As I kept growing, both physically and mentally, so did my world as I knew it. But with each new day, I felt myself growing smaller and smaller in the shadow of the unknown. Just look at the ocean: serene and majestic, comforting and soothing. But beyond these qualities, it is the most surreal thing that we, as humans, can come in contact with. It makes us realize that the world is not ours to control. I witnessed this on the day I got lost at sea.
The sun shone behind me, warming my back as I gazed out into the ocean, nothing to see but water stretching for miles and miles in every direction. If I had not been as young as I was, I would have rendered the sight beautiful and breathtaking. But I was a mere child, bored with the long trek at sea, wondering when the next stop would be.
My father stood beside me, eyes closed and body relaxed. The ocean breeze rustled what hair he had left and he smiled contently. My mother was in the cabin, seasick and crabby. She did not appreciate the ocean quite as much as my father did. As we stood there, I saw land off in the distance. "Father," I asked, "how long will it take us to reach land?"
He opened his eyes and looked at me, "who knows," he said, "maybe an hour? Maybe less?"
An hour was better than two, I decided, and looked back across the ocean. My father left to go join my mother back inside.
Just then, a dolphin jumped out of the water, not more than a couple feet away from the boat. Finally, something exciting! I leaned over the railing as another dolphin jumped up, even closer than the first. I reached as far as I could. One jumped up, just out of reach, so I leaned over the railing until my feet were no longer touching the ground. This time, when the dolphin jumped up, I was able to touch its skin. It was rough, not at all what I had expected. But the momentum of the dolphin pulled me forward and, as I struggled to gain some balance, I toppled into the water.
I suppose that because I was not very heavy, I did not make a very large splash, because no one came rushing to the side of the boat to see what happened. Not even my parents.
As I came up for air, the first thing that came to my mind was that the water was so dark. I could barely even see my feet, let alone the bottom. How was I ever supposed to know if a shark was coming up from below to eat me? Meanwhile the boat kept steadily moving forward, kept steadily moving away from me.
Then, everything was quiet. It was as if the world around me stopped; no more boats, no more talking, no more splashing. But the shadows below danced as if to the beat of a drum, and told me the world was still alive. Alive and dangerous.
From the corner of my eye, I saw what looked like a fin. When I turned my head, it was gone. In that moment, the water seemed to grow ten times colder and a hundred times more ominous.
TO BE CONTINUED...
*dislaimer: this is not a real event, but the life lessons are
