aaron_the fall of america_chapter_44

Chapter 44

I was hopelessly lost on a placid ocean with nothing but water and sky to see. I felt like such an idiot. I thought I was so clever stealing a boat and following the stars as I rowed toward where I thought the Florida keys were. I was mistaken. I had no water and no food. Several times, I had tried to catch a seagull but they must have sensed my desperation. With unfaltering hope, I continually splashed water on the bow of my little boat so that as the water evaporates I would collect some salt to spice whatever creature I chanced to catch.

My arms were begging to fall off so that they could have a rest. But my fear of drifting from the Caribbean out to the vast Atlantic kept me from resting more than long enough to curse at myself for a few minutes while I contemplated ripping a bit of flesh off of my leg to use as bate on the hook that clung in rusty obstinacy to a tangled bit of line I found under a stinky bit of canvas that I had periodically, through the hottest part of the day, used to protect my head from the angry sun rays.

I tried adopting the Coke and a smoke religion to get me through to that beautiful shore but without someone to be zealous with and no sign of anything but water, little comfort could be found. Instead, I wanted there to be a god to complain to about the irony of being painfully thirsty with nothing in sight but undrinkable water.

I repeatedly reassured myself that I might still be travelling in the right direction because I would have to row at least sixty miles if I had left from the closest point in Cuba. I had been careful to follow the stars by night and the sun by day.

It would soon be night again and my only prospect for sustenance was a layer of salt on the bow.

I was starting to drift off into sleep when the cry of a seagull alarmed me. It looked as though it had me in its sights for a bite to eat. I was so indignant that I swung the oar up and knocked the winged villain out of the air. It thrashed about and couldn't get airborne. Its wing was broken and it was leaving blood in the water.

I had paddled over to it to pluck it out of the water when I spotted a shark. I imagined a horror story but soon saw it was closer than I thought and not so very big. I had never eaten seagull before and if at all possible I was hoping to put it off a little longer.

I pulled the frantic seagull out of the water to stick the rusty hook through its belly. It wasn't happy with me and I was glad to have it back in the water where I didn't have to meet its eyes. The shark hadn't noticed the added hook and was soon on my line. My line was short and I had just managed to tie it to the boat before the shark had pulled it to its length. With one oar, I managed to gather in the line little by little. If I hadn't out weighed the shark, I would have quickly lost the battle. Finally, when it was at the side of the boat, I beat it relentlessly until it stopped flipping about. I dragged it in the boat and beat it a few more times on the back of the head before ripping its belly open with the small knife I had in my wind-breaker.

I managed to cut it into ragged steaks and flop them on the bow to soak up a little salt. The remainder of the shark I threw to the hungry seagulls that always appear when there is fish gut to be had. I contemplated starting a fire with pieces of the boat but besides being a little dangerous, I needed the moisture of the fish more than I needed the meat.

During my evening meal, I spotted a boat. It looked like a catamaran. I remembered being on one once off the coast of Key West. It was a tourist thing to do. The trip included snorkelling in the shallow waters of endless coral reef. There was always something to see. I hoped that the boat was one of these, returning to Key West at the end of an outing. I rowed as hard as I could as long as I could, trying to follow the boat. It was a short time before it was out of sight.

It wasn't much later that the sun had set. It was beautiful to watch from the boat with nothing but water and sky. In the night sky I noticed lights on the horizon. It had to be Key West. If I didn't pass out from exhaustion I was sure to make it in a few hours.

Though the wind had been slight, I returned to my religion and promised myself a cold bottle of bubbles and sugar and perhaps a cigarette to go with it.



read on. book_04 chapter_45



by Joanne B. Washington

© 2001 | the jose wombat project