "You wait here," he said, "let me go and check it out."
Again, I was left on my own for a few minutes and then Pete came back.
"Okay, the place looks decent. They have some rooms, and I explained where you were from and they are okay with that, so, let's go and see what they have."
I got out of the car and Pete took my hand, I was sweeping my stick in front of me and then we were at a door. We went through and Pete stopped me.
"Okay, you are at reception, José here will help you out."
"Thank you Pete."
I took a deep breath and then spoke to José. "I need two rooms, a twin for my parents and another room, a single is fine, next door or as near as possible. My parents will arrive later today or early tomorrow morning. I don't know how long we will be here, shall we say two nights initially?"
"Yes miss," José answered, a higher pitched voice than Pete, with an almost sing song edge to it.
"The only two rooms near each other that I have are both doubles, is that okay?"
"Yes," I said, it would have to do until Mum and Dad got here and then they could sort things out.
I got my credit card out and handed it over, "I am sorry, that is all I have, I lost everything else to the volcano, and obviously I don't have a drivers permit."
"That's fine miss, let me just present your card, and if it goes through then we have no issues." I could hear bleeping and some tones probably from a credit card machine, but an older style than they used in my town. My old, ex, town I reminded myself.
"Yes miss, that is fine, all gone through. Your rooms are 105 and 107, they are next to each other."
"I can show her the way," Pete said.