Going Home

Hello. My name is Aaron Wycliff. My career on the water started off with me running a Water Taxi Service. I would transport people from one side of a lake to another. That is how I met my beautiful wife, Laura. I then moved to hosting parties on large yachts. That got a little carried away and I had to choose between the party boat business and my family. Well, here I am again, running a Water Taxi Service. And I love it.

Normally, the farthest I would travel is taking a group from California to Hawaii and back. But ever-so-often, I would get a call to make a trip of a greater distance.

Chances are that you will never find the Island of Sub Undis on any map. When I first received the request to pick up a passenger there, I thought that it was a practical joke. I was sure that someone would be laughing when I headed out. But I swear to you that it is there. It’s in the middle of nowhere, in the Pacific. It is a Polynesian island located on the equator at 0°N 180°W. Its land mass is only 1.5 acres. The first thing I noticed, when I arrived, was that the single building on this island was built on stilts. This was due to the fact that, as its name suggests, at high tide, the island is completely under water. Sub Undis is Latin for under the waves. This is where I met Timin.

“How long have you been here?”, I asked. That was a common question I would always ask my passengers that I pick up from small islands. It’s designed to start a conversation. A long trip with no conversation can be mind-numbing. It wanted to make the trip enjoyable for myself and my passengers.

“hmm 250 y…”, he responded.

In the back of my mind, I wondered if I heard him correctly. He kind of mumbled when he spoke. It sounded like he said that he was on that small island for 2 and a half centuries. I knew that that couldn’t be the case. 250 days would be a stretch.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear that. Can you say that again?”

“I said it seems like 250 years since I’ve been away.”

I was able to relax a little more. I help him load what little luggage he had onto the boat so that we can get started.

“We need to hurry.”, he said, “The tide comes in quickly this time of year.”

“So, where are you going?”

“Home.”

Timin was not the most talkative person I’ve met but I was sure that I would be able to draw him out. I could tell that it was something bothering him. It would help him if he was able to just talk about it.

“Great. There is an old saying that home is where the heart is. So exactly where is Home?”

He still wasn’t talking much. He handed me an old map marked with an “X”. The words “Nihil Insula” were written on it. I was not the best at translating Latin, but I did know something. Nihil is “Nothing” and Insula is “Island”. So, he was going to Nothing Island. The location was 0°N 0°W.

“That’s the so-called Null Island. There is no Null Island.”, I said, “It’s just a NOAA Weather Buoy.”

This provoked a smile.

“It’s still there. Good. That’s the X that marks the spot.”

“What Spot.”

“Home. I know it’s there. That’s where I was born. That’s where I grew up. Trust me. It’s there.”

If you are confused at this point, don’t worry. So was I. The nearest land was a small island 354 miles to the north. I guessed that I would take him there after letting him see that there was nothing there. He was so happy to learn that the buoy was there. Did he install it? Whatever the case was, he opened up more and was willing to talk. This was a good thing since the trip would literally go halfway around the earth. I normally make trips that wouldn’t take more than a day both ways. This trip was going to take at least 2 months to get there. I’m thankful that my family was below deck. Being away from them for that much time was out of the question. For now, we made our way to the Panama Canal.

After a few hours of silence, it was Timin that started to talk first. He wanted to tell me about the day he left.

The village he came from had been shut off from the rest of the world for nearly 1000 years. He was chosen from a group of 12,750 people. His mission was to go see the world. Learn about the advancements they’ve made. It was interesting that Britain, once a colony of Rome, had emerged as its own nation. On top of that, Britain had its own colonies and that one of them had just become its own nation.

Once again, I was puzzled by this man. He was talking about things that happened more than 200 years before I was born like he was there. He was talking as if he lived through these events.

As the days went by, he continued to give these history lessons. Camron, my oldest son, listened deeply to everything he said. To him, this was so much better than his remote history classes. The other children found him interesting. Laura, my wife, enjoyed the fact that she was taking the trip with me. She was also eating every word this man said. She couldn’t understand why herself. None of them paid any attention to the fact that he was saying that he lived through these events.

He started talking about a blizzard that hit the United States in 1899. Once again, the amount of detail he gave suggests that he was right there. This time it was hitting a little close to home. He talked about how the blizzard affected the city of Chicago.

“My Great-Great Grandfather died in that storm.”, Laura said. “At least that’s what the family was told. His wife believed that he left them for another woman.”

“Is that what they believed?”

He said this as if he was shocked. As if he knew them personally. For the first time, Laura something very strange about his stories. He continued:

“There was this one lady named Marie Grains.”

“That was her name. My Great-Great Grandmother.”

“Yes. I know. That’s why I picked your family to transport me home.”

“I have to ask, how old are you?”

“I know where you are going with this. I want to let you know that you’re right. I haven’t talked about this in over a century. Based on your view of time, I would be 987 years old. I’ve been on that island since 1899 waiting for my chance to get home. I was never supposed to get involved with anyone. When I met Marie, the rules went out the door. She was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I fell in love with her. Then, in 1899, I got the alert that it was time to return home. So, I left. Unfortunately, I missed the window. The next window will open a few days from now.”

The entire family was stunned by this. 987 years old. Claiming that he was my wife’s great-great grandfather. This man was nuttier than I originally thought. But there was this nagging point in the back of my mind. He knew so much detail about history. He even knew the details about her family history. Was there anything to what he was saying? My wife knew how to test him.

“I have a family heirloom”, she says, “that has been in the family for 5 generations. I can only assume that it came from you. Tell me about it.”

“Do you have it with you?”

“Yes. I do.”

He went into his luggage and pulled out an old wooden box. The top of the box had an indentation with an odd shape. She pulled out an old bronze turtle. Its shell looked like jade.

“I’m not trying to take it from you.”, he said, “But that used to be mine. Please, I’ll let you do it. Place it on top of the box and turn.”

As she did, the turtle fit like a glove. She turned it and the box opened. Inside was a much larger jade and bronze turtle. He pulled it out and asked her to press her hand on the shell. She did and her eyes started to glow. It lasted only 5 seconds but when it was over, she gasped.

“I know where you are going. I know where you are from.”

“What?”, I asked. “Where? What are you talking about?”

“A story I heard as a child. I almost forgot about it. I can’t believe it’s true.”

Not too much more was said during the last 2 days of our trip. We arrived at the location known as Null Island in the middle of the night. The sky was lit brightly by a super moon. The water was far calmer than I expected.

“We’re here.”, I said. “We are exactly at 0°N 0°W.”

Timin walked to the edge of the boat and held the jade turtle in the moonlight. Suddenly, the sky began to darken. If this was not shocking enough, the sea became agitated but just in one place. A spotlight started to shine as if from nowhere. He placed the turtle back in its box and handed it to Laura.

“I want you to have this. You will know what to do with it when the time is right.”

He kissed her on the cheek, promised to see her again, and jumped into the water. The last time we saw Timin, he was swimming into the light. We headed to Achowa Point to refuel before going home.