Hungover

Samson stirred as he felt his eyes flutter awake. His vision was blurry. His ears were ringing. His head was throbbing. "Ugh, Whazzuh?" he grumbled. "Where am I? What day is it?" He rolled over slightly, his gut flipping as he almost fell to the floor, the motion fully jolting him awake. He realised he was laying on the sofa in his uncle's living room. He vaguely recalled going to visit for his annual Christmas Eve soirée. But he would have normally left by the end of the night. Did something happen?

"Ugh, my head..." Samson rubbed the top of his head, only mildly concerned to feel a vast expanse of skin in place of his hair. Did someone shave his head, and then stick the hairs to his face, he wondered as he scratched his fuzzy cheeks. His attention was then drawn to his clothes, a familiar red costume to some. But why was he dressed as Santa? The myriad of empty bottles littered on the ground maybe answered several of his questions, except he wasn't much of a drinker. He pulled himself upwards, groaning as it only exacerbated the aching in his head. "Ugh," he groaned. "What the hell happened last night?"

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Wish You Were Here?

Black Friday... Cyber Monday... Now there was Travel Tuesday? The capitalistic desire to invent commodified faux holidays to get people to buy junk was abysmal. And nevertheless, Eric's distaste didn't stop him from browsing the latest travel deals that kept cropping up in his feed. It wasn't like he could afford a vacation at the moment, nor did he have any strong desire to go anywhere. It'd be nice to have something to look forward to, aside from the annual family visit to the great lakes about 9 months away. Maybe he could find something amazing for Spring Break. Something more than the typical booze-laden trip to Vegas or Miami.

It was getting late, and nothing had caught his eye, when a bright ad interrupted his scrolling. "WISH YOU WERE HERE??" It declared in bold colours. It showed a woman in a dull grey home tapping on beachfront property on her phone, and now she was relaxing in the summer sun with a cocktail in hand. Nothing too groundbreaking. "TRAVEL TUESDAY EXCLUSIVE TRIAL!" Now that caught his eye. What would a trial entail? Curiousity got the better of him. 

The trial, it turned out, was a free "ticket" to be used on a limited selection of vacation properties around the world. "This is your ticket to far-flung destinations worldwide! You can really go places!" Yeah right, thought Eric as he scrolled through the website, which was more like a home listings site than a vacation rental destination. There were rentals in San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Brisbane, Johannesburg, Lisbon. None of which were included in the introductory offer. Figures there'd be a catch. Even a free stay in Vegas seemed out of the question.

Eric barely flicked through what was included before deciding it was a dud. Except for one. A homely cabin in the middle of a forest, overlooking the Innvikfjorden in Norway. Unlike the other listings, it promised total immersion in the country, whatever that meant. Maybe it had to do with the owner of the property, a lonesome captain who guided tours around the nearby fjords and glaciers. Staying with a local certainly added a flair of authenticity to the affair, after all.

Eric had always fancied visiting Scandinavia one day, he had Viking blood according to an ancestry test his mom had done a few years prior. And spending the winter holidays surrounded by beautiful scenery and actual snow was tempting. It sure beat the eighty-odd degrees he was still experiencing in Arizona. But the price of travelling to Europe was a deterrant in itself. Wasn't Norway supposed to be one of the most expensive countries in the world? One the happiest too, apparently...

WISH YOU WERE HERE? The website silently declared next to the listing. He hovered his mouse over the YES button. Something about it made him hesitate. Did he really wish he was there? In the snow-capped mountain fjords? Well, it couldn't hurt to see where it led him. The second it asked for passport details or a credit card number, he could easily exit the page. Eric tapped that glowing button, and the screen was replaced by a cool toned loading screen. A whirring cog span in the center, while a progress bar slowly crept upwards. "LOADING - RECALIBRATING"