“Good morning, everyone. Good morning!”
Her Canadian voice was my favourite wake-up call, piped into our room each morning usually pretty early. The gruff Russian guides never seemed to do this; this was probably to the benefit of all aboard. Everyone wants to avoid waking up on the wrong side of the bed, but in Soviet Russia, wrong side of bed wakes you. So, no Russians. Sometimes it was the up-beat young American guy and one time, the three guides named Sarah scared us all by doing a freaky trio. But the Canadian was my favourite, her tone always perfectly setting the scene for another great day.
It always began like that. My cabin mate Ryan and I would be sound asleep until the loudspeaker crackled its interruption into our dreams. I’d look over at his bunk. “Sleep well?” “Yeah” “Breakfast?” “Yeah”.
Seriously. Just like the old story: “It was a dark and stormy sea. Two men of few words sat in a boat. Said the older one to the younger one…”
