Dirk felt around the raft in hopes of finding a clue. Like a giant salamander, he crawled from one side of the eight foot raft to the other, feeling it out in hopes of finding an answer. No such luck.
***
The cruise ship had been friendly to the blind. The fine people of Alaskan Cruise Lines were not only accommodating to the young man, but his dog as well. With assistance from a seemingly young lady, Dirk and Friendly were shown to their cabin and soaked in words of kindness and fond wishes. He asked her name. She replied, “Lisa.” He felt like holding out his hand, but opted to smile. She didn’t know the difference. Dirk always smiled.
Quite popular the cruise had been. Dirk felt the passersby brush past as Friendly led him from one side of the ship to the other. He managed to catch bits and pieces of various conversations.
Oh, I hear they’ll be serving King Crab Legs at the one on deck two…
…but she never let him…
…can you believe that ass…
How much longer till we hit land?
How come he got to bring his doggie?
…and Rose said, “forget it.”
…and once the jellyfish devour the body, the pale one shall ascend…
Half the time, nothing made sense. People who seemed to be talking about a breathtaking sunset could actually be sizing up a girl hiking up her skirt in front of him. Conversation is frustrating when you’re blind—things said just don’t make sense.
The scenery must have been gorgeous. Used to be able to tell when something was worth seeing when the sounds of cameras clicking invaded the air. The digital technology gave little to Dirk in that sense. Still, the air felt crisp and the passenger’s spirits seemed to be high—a sure sign of wonderful, picturesque surroundings.
Simultaneous cries of children in front and back of him caused flashbacks to swirl about his head, seemingly solidifying via the cold Alaskan winds. The cries of children always brought on painful memories. Always.
***
Through with crawling on his belly, he turned himself over and sought out a safe spot to sit and support his back. The winds were furious. Snot gushed over his lips and down his chin. A numbing pain immobilized his fingers and his ears felt as though they were on the point of breaking into shards of fine glass.
Friendly was not with him. His pockets were empty.
“Help! Please, someone!”
The wind continued to scold his weathered face.
“Friendly! Come here, boy!”
He lowered his head as he yearned for the cries of children to sound.
“Friendly. Where are you?”
His voice quaked.
***
Dirk and Friendly retreated to their room after dinner. That evening, their waitress, Silvia, a delightful Chilean girl with a vibrant yet fragile voice had taken such good care of them and he hoped that she would be there the following evening. He loved it when she placed her hand on his shoulder and told him she would be right back with his pan-seared halibut and asparagus. He imagined her looking like the figures he imagined prancing about while attending the opera. Her face must be the opposite of the darkness.
“Here you are, sir—fresh coffee.”
“Why thank you, Silvia. It smells delightful.”
“Enjoy.”
“Silvia?”
“Yes?”
“I hope to see you again.”
Was she smiling? Scared? Annoyed? Bored?
Dirk then spaced out in a state of utter bliss as a gentle, fragile kiss was planted on his cheek followed by a whisper.
“You will see me.”
***
Friendly walked his master over to his bed.
“Good night, Friendly.”
He laid his head down, deciding to skip the brushing of teeth and such. Some things could wait till sunrise.
“You’re a good dog, Friendly.”
***
Out of ideas, he decided to sit in the raft and continue to float away. By the gurgling in his stomach, he figured it had been at least twenty hours since he last ate. The thought of eating, and the Halibut that Silvia had served, covered in a white wine lemon sauce and topped with capers, brought on a smile.
The thought of the kiss momentarily warmed him.
Dirk’s memory of sound bites was keener than most. Perhaps average for a man of his type. Yet, clues as to who may have placed him on the raft or to how this may have happened, did not come easily. Nothing said in the restaurant last night would explain this.
The lost man nudged his face between his knees as he continued to drift.
***
The last thing Dirk remembered before awakening on the raft was the opera.
He had been sitting as usual in the back row, one hand holding Friendly’s leash, the other a special program in Braille. The opera in this particular dream had been Pagliacci in which the orchestra’s intense, sweeping performance enraptured the blind man as Nedda’s teasingly divine voice yearned for Silvio. Dirk’s heart would race as the triumphant music and godly voices summoned images of bright glowing white figures prancing about the stage, meeting each other, what must be arms, entangling, the two glowing bodies combining in perfect harmony.
But there was more to that particular dream which had enthralled him so last night.
As Dirk thought hard to remember, a huge splashing noise sounded from a few feet away. He froze there on the raft.
“Friendly, is that you? Friendly!”
Again a violent splash, this time accompanied by a desperate cry.
“Who is there?”
Dirk felt his way over to the side of the raft from which the noises were coming from.
“Who is—“
This time a wet hand emerged from the waters and slapped Dirk across the face, knocking off the man’s glasses which plopped into the waters.
Immediately, he withdrew back and tried to sit in the middle of the raft where nothing could reach him.
Again, something broke the surface, this time the voice was clear.
“Please, help me!!”
Shaking, he extended his arms and touched the side of the raft.
“Where are you?”
The vicious winds disallowed his voice to carry.
“Wh-where are you!?”
Silence save for the winds.
Dirk tucked his hands in his jacket sleeves and covered his face. As he sat there on bended knee crying, he gravitated once more toward the side of the raft. The sound of bubbles, like a child blowing on a straw causing chocolate bubbles to dance about, appeared below. He gravitated further. The bubbling became more intense.
The whole side of the raft dipped almost to the surface as Dirk hovered his face above the bubbles.
“Where are you?”
With no thought as to temperatures, he plunged his face below the surface and immediately his body warmed. Dirk opened his mouth as his eyes beheld a world of floating pale white figures, intermingling, sweeping across the vast space. Tiny particles freckled as far as the eye could see. The bulbous beings began to group together and form a circle.
Another type of being ascended from the depths-- a blanket of lush, transparency floated effortlessly toward the tentacled bulbous beings which were now grouped in a perfect circle.
Dirk continued to marvel at the colors and shapes which he somehow recognized. The bulbous creatures continued to float in a circle as the transparent blanket halted in the middle of the circle. The thing seen in the middle, which was brilliantly bright when compared with the relative darkness that was his surroundings, began to transform, morph into how he imagined a human being—torso, arms, legs, head—all the dimensions seemed to be consistent with his own. For the first time, he held his hands in front of his face.
After taking in this display, Dirk let more of himself submerge below the raft.
From the dark depths, a melodious harmony of violins and bass sounded. A prancing figurine of indescribable beauty appeared, soaring up through the aqua depths, toward the being which had returned to its blanket sea creature form. Each and every movement made by this divine creation accented the symphony. The music became climactic as she reached up and meshed into the transparent one.
The circle of squid moved closer to Dirk.
He inched forward even more, finally allowing himself to fully submerge. He breathed in the salty water and peered up at the surface.
The bulbous creatures of divine light wrapped their multitude of thin, handless arms around the drowned being and pulled him towards them into their circle.
Silvia’s face pressed into the blanket-like creature and she faced Dirk.
Breathing in the water without difficulty, Dirk reached out a hand and caressed Silvia’s cheek.
“It is you, Silvia. Is it not you?”
Silvia peered into his eyes and drew him closer.
As their lips were about to meet, they descended into the unexplored depths.
Darkness had arrived once more. Dirk stood on the seafloor bottom. The sound of children came from somewhere. The underwater world still felt warm. He could still breathe.
Soft, jelly-like things brushed by him. The children’s voices shifted violently between laughter and screams of anguish.
“Silvia!?”
The children’s voices stopped. He no longer felt the creatures brushing by.
In desperation, he reached out in an attempt to swim away, when suddenly two human arms grabbed him from behind and pulled him.
The empty raft continued to float away.
