“Look at the size of that thing!”

“That’s what she said… hehehehe.”

Thom punched Sal in the arm. What a douchebag. Thom had always been mesmerized by airships as they came and went from the port by his house. As a child, he had wanted more than anything to captain one of the great teak beasts to some faraway place. Now nearing the ripe old age of 17, nearly an adult for his station in life, he feared that his opportunity had gone like so much urine in the breeze.

“I’m going to take a look.”

“Suit yerself. I’m not getting docked an hour’s pay to see some dumbass blimp.”

Sal was always a huge pussy about these things. He was trying to get into the supervisor’s panties, and he couldn’t do with being late. He once told Sal that coming late was better than coming early all the time, but Sal didn’t get it.

So, Thom kept walking towards the wharf. The airships were all magnificent. Large and ungainly like beached whales when they sat docked, they only looked the more amazing when they rose into the sky, dwarfing other vessels. To Thom’s eye, though, one in particular stood out. She wasn’t the biggest dog in the fight, but easily the most beautiful. Her composite frame glistened in the sunlight and stood in stark contrast to her authentic walnut compartments. Her name shone in bright chrome lettering: Summer Sun. She looked like a real ship should, streamlined and gorgeous, but utilitarian.

Thom needed a closer look.

He kept walking towards the Summer Sun, her siren song stronger than ever. He made for the brow to walk above deck like a proper gentleman, but seeing as he was a low-class laborer, he decided against trying his luck with the burly gents taking tickets. Instead, he made his way down to the rapscallions loading cargo into the hold. He pushed his hat low on his head, grabbed onto the end of a pallet of cheap toys, and walked in with the other help.

Entering the hold was a little like being in a cave filled with fastened boxes. It was immense, pitch black, and utterly filled. Thom had to see how far it stretched. He walked for about 300 yards, then stopped when he reached a metal stair leading to a glass door with some uniformed guards. He could see the luxurious cabins and observation deck through the door, but he knew he would be in trouble if the guards saw him, so he walked back the other way. It’s almost time to leave anyway he told himself. Some voice came over the loudspeaker in a foreign tongue that he couldn’t understand. His pocketwatch read 12:50. He knew he only had a few minutes to get back to work, and he made for the way he came.

Inevitably, that very moment was precisely when the airship took flight. There was a great jolt, and Thom felt his stomach sink, though whether that was the ship rising or dread taking form like a slab of limestone in his gut was anyone’s guess.

“Well, I might as well do this in style,” Thom said, and he cracked open a case of expensive-looking wine. Through the window, he thought he could see his house…