It was a beautiful day, perfect in all its simplicity and grandeur. The morning sunlight simmered on the surface of the ocean, particles of golden light dancing as far as the eye can see. The calls of seagulls overhead adding to the light delightful hush of the waves ahead and all around, such beauty, such tranquillity.
Rowing away in my little boat, I went furtherer from the coast looking to find myself someplace solitary, just me, the ocean and a day of fishing. Getting away from home was the best ting I did in a long time. No streetcars outside my window or police car or ambulance sirens; some very real sights and sounds of nature, those I imagine gazing at the pictures on my bedroom wall.
A sailboat in the distance, glorious, majestic, being driven unknown places by the wind and I inevitably drift into fantasy of an another life as a seafarer, a wandering merchant or even a pirate from days of yore, in search of treasure, fame, fortune, the finest silks and precious stones from the Indies, the treasures of the Americas, the inventions from the Kingdoms of Europe and a beautiful woman at every port. Regress backwards a couple of lifetimes and maybe, just maybe, I could have been doing just that.
I was pulled out of my boyish imagination by the sounds of what appeared to be a horn of some sort. A horn, here in what appears to be the middle of nowhere. I looked around, no ships or trawlers in sight, calm water all around, the few fish which I had caught earlier were safely tucked away in the ice box next to me. The radio was off. Then suddenly it appeared again, the sound of a horn like a call to somewhere, something..
I hadn’t had any beer as yet, not that I would be hearing things if indeed I downed a few. The sound appeared to be emanating from beneath. I smiled to myself…get outta here, you’re imagining things…sounds from the ocean indeed, I smiled to myself. As is habit I laugh at myself when weird things occur, maybe this is my way of getting things back to normal or in some instances..preparing for the unexpected.
I leant over one side of the boat and looked below into the water. Nothing. I looked again on the other side, nothing again. I need a drink I thought to myself, it must be the afternoon sun. It wasn’t hot, just pleasantly warm with the sea breeze playing delightful games with my ears..must be that I thought. A few sips of my beer and then again more than ever that sound! This time however it appeared to be a shrill cry, like a voice. I put on my diving mask and popped under water for a quick look.
Ahead in the distance, I saw something sparkle, then movement and then more of the same sound, it was definitely a voice. Someone was in certainly distress. I climbed back into the boat and turned the motor on this time to get to the exact spot from where I saw this movement. Once there, I put on a small oxygen tank, diving mask and threw down the old fashioned anchor which is always the topic of dinner conversation with those who go fishing with me. Diving into the water, the voice appeared to be getting louder and more distressed. I went further below deeper, deeper, how long would this take I wondered, passing a shoal of small fish and then there before me a sight, I gasped!
A woman was stuck in what appeared to be a fishing net, I couldn’t make her features out but she had unbelievably long, dark hair and somewhat shiny skin which was odd considering the dim light from up overhead. I reached out and tried to calm her down but she appeared even more distressed with my appearance. I noticed to my utter amazement, she did not have an oxygen tank or any other form of breathing apparatus on her. Someone must have thrown her into the water here to drown her, poor thing. The fishnet material was quite thick and felt old and jagged as if it had been in the water for years. I reached out to her and tried to calm her and stop moving. This would make it somewhat easier to find a way out of this without getting further stuck in it. I signalled with my hands to be quiet that I would cut the rope with a scissor like motion, thankfully she seemed to understand and stopped moving as before.
I gently un-knotted the rope from around her hair, which was caught between the fibres of the rope, working similarly I managed to untangle her from the mesh she had caught herself in making sure not to get stuck in it myself. Oddly enough I found the rope sticky to the touch almost as if it had some form of glue on it.
The light was pretty dim and all I could make out was this woman’s outline. On several occasions I shared my mouthpiece with her so as to give her some air to breathe. She accepted it gratefully but returned it a little to early for my liking; doesn’t she need any air, I wondered to myself. Upon releasing her from the bundle, she let out a cry of relief almost a shrill murmur, the sound someone would make as they shiver on a cold day. I gently held her hand and helped her to the surface; I was beginning to feel somewhat dizzy myself, as my oxygen supply was very low, near critical now. As I got to the boat, the dizziness was getting to me and I tried climbing, gasping for air as I was. I saw this girl just below me and felt her hands as they pushed me upwards over the edge and into the safety of my boat.
I was exhausted and grateful to be breathing air again, the dizziness was fading away then immediately I looked around and saw no sign of her. I panicked and looked into the water again and I saw her swimming away from the boat towards the horizon. I called out to her to wait, come back. She seemed to sense my gaze turned around just in time to hear my calling out to her. Instead, to my utter surprise she turned towards me and waved a gentle goodbye and that same murmur of relief again and a soft ethereal laughter. The light shone on her golden naked body with glorious long black hair streaming down her neck and back. She had on her arms rings of precious stones, of various colours, which twinkled in the light. Her face was indescribably beautiful and that smile was bewitching…and waving what seemed to be goodbye in those precious few seconds I looked at her, she arched herself backwards into the water and revealed to my complete delight and amazement, her lower body not of a girl but that of a fish…the scales were silverish-blue and simmering like tiny mirrors up to the tailfin which was opaline in colour and smooth like a peacock feather.
Then with a glorious flourish, she dived into the water leaving me in my little boat enchanted, bewitched, besotted, in love with a beauty I may never see again…
No comments:
Post a Comment