Strange Shipmates

I was commenting to my husband that we didn't really see anything too strange on the ship during our vacation- well, other than people trying to set new records in the Olympic sport of calorie consumption. Then he reminded me about Sparkles. Each evening as we went down to eat supper in the dining room, we spied a REALLY tall woman outfitted in a sequined gown. While two of the evenings on board were formal dress (cocktail dress for the ladies, and suit or tux for the guys), the other evenings just required dress casual for the dining area. Sparkles had a different sparkly dress for each night. Her companion on the trip was a rather small man, who was obviously out-shown by Sparkles as I can't tell you how he was dressed. When we commented on Sparkles at our evening table, a rather lively discussion ensued concerning "her" gender. One of our Scottish lasses insisted the "she" was really a "he". "You can tell by looking at the Adam's Apple," she knowingly assured us. So the next evening found the four of us looking at Sparkle's neck. Hmmmm.... Just might be a she-male after all. At any rate, this mismatched couple loved to dance! We found them frequenting the bars with dance floors. From the Wheelhouse Lounge (nicknamed the Wheelchair Lounge by the rock band) dancing to the smooth music of the jazz quartet to the Skywalkers Nightclub with its DJ and top forty playlist, you could locate them cutting the rug. Although, come to think of it, I didn't see them during country night line dancing. Maybe Sparkles couldn't find a cowboy hat to compliment her dress.