These three letters made me scream at the whole Universe! Yes, IВ screamed, В«IВ want you, too!В», but after thinking aВ little, IВ wrote,
В«IВ want that, too.В»
В«What do you want?В»
«…to see you…»
It was madness! IВ understood everything, but appealing toВ reason at such moments was completely useless! OfВ course, he was not the captain ofВ the ship В«Scarlet SailsВ», and IВ mostly felt us the main characters ofВ the movie В«TitanicВ».
Weren’t you attracted by bad boys/girls?! And did you think at such moments that your «Titanic» was already doomed?! Neither did I, being ready to drown… sometime later… not then…
0.2. The Isle ofВ Black Magicians
Camotes[6 - The Camotes Islands is aВ group ofВ tiny islands inВ the Philippine archipelago. If you preffer solitude and are ready toВ sacrifice the benefits ofВ civilization, you will enjoy Camotes paradise, lost among tropical palm trees and sandy beaches.],
The Pacific Ocean
…Water, water, all around is water, and a panic horror seizes me. I try to float to the surface, but for some reason I can’t, and… I am suffocating!
He woke me up. IВ opened my eyes and saw before me only the boundless starryВ Sky.
It instantly got dark on that Island.
В«The Ocean comes here silently,В» Alex said gloomily and held out his hand toВ me.
IВ got up from the white sand, just aВ little bit more and the hide tide would have swallowedВ me.
Yes, that wild Island of healers and black magicians was really very strange. Completely unlike Paradise, despite the divine names of the bays and the Internet descriptions, Camotes was scaring, but at the same time attracting. You couldn’t see or hear the locals, and it was suspiciously quiet in general. There were neither crowds of tourists on the shore, nor waves in the Ocean. By evening, a part of the Island used to go under water silently so that from the shore to the rock with a staircase, connecting the Ocean with the strawy hotel, as my companion had christened it, one could get only by swimming.
В«Wait!В» IВ shouted toВ Alex, who was moving away into the distance.
He turned around. IВ catched up with him, he took my hand, and we slowly wandered along the Ocean toВ the beach cafe ofВ aВ local savage.
В«Someday IВ will come back here,В» IВ said dreamily, sitting down at aВ wooden table byВ aВ shabby umbrella.
«Crazy girl! What do you plan to do here? What the hell is this Paradise? No civilization! Aboriginal savages only! There is not even a restaurant, and the only hotel doesn’t accept cards! If I had known where the ferry would take us, I would never have gone! You got me on an adventure! And now we have nothing but wait for the ferry back, which has no schedule at all! If it wants, it sails, but if it doesn’t?»
В«However, IВ really like it here! This Isle is full ofВ magic! There is some hidden secret inВ it IВ would be pleased toВ reveal.В»
«The magic theurgy is, at best, a fairy tale for adults, and at worst it’s quackery! And don’t tell me that you believe in the afterlife!»
«And you really don’t?» I chuckled.
В«AВ human being, Alice, is bones and meat! Everything else is from the evil one!В»
Chapter 1. The FISHERMAN
1.1. FishingВ nets
many years later
…Water, water, all around is water, and a panic horror seizes me. I try to float up to the surface, but for some reason I can’t, and… I am suffocating!
He woke me up. IВ opened my eyes and saw before me only the boundless starryВ Sky.
It instantly got dark on that Island.
В«The Ocean comes here silently,В» said the man grimly and held out his hand toВ me.
IВ got up from the white sand, just aВ little bit more and the hide tide would have swallowedВ me.
Besides…
«What’s this? Brrr! Whoo! What a nightmare! The Ocean threw a… fishing net on me?!»
IВ twitched and squeamishly threw itВ off.
В«Hey!В» IВ shouted toВ the man, who was moving away into the distance.
He turned around. I ran up to him and…
«Sorry! It seemed to me…»
He smiled. It was a strange feeling that I’d seen him somewhere… before. Probably… A familiar face? Or even a look? Otherwise, nothing special: tall, thin, black-eyed… without distinctive features. In a light shirt and blue shorts, with rosaries on his wrists and a pirate bandana on his head…
В«Do you speak English?В» IВ asked the stranger, and he nodded.
We slowly wandered along the Ocean toВ the beach cafe.
«I was on this Isle once upon a time,» I said. «I happened here accidentally, although… there are no accidents in life. I went on vacation to Cebu, met a compatriot, he spent winters there, and we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. We got on the ferry. We didn’t even know where it was sailing us. But I liked Camotes. There is some mystery in this Island!»
В«Have you been dreaming ofВ coming back for all your life?В»
В«Yes, but not for all my life.В»
«So, the man decided not to come back, didn’t he? That’s why you’re sad here all alone. Did you love him?»
«No, we had no affair, although, oddly enough, he felt something for me in his soul,» I smiled. «But did he have a soul? It’s a big question. He reminded me of the main character of the „Christmas Carol“ by Charles Dickens.»
«I haven’t read it.»
«An old man, an avid atheist and former financier. Many people called him a „secret millionaire“. He considered himself a brave Robinson, because after retirement he leased a cool apartment in the center of our city, while traveling abroad around Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, Bali, Philippines and so on. He aspired to female companionship. I think he felt very lonely. His parents had died long ago, he’d got a divorce, his only daughter had emigrated to Italy. He certainly lacked love, care and attention. Perhaps, because of the internal conflict „I want to, but for my age I can’t“, he became so angry and intolerant towards others’ opinion. Everyone around annoyed him, everything went wrong. By the way, his name was Alex. And what’s your name?»
The man stopped and looked into my eyes.
В«Yanis. And yours?В»
For some reason, his gaze made me feel uneasy.
«Alice. Is your name a Greek one?» I asked, and Yanis nodded smiling, and I supposed, «So, you moved here from Greece, didn’t you?»
«Yes…»
«I often spent my holidays in Greece, on the islands. It’s your cafe on the beach, isn’t it?»
Yanis nodded again and offered toВ come inВ for aВ bite toВ eat. IВ sat down at aВ table, he brought me his fish menu.
В«Are you aВ fisher or just buying fish inВ the market?В»
В«IВ fish myself,В» Yanis grinned.
В«So, was it your net that the Ocean threw over me!?В» IВ got laughed.
В«Correct! IВ set up nets around the Island every night!В»
«Isn’t the net too big for fishes? Do you catch mermaids?» I joked and thought that I wasn’t hungry. «Would you bring me some shrimp to try?»
Yanis nodded again, and at the same moment I heard children’s sobs.
1.2. The Girl who was looking for her mother
IВ turned around and noticed, as if from nowhere, aВ dark-haired small girl ofВ about five inВ aВ translucent pink dress appeared on the shore. She looked out toВ the Ocean, but no one was nearВ her.
В«MA-MA-aaaa!!!В» her heart-rending scream rangВ out.
I looked at Yanis. His face seemed to get darkened, but he didn’t even move.
IВ jumped up from the table and ran toВ the Girl.
«Hey!» I hugged her by the shoulders. «What’s happened?»
The Girl sobbed, repeating just one word В«Mom!В», but paying no attention toВ me.
«What’s about your mom?» I asked. «Where is she? In the Ocean? What’s your name?»
The Girl either did not understand, or did not hear me, she continued toВ sob. And the Ocean was still quiet and completely empty. Not aВ soul. Neither inВ it, nor on the shore. Except us, ofВ course.
I returned to the Yanis’ cafe, but he had disappeared, apparently, he had left for shrimp.
The Ocean had already flooded part ofВ the shore, and IВ rushed toВ the stairs byВ swimming. IВ climbed up the rock, ran toВ the reception ofВ the strawy hotel and rang the bell. But no one showedВ up.
«Hey!» I screamed. «Is anybody here? Help! There’s a small girl on the shore! She’s lost her mother!»
But an ominous silence was rising inВ answer.
IВ ran back toВ the stairs.
«Poor Girl! And what if she became food for fishes in this Pacific – from all points of view – Ocean after her mother?! God forbid!»
However, when I got out of water to a piece of the not yet flooded shore, the Girl was nowhere to be seen…
