Return to Me

Have you ever heard this statement; “If you love someone, let them go.” It goes on to say that they would return to you if it was meant to be. I have never had to let anyone go. I was the one who had to be let go. I haven’t been gone all that long but, it is now time for me to return.

Marina was the most beautiful girl on the planet. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. But I also wanted to travel the world. I had everything planned. We would travel together, see everything under the sun. Sleep under the stars. Lay on the sand of every beach we see. Life would be enjoyable. There was only one thing that I did not consider. Something that I never thought about asking. She did not want to go.

Marina was the type of girl that wanted to settle down in 1 place. The thought of really getting to know the neighbors was her greatest dream. She didn’t mind traveling for vacation once every few years. But a life of travel was a nightmare to her. As much as I wanted to travel, as much as I dreamed of that life, as much as I saw that as our future, I was willing to give it all up for a life with Marina. If I was willing to give her the world, I was willing to give up the world for her.

She knew that traveling was my heart’s desire. I’m sure that it was written all over my face. I couldn’t hide it if I could. I didn’t think that it was obvious, but I was moping around a little. But that was just in the beginning. It must have been my brother, but somebody told her that I was talking in my sleep about it. The bottom line is that she knew how much I wanted this. For that reason, she surprised me on one very important day.

We were on a date at one of the more exclusive fine dining restaurants in town. I pulled out a little black box from my pocket. I could tell by her face that she knew what was inside it. I opened it to show her a brand-new diamond ring.

“Marina”, I said as I kneeled down, “Will you…”

With glee, she took the ring, put it on her finger, and said,

“No!”

Needless to say, I was shocked. She gave the ring back to me and continued:

“I’m sorry. What was that?”, I asked.

“No. I can’t. Not yet. I need you to go see the world. Go see what’s out there. Get it out of your system. If you return to me, then it was meant to be.”

“Sweetheart, I love YOU. Baby, I’d gladly give up the world to be with you.”

“I know you would. But there would always be that ‘what if’ in the back of your mind. Get rid of the ‘what if’ and I’ll be waiting for you when you return. Think of it as my gift to you.”

That was the first time I boarded a boat. It was more so a ship than a boat. I called for Marina to come join me. I would have loved to share this adventure with her. She was not willing to budge. The thought was terrifying to her. But she knew that I could handle it. I was ready to get this journey started. The sooner it began, the sooner I’d be back. With both joy and sadness, the ship started to move, and I was on my way. Joy for the adventure, sadness for leaving my sweet Marina behind.

From the very beginning, my trip was far more beautiful than I ever expected. I loved every bit of it; The wind blowing in my face, The salt air, The wonders of all of the tropical islands. I’ve seen pictures of these scenes before. But nothing compared to seeing them for myself, up-close and personal. I wished so hard that Marina could have been there to enjoy this with me. I know she would have enjoyed it.

One of the things she would not have enjoyed is the weather. This may have been the source of her fears. It started as a simple rain. The storm at sea soon forced the ship to veer off course. But it wasn’t smooth sailing after that. It wasn’t long before a second storm system formed directly in front of us.

Trapped between 2 storm systems, the captain tried to go straight down the middle. As if someone had targeted us, a 3rd system formed right in our path. With no way to turn around, we were trapped. The 3 systems merged into 1 huge storm. We were tossed from side to side, spun around, and almost knocked over. But the ship survived. If you call that surviving. It was completely inoperable. We were stuck where we were. The sun was blazing down on us. There was no wind blowing. And I could not smell the salt in the air.

The birds in the sky gave me something interesting to watch. They were all flying in a circle. “This could only mean one thing”, said the guy standing next to me. “We’re in the eye. The 2nd half is coming.”

After the storm returned, the ship was left completely ruined. It was still afloat but not for long. Another ship, smaller in size, pulled up next to us. We were saved. We looked back and watched with sad hearts as the ship we were just on sank below the surface. At least we were still alive. No, Marina would not have enjoyed this.

We continued our great adventure. Once again, I was able to enjoy the wind blowing in my face, the salt air, the wonders of all of the tropical islands. Puerto Rico had some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen. The people there were friendly and easy to get along with. Many of them boarded the ship trying to get to the next destination, Miami, Florida.

The waters going from Puerto Rico to Florida were a little rough, but it was nothing that the captain couldn’t handle. He managed to keep the ship together and we were able to enjoy the ride. We even got this one passenger to sing a song about the “crazy life” as he called it. His name was Ricky, or something like that.

The Beaches of Florida were stunning, but not as great as Puerto Rico. We didn’t stay long. We were there only to drop off some passengers. Our next place was the magnificent town of King's Wharf, a seaside town on the island of Bermuda. I’ve heard of the beauty of the island. Now I was going to see it for myself. At least, that’s what I thought.

Halfway there we experienced problems with the ships’ on-board equipment. The compass, the GPS, the radar, they all started to go haywire. Then the engines died, and the ship started to be pulled off course. It was headed toward I gigantic whirlpool that seemed to have form from nowhere off to the starboard side of the ship. We all escaped on lifeboats. Safe, and away from the pull of death, we watched in horror as another ship sank to the bottom of the ocean. No, Marina would not have enjoyed this. She would not have encouraged me to come if she ever thought of anything like this.

There were over 300 people on that ship. I have no clue what happened to them. All of the lifeboats went in different directions. On the boat I was on, there were only 5. Myself, Ricky (Who I was tired of hearing him sing), Jonas Grumby (Who was skilled in piloting boats), Some movie star named Ginger (I never heard of her), and her friend Mary Ann (A farmer from Winfield, Kansas). Jonas took control of the boat and said that he would get us to Kings Wharf without any problems.

It should have been just a 3-hour trip. However, on the 3rd day we were starting to feel the effects of no food and little water. To add to that, the sun beating down on us was creating dangerous situations. Off in the distance was a tiny rocky island. It was not a place where we wanted to land. Jonas started to head right to it.

“What are you doing?” asked Ginger.

Jonas claimed to hear voices calling to him. He said that there were women sitting on top of the rocks. He wanted to save them. I didn’t see anyone. Neither did Ginger or Mary Ann. Ricky claimed he saw them. We tried to gain control of the boat, but Ricky pushed the 2 women and knocked them down on top of me. What a jerk.

I managed to get up, but it was too late. The motor was cranked to full speed and the boat rammed right into the rocks. The boat was destroyed, and we were stranded on an island that was only 15 by 10 feet. At least there was a pool of fresh water and a few mango trees in the middle of it. How I hate mangos. Marina love mangos, but she would not have enjoyed this.

Jonas and Ricky continued to stick to their story of the women sitting on the rocks. I was able to collect the pieces of the boat and make a raft. It was barely big enough for us all to fit on, but it was all we had. Anyway, it would only be me. The others thought it would be better to wait on the island to be rescued. So, I collected as many mangos as I could and headed back out to sea. To my surprise, it wasn’t long before I was rescued. Or not.

I was very grateful to the crew that pulled me out of the water. But they were not the kindhearted people I thought they were. They were pirates. They needed someone to cook and clean for them since the last person took a swim and never returned. The iron shoes they were forced to ware may have had something to do with it.

So, there I was, forced into a life of slavery to some of the cruelest people on earth. I was given little to eat and little to drink. Working with little nourishment was hard. I would often pass out for which I was punished. While cooking for them I would eat some of the food. For that I was punished. While cleaning, I spilled the mop bucket. For that I was punished. (It wasn’t an accident) Marina would have hated this.

I hoped for to be saved but these were strong warriors. They were skilled in battle. But I was skilled myself. I knew just the right ingredients needed to put the crew to sleep. To make thing better, I did it at the right time. Just as the crew was starting to get a little tired, a ship from the royal navy appeared. The pirates were too tired to fight. They were captured and locked away to stand trial. Their ship was destroyed. Once again, I was rescued. This time, as I looked behind and saw the ship I was just on sinking below the surface of the ocean, I smiled.

This ship was not a recreational vessel. Nevertheless, I loved every bit of it; The wind blowing in my face, The salt air, The wonders of all of the islands. We traveled north headed toward Nova Scotia, where the pirates were from. On the way, we stopped and helped out other ships in distress. Some of these were damaged by weather or human error. Some were being attacked by other pirates. The Problem was that the holding cells were starting to fill up. The staff would soon become outnumbered by the villains. This bothered me some. But all I could think about was my dear Marina.

We happened to come across one ship that went by the name “The Laqueus”. The ship was damaged but had not sunk below the surface of the water. The people from it were holding on for dear life. Saving them was the right thing to do, I guess. The only problem was the name of the ship. I think that I was the only one that realized that Laqueus is the Latin word for trap or snare. I tried to warn the captain, but it was too late. The people had already boarded.

While they were welcomed by the other passengers, and while I did greet them kindly, I did not trust them. I thought that they were up to no good. In the middle of the night, my fears were confirmed. 5 of the 30 people the was rescued from The Laqueus got up and made their way to the prison cells.

I followed them from a distance. When I arrived, making sure not to make a sound, I saw the guard lying unconscious on the floor. I gasped, but they didn’t hear it. I watched as they unlocked all of the cell doors, letting all of the prisoners go free. I ran and woke the staff and other passengers. A battle ensued. The pirates were losing, but the fight distracted the crew from the iceberg directly in the ships path. We hit dead on. Once again, we had to evacuate to the lifeboats. The staff and passenger were able to get all of them leaving the pirates on the sinking ship. In the end, it was the same as the last ship we encountered. They were hanging on for dear life.

The lifeboats continued their way to Nova Scotia. All of my happiness was gone. Even though there was the wind blowing in my face, the salt air, and the wonders of all of the islands, I was not enjoying them. It seemed like a lifetime since I was truly happy. The only thing that could bring me real joy was being next to my dear Marina. So, I did the only thing I could do to be next to her. I jumped.

I’m not sure what shocked the people more; The fact that I jumped or what happened next. They did try to save me. But I didn’t need to be saved. This became abundantly clear to them when, much to their surprise, my legs became fins. My skin became scales. I swam at top speed back to my underwater world. I meet up with my dear Marina. I placed the ring on her finger. We kissed for a very long time. The “what if” was gone. My dreams of seeing the world were gone. Never did they return again.