However, inВ the first shop, toВ which the queue lined up, IВ found only water.
В«Do you want toВ try?В» the seller asked me kindly.
В«Is it from your Island? Mineral? Sparkling water?В»
«From our Lake!» the salesman clarified with pride. «But it’s neither mineral nor sparkling. It is just dead! Pure dead water without gaz!»
В«Dead water?!В» IВ recoiled with aВ thought inВ my mind, В«One more joker?В»
В«Have aВ try!В» insisted the seller and handed me aВ glass.
В«Oh, no, thank you! Next time!В» IВ smiled for the sake ofВ decency and proceeded further.
Having passed bats, snakes, cockroaches, spiders, and other creatures cooked inВ different ways, IВ stood inВ line for aВ man, who was selling coconut cocktails and fresh pomegranate juice. Almost reaching the counter, IВ suddenly heard exclamations from the crowd.
«Deceiver! The seller is a liar! Don’t trust him!!! It expired yesterday!!!»
An enraged, half-naked woman flew up toВ the seller with aВ bottle inВ her hand and doused the unfortunate man from head toВ toe with aВ burgundy-colored liquid.
«It’s not fresh! It’s yesterday’s!!!» she shouted.
The people inВ the line roared indignantly and instantly evaporated, leaving me tet-a-tet with the seller. As if hypnotized byВ my own lack ofВ understanding ofВ what was happening there, IВ approached the counter even closer.
The seller, after wiping his face, gave me an appraising look and…
В«It is fresh!В» he said, as if nothing had happened. В«Fresh blood! The freshest one! IВ swear byВ my mom! Smell it! How many liters do you need? With milk or without?В»
IВ recoiled inВ disbelief, and stars twinkled inВ my eyes. IВ began toВ lose consciousness, but, fortunately, someone catched my arm inВ time. IВ opened my eyes.
«Yanis…»
В«DrinkВ it!В»
He handed me aВ wooden mug. IВ took aВ sip and immediately came toВ my senses.
В«Dead water?В» IВ joked.
Yanis leaned inВ toВ myВ ear.
«There is no other water here…» he whispered.
2.3. AВ GiantВ Ship
I couldn’t fall asleep at night. I left my hut to enjoy the Ocean view from the cliff, directly from the point where the stairs, connecting the hotel with the beach, began.
IВ stopped at the very edge.
Black starry Sky, in every sense the Pacific Ocean and me…
However, literally in a couple of seconds, I felt a strange, already forgotten there, on the Island, breathing of… the Wind! Yes! Who could imagine, the Wind…
And the Sky instantly changed! The clouds started running across it and so quickly, as if someone had pressed the fast-forward button ofВ aВ movie. IВ heard aВ powerful thunderclap, and the Sky was cut byВ lightning blades.
I was about to run back to the hut when I suddenly noticed… a Giant Ship! It looked absolutely surreal! It seemed to be brought there by the Wind and quite by accident, from some other era, or even from… another world!
It was raining, but I couldn’t move, gazing at the Ship… It was really gigantic! And so strange, old, with shabby sails, but without any flag or identification marks…
Finally, the Ship entered the bay…
…Oh, no! It was impossible! Passengers began to descend from the Ship straight into the Ocean! How many people were there on board? A hundred? A thousand? But all of them seemed to be ghostly transparent. They were walking on the water surface to the shore and, as soon as they reached it, immediately disappearing!
IВ hardly forced myself toВ ran back В«homeВ». IВ locked the door. Oh, IВ was sure, if my phone had not been dead for the lack ofВ electricity, and the Internet had been available, the Giant Ship would have made aВ splash on the network! IВ wondered if ghostly people would have shown up inВ the pictures. However, nobody would have believed my words.
«I’ll be back home in a week, and I’ll have to report to the „community“ about my journey. Not to forget anything, one needs to start writing everything down in time!»
I lit a candle, since there were plenty of them in the table drawer, took out my notebook and began like this…
«…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…»
Chapter 3. The CAPTAIN ofВ theВ SHIP
3.1. The Captain
Michael was the captain of a ship. At first. And then he became an important person in political circles. When I got a literary prize at the Central House of Writers, the President awarded him a state one. But Michael was also a creator like me, and, unlike me, he was a genius. Actually, we met each other on the creative wave. And then…
Michael turned each ofВ our meetings into aВ firework ofВ emotions. He seemed toВ be trying all the time toВ prove toВ me or even toВ himself, he was the best, no one would be like him. It was certainly pleasant, but not at all necessary, because Michael was already the best, at least for me. Not just damn charming, tall and, as they say, athletic, but also an intelligent and wise person, Michael liked toВ read aВ lot, toВ dress stylishly, toВ eat delicious food and toВ be perfumed expensively. When we walked around the city, IВ envied myself, В«What aВ man IВ am walking next to!В» Actually, we were aВ wonderful couple, not only outwardly.
Sometimes I wondered why Michael would not find himself a young girl, because I was only seven years younger than him. Once (although we quarreled only twice), I even sent him to… prostitutes, but he calmly replied that it was interesting and pleasant for him to communicate with me, as an intelligent and wise person, and, despite the fact that we were completely different in characters, we had common interests, intellectual and physical compatibility, and prostitutes were a road to nowhere.
Yes, IВ considered myself aВ bad lover, but only with Michael IВ kissed on the lips, such kisses were his know-how, and exceptionally easily and unobtrusively, on his initiative, with my consent, we tried inВ bed everything and then returned toВ the traditional classic.
Michael was a leader, and I appreciated it, because, of course, I was an unquestioning dictator at job, but in personal relationship – a submissive clay.
I knew Michael for many years, not only by words, but by deeds, so I could assure you, he was exactly the man that almost all led women were dreaming of. Any of us could feel with him safety like behind a stone wall. He didn’t hide his head in the sand, like an ostrich, but courageously solved every problem.
There’s no subjunctive mood in history, but… Michael was the only man sent to me from Above, whom I would marry immediately, quite consciously agreeing with the fact that…
«MOTHER!!!» it exploded somewhere very close…
«Her cry will even raise the dead from the coffin!» I thought and opened my eyes…
The water was arriving… High tide…
3.2. The Girl, again?!
Water… all around… water…
IВ sat down on the white sand, moving away from the Ocean advancing on me, and turned back. The Girl. The very same one. She was crying again, standing on the shore and looking into the distance. IВ went up toВ her.
«What’s your name? What happened? Where is your mother?» I asked once more.
The Girl whimpered. However, she seemed toВ understand my words, but she was silent like aВ partisan. IВ hit the snow-white sand with my heel, signing my own impotence, and saw Yanis wandering towardsВ us.
В«Hello, Alice!В»
«Hello, Yanis. The child… Something needs to be done with her! We must report to the police! Doesn’t she understand what I’m asking about?! Do you know her? Where does she live? She is clearly not a local aborigine! And what about her mother?!»
Yanis honored me with a strange look, full of deep sadness or even… pain? And it seemed to me again, I had met Yanis before, or maybe, he looked too much like someone else…
В«What do you want toВ eat today?В» Yanis asked suddenly, and at first IВ was taken aback.
«Help the Girl to find her mother! I can’t stand her endless crying!» I screamed.
Yanis put his finger toВ his mouth, В«Shh!В»
I stopped talking and suddenly… I found myself in a vacuum silence. I turned around. The Girl was nowhere to be found! I looked at Yanis with horror, but he extended his hand to me, as if nothing had happened.
«Let’s go, Alice…»
В«The GIRL!В» IВ shouted even louder.
«She’ll be back…» Yanis answered calmly.
3.3. And once more… the Boy!
I placed myself in Yanis’ cafe, although I didn’t want to eat, having a terrible headache.
Yanis brought me the freshest tropical fruit juice and half aВ coconut, and then, glancing at the wicker chair inВ front ofВ me, politely asked, if it was free.
IВ nodded В«yesВ» toВ him. He sat down, and we continued our conversation.
В«Well, where did you have aВ rest inВ Greece, Alice?В»
В«On the island opposite toВ Mount Athos.В»
В«Thassos you mean?В»
В«No, Ammouliani. Have you ever been toВ Thassos?В»
«No… And how do you like Ammouliani, the island of monks? Not so long ago, it belonged to the monastery of Vatopedi. Did you feel the Spirit of the Holy Mountain? We can say that you lived in the Holy Land!»
«Yes, it’s amazing!» I smiled remembering. «You know, there is a wild sandy beach with Mount Athos view there. The water is so clear and transparent, that even if you swim far away from the shore, you can see the bottom, and it’s not scary to swim there. To be honest, I’m afraid of water.»
В«Afraid? Why?В»
«I don’t know. Since childhood. I often had the same nightmare, I dreamt as if I was drowning in the sea or in the ocean. That’s why I’m afraid of the waves. Fortunately, there are no waves usually in the Ammouliani bay.»
В«There are no waves here either,В» Yanis chuckled.
«But the Ocean here has lots of algae, and for a kilometer there is no deepness at all! It’s impossible to swim, only to walk! On Ammouliani one makes two steps and doesn’t feel the bottom anymore. And there is no seaweed! Although I used to swim far from the seashore, I felt like a fish in water! Оr… maybe like a mermaid… I used to stay in water for more than an hour, all alone, or rather, me, the sea and the Holy Mountain… Imagine, nobody else around! By the way, I’m fond of diving and watching fishes!»
While IВ told Yanis about his Greece, he was smiling, and IВ was smiling too, diving inВ my memories.
