Well, it has been a few years since I lost my wife to an insidious disease. I used to hate hearing that, but with time and maturity I came to realize that it is true: the people we do not see anymore still live in our hearts. Therefore, not long ago, after coming to terms with such a terrible loss, I had re-established one of our favorite traditions. Last week Sunday, at around two in the morning and equipped with a tasty red wine and a few grapes, I hopped in my boat, precisely a recreational motorboat with an outdoor motor.
“Jerry, please don’t forget the blankets!” She used to remind so that we do not freeze outside.
Just like we used to do together, I ‘drove’ the boat and stopped it far enough from the coast, lit up a lantern and started feasting on the grapes along with the wine. As I was also scrolling on my phone for pictures of her and pictures of us, so many memories flooded my mind, filling me with joy instead of sadness. At some point, I seemed to feel her presence. Strangely, this is exactly when I noticed it. Further away from the coast, something dark, stood firmly on deeper waters of the sea.
Struck with amazement and questions, I started the engine and drove up to the strange thing, its outlines and texture getting more clear despite the dark as I got closer, until I realized that it was a small, dark wooden cabin. I stopped the boat some good meters away from it to contemplate that curiosity. How did it stand firmly on the water without moving by an inch is beyond my intelligence. I am not a social media person at all, but that was the kind of things that needed to be seen by millions of people. Amused by the idea, I smiled and tried to take a picture of it first, but my excitement vanished from my heart and face, when I noticed that the cabin was not visible on the camera. This was much more serious than I thought.
Its only window then opened, revealing a young, pale woman of outstanding beauty with dark hair, and an apparently dark dress, gesturing me to approach without saying a word. I asked if she needed any help, but she kept quiet, only gesturing me to approach with an empty expression on her face. When I told her that I was about to go back to the coast instead, her neutral expression gave way to that of anger as her irises shone in a glowing yellow.
While looking around in disbelief and starting the engine, preparing to disappear from there, I heard a splashing noise and realized that she was no longer at her window. In fact, the whole cabin had vanished. I then saw something moving fast in the water and approaching the boat at full velocity. I sped off to save my life, and on the way to a safer zone, I felt two or three bumps under the boat, fortunately without consequences, until I safely reached the coast.
Later in the afternoon, when I came to check on my boat, I noticed deep scratching marks under it that seemed to be caused by an unnaturally strong human hand. A clear reason and warning to never again wonder late at night on the sea.