It happened again
he said it to no
oneno one was around to hear him except his cats but they were fast asleep had breakfast
groomed were acting like big cats on the
savannah
happened again
bludgeoned throughout
the nightparcel atop of odd parcel with scarcely time to draw a breath in between
though these revealeddespite wildly
separate locations geographies these revealed a continuity a symmetry which captured his dreaming attention because his dreams hardly ever aligned
he held something
that kept him afloat something he caught a frantic
glimpse ofsomething angular the black
water everywhere around him was anything but angular
he caught glimpses of it
as he swam in its direction
he tried to remain calmtried wishing
and not wishing it to be everything he hoped and everything he hoped was something that would save him from drowning
something that would give him a chance to survive another day another day and another
he wasat last greedy
the years he lived before didnt
matter he wanted to live more years
he didnt want his life to end
here unknown fishfood scavenged bits
Him Yeah him I remember him Whatever happened
to him
he sought solace with the
thought Him Hes dead
death a solace
hed see what something under him was in the
dawn
he unbuckled his belt and cinched
his arm to the raft so it wouldnt lose him now that he found it
the white noise the lapping
waveshow long had he
been in the waterthe sea rocking himhe had no idea he just kept
swimmingkept his head above waterquickly took him into a dreamless
sleep
when he woke it darkstill darkhis
back was dryhad
he slept through the daywas this the same nighthis throat was
parched he kept trying to clear it
he unlashed himself
he rolled over onto his back and
treaded his belt through his pants
he croaked again
again
he listened for birds he listened for anything other than waves
he croaked
whathe heard something
a whistle
he listenedlistened as he might stare
he clutched his eyes shut
Was
it again
a
whistle
No
Not a whistlea breath
an
inhale
an exhale
Mygod Inhales and exhales Nasal
he rolled onto his bellygripped
the rafts woodslats
whistles
he kept his eyes closed he moved his head like an antenna roving towards
where the breaths were emitted
opening his eyes he found himself
looking into an curious eye quiet in a
long head and beyond it other curious
eyes and long heads
whales
a pod of whales
their breaths silver in the night
he crawled forward he reached over
the rafts edge and touched the whale behind its eye touched an alien humanity
who exhaled
whistled
who breathed with lungs as he
breathed with lungs
other whales crowded
he touched
them it seemed if they had hands they
would also have wanted to touch him
the pod turned in mass it churned the sea and whale by whale
by whale took turns taking
himhis raft on their backs and swimming in a direction they determined
he croaked happily
he gazed in all the different
eyes gazed into their humanity he passed out
a red rising sun woke him he was
laying on his belly
he woke believing he dreamed the
breathsthe whistlesthe eyes the
whales
he hadnt
they were taking him into the
sun into the east in the
once of wakingrealising he hadnt dreamedhe was washed in the scent of land
stiffly he made it his knees
before he raised his eyes he
looked into the eyes at either side of him he luxuriated in their whispersin their splashin the mist of their
breaths
then he looked
before him in the distance were
brown and green curls of land land that smelled like a woman did waking from
her sleep
then he didnt lookhe couldnt he wept
the pod rotated around him
he recognised particular
eyes
all the whales did not participate
those who didnt remained at the periphery perhaps unconvinced he was worthwhile yet they did acknowledge him they raised their
pectorals waved their flukes several leapt
bodily into the air and crashed back into the sea throwing up exuberant sparkling
gouts
that night near enough land that he could see individual
lights hear individual voices curious eye rose beside him
he could feel their pectoral fin rub
the bottom of the raft
then he or she rolled and bankeddove
to their right they emerged directly behind
him and nosing the raft they churned the sea with several mighty beats of their
fluke pushing him towards the land ahead
surging forward he saw the pod
peel offheard their breaths and whistles and then gliding on the arch of a swellof he or she diving beneath him
he heard rollers crashing on the beachhead
rhythmic methodical
he was never more alone
dreamed
Day-between-Two-Ts and Thursday, 1 and
2, 8. 18
1159, Sunday,
5 8. 18
