When the ship came back, I was invited aboard and my dad gave me a tour. The first thing I did was get into his “coffin” (personal cabin) and tried to imagine what it would be like to sleep in it on a North Sea jock. Before I could close my eyes, I suddenly heard the diesel engine start and went straight to deck. The people scattered around the ship suddenly split into crew and guests, and we left the dock to the clouds of white smoke.

Of course, I immediately imagined that we were leaving again for a year and, probably, mom and grandmother would be worried. But to my regret, it was just a short walk along the bay (the bay on the lake), and by evening we were back. Some of the guests left, and some sat down at the tables in the crew cabin, the container sounded, and the gas was drawn from the galley. I ate a quick meal and fell asleep in my dad's place playing as a team member until they kicked me out.

For the rest of the summer, I boarded the ship with or without my dad; sometimes they took me and sometimes they didn't. But my craving for sea adventures filled the cup on my scales, and I couldn't think of anything else.

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