Azure Blue

The resort was nestled against the cliffs on the eastern coast of the tiny island, overlooking the ocean. Every room had its own private balcony facing the water, and so each received the unobstructed benefit of the rising sun.

Ralph Pommegrant opened his eyes a little, taking in his surroundings. Though he had been there a week, every morning still found him surprised and disoriented. Ralph had hardly ever traveled anywhere, and he found that he still had not gotten used to the abundant sunlight and agreeable weather, not to mention the absence of any sense of urgency to do anything at all.

But the biggest surprise of all was the woman.

Morning light filled the room where Ralph lay, the thin cotton sheets in tangles around his legs. Mariana was there alongside him, head pressed against his ribs, her long, dark hair reaching out in a soft cascade across his splotchy, sunburned chest.

She was a vision of staggering beauty. Her tan skin stood out in stark contrast against the crisp white of the bed linen, and the curves of her body made his own disused and lanky frame seem that much more angular and misshapen. Smiling to himself, he wondered at the sheer bliss of it all. How had he gotten so lucky?

They had met at the hotel bar the day he had arrived. She told him he looked lost, and he replied that he knew exactly where he was, but wasn’t sure it was the place for him. She smiled at that, and told him she was alone too, staying for several days on her way to visit her family. Maybe he’d join her for dinner? She could help him decide whether he was in the right place or not. Uncharacteristically, he accepted.

At dinner she asked how he had come to be there, and he told her how he’d won the trip in a raffle while he was at a seminar he’d attended for work, and how his mother and his brother both told him it would be good for him to take some time off, get away. Go get some sand between your toes, they said. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even have fun.

She listened intently, even when he went on to describe his job with the insurance company, its demands on his time, and the wide extent of his professional responsibilities. She nodded with interest, and laughed at all his attempts at humor, touching his hand across the table.

They drank too many rum cocktails, and the tropical air made Ralph’s head delightfully fuzzy and warm. She asked if he’d like to come back to her room and listen to the ocean from the balcony. He said he would, but they didn’t get any farther than the bed.

The next morning he woke to the rising sun, his mind swimming with images of nakedness and fervent embraces. Such vivid dreams, he thought, shaking his head to clear it--and there she was, still asleep beside him.

Since then they had been inseparable. They spent each day basking in the sun and swimming in the azure blue sea. When dusk settled on the little resort, they shared candlelit dinners looking out over the darkening sea, and every night they explored their passion for each other. Ralph had never imagined that such a life existed.

On the morning of the seventh day, Mariana suggested they take a walk along the cliffs.

“I know a little spot on the other side of the island where we can watch the sunset for a change,” she said. “We could make a fire on the beach, and get something good from the kitchen to cook for ourselves.”

“Well, as long as you think it’s safe. I'm sure I could get a fire going. . . I was a Boy Scout, you know,” he said with a lopsided smile.

“Oh, good,” she said, smiling back.

They set off after lunch. Mariana brought fresh fish packed in ice and wrapped to stay cold. The path was narrow until it reached halfway up the cliff, where it turned back on itself and widened. At the top, they paused to look out across the ocean. The sun sparkled off the water as far as the eye could see, and Ralph drank it all in.

From there the path ran inland and meandered gradually downhill, eventually letting out onto a small crescent-shaped beach.

Ralph managed to get the fire going. Mariana wrapped the fish in long, thick leaves and laid it in the coals. While it cooked, they made love in the warm sand.

After they ate, they lay naked together and watched the sunset on the water.

The full moon was cresting the trees behind them when she took his hand and said, “Come on.” He let her lead him to the water. It was warm on his skin, and they held hands as they walked out into the waves.

Ralph thought his mother and brother wouldn’t even recognize him, this man walking naked into the ocean in the dark, hand-in-hand with a beautiful woman.

He looked over at her. She looked back.

“I want to introduce you to my family,” she said. His heart swelled, and he was about to respond in kind when he felt something wrap itself around his leg and pull. He lost his balance and fell face-first into the water. He managed to push himself up, even as whatever was grabbing his ankle continued to pull.

“Mariana! Look out! There’s something in the water!” he cried out, blinking through the salt water stinging his eyes. He pulled back on his leg and managed to get to his knees. Mariana stood in front of him, her eyes shining in the moonlight.

Ralph blinked again. It must have been the salt in his eyes that made her skin shimmer like scales, and her long hair seemed to be swimming in the water around her.

Something grabbed his other leg, and then his wrist, and he was aware of shapes moving all around him, writhing and rising and falling among the waves. His eyes burned.

“Ralph,” she said, smiling, her teeth shining, “My family is happy to have you.”

Whatever held him suddenly pulled in all directions at once. Ralph opened his mouth to scream, but there was only the salt water.