Chapter 1: The waves, the sun and the rhythm
Eating made Nico quite drowsy and so he went to bed with his brother while their father and mother went to have a glass of wine. Sleep caught Nico faster this time. But that did not mean he would have a night of rest.
A loud crash woke him a few hours after. The utter darkness hinted on how electricity was cut off for the room and his father and mother weren’t there. He gave his brother some more hours of sleep and opened the door to go to the corridor where the lights still did not work. A sense of panic invaded him as his head drowned in a sea of questions. He started making things up in his mind and was in stress. Where are my parents? Did they leave me here? Why isn’t there electricity? Did the boat stop working? Are we going to sink? To die? He needed to stop using his creativity to stress him out so he called his brother from the corridor to come quickly. This way he could focus on talking to his brother.
After Nico explained to Patrick what had happened (or what he thought was happening) Patrick asked one single question: so what? The question was followed by going back to sleep. Nico learned how not everyone sees the world the same way. Bats see with sound and cats see without colors. Everyone has its own perspective of the universe, without kids being an exception. Even if Nico was upset by the ignorance of his little brother he understood it and envied it. Nico as a kid didn’t care about anything, he didn’t have to worry about anything but him being happy and doing what he wanted. If there was a problem he would just ignore it, put it under the carpet. But then the carped would rise with his age and problems would hunt him in the dark. Like they did now.
This is the change that makes kids more mature. These types of responsibilities and things you need to take into account and can’t ignore are what differentiate a child from a man.
His parents always asked him for that but it was not Nico’s problem, as you can’t ask for responsibility and then not give anything to be responsible for.
Nico walked toward the parlor so he could find answers in the piano but what he saw gave him all the answers he needed. A meeting was taking place. The whole staff from the cruise and some grown ups, including his father and mother, were united talking about something. The head of the cruise’s navigation talked first: “As you all may have noticed the cruise has a major power shortage. This means that only navigation systems work but without any electrical accommodations to help with the coal burning system we may have some problems… resulting in the cruise sinking” said the man calmly. The response was expected: people cried, asked questions and runned towards their families looking for answers. The navigation chief tried to calm the people down: “I suggest you people to calm down. We have ways to counter this. We will leave the cruise anchored and leave with security rafts” People calmed down but Nico’s parents didn’t. “What will happen to the people that did not pay the extra fee for the premium raft?” asked Robert with hesitation. “You will use the other rafts which are not as prepared, but will take you home safely” responded the chief. After this the meeting dissolved and Nico met with his parents to tell them that he saw and listened to everything. They hugged and looked for Patrick, who was peacefully sleeping in his bed at the cabin. The memories Nico now gazed at at the moment were vague and spontaneous. Just noise. Rain. Thunder.
When they were all packed they left towards the safety rafts so they could be the firsts to leave. To they’re surprise, people were not there but instead talking in the parlor again. Robert seemed off. He was walking in lines and talking to himself. Sweating with the cold ocean breeze and his family awaiting an answer. An answer that could lead to their demise but would have to take hastily as the night filled with fog and the sea calmed. until he finally said: “let’s get out of here” He took his children by the arm and untied the raft before anyone noticed. “I can’t gamble my children’s live for a worse raft”
The raft dimensions were about four square meters but there was a little tent that occupied one square meter. The raft dropped to the sea and they slowly saw the cruise disappearing in the mist. The air felt agitated and light while the sea was holding a mystery they could not unfold, getting paralyzed upon making eye contact with it. After some time they already felt alone and uncomfortable. They all had their things going on. Patrick was playing with his giraffe toy while her mother watched, Robert was figuring out how to set the sail and how to use the map and compass that was provided in the premium raft they had stolen and Nico was organizing the stuff that was inside the raft. The raft was about three meters and was packed with all kind of utensils: There were five knives, packed food, about fifty meters of rope, some pots, matches, a flare gun with five shots, a first aid kid and of course, a solar battery charger, a flashlight and the things that they had packed. It was a very well packed raft which also included some equipment in case you had to go under water like an oxygen tank and an underwater suit which Nico saw as unnecessary. With all of this in mind they headed south to where Robert thought civilisation was.
Hence came the rain. Simple droplets of water falling from the sky. But still enough to poison their whole rations. The drops had germs which upon contact with food caused food poisoning, propagating in food and playing with their lives. With their whole food rations poisoned they were having problems with stomach ache, headache and more. This was enough to make them feel tired as weakness propagated within their bodies. Nico looked again to the sea. His mood had changed with the sea: strong waves pushing the thin line between life and death. Rain, wind and thunder made the atmosphere dark, scary and mainly just melancholic while pushing the waves harder against the raft.
On day two, Nico boiled some water and relieved his thirst, but there was no hope on the raft. Huge waves were tearing the raft apart and no signs of life were seen.
But on the horizon a bigger issue had to be faced. The fact that Robert had lost the map due to the waves was truly the biggest problem of all. And it was all his fault. To lose civilization. To lose your original life. That is what hurts the most. Nico knew that when a boat crashed or sank they looked for survivors in an area of about two nautical miles. In some time they could be further away and if they were in the wrong location there was still the possibility of never getting rescued… never.
Days passed, even a week had passed now. The food poisoning didn’t help much. Eating was compulsory and the fact that by eating you were tied to feeling worse because of the food poisoning didn’t make things any better. As more days passed isolation had taken his father and mother. They didn’t have the same eyes. They were tired and hurt. The same vivid light that once shined upon their eyes was filled with gloom and regret. Patrick didn’t talk much nor eat much and Nico just observed. He never thought that going on a cruise in Eastern Canada could end in this situation. In one of their last hopes for survival they shot the flare gun off to the sky and waited for two days before giving up. Food was gone by now and they all quietly awaited their destiny. But Anne was finished. She just wanted rest. Nicos mother didn’t want to wait any more.
That day, when everyone was asleep she decided to finish the suffering, the food scarcity and the suffering of his kids and husband. Isolation was too much to bear. She wanted to stop fighting, after all, what was the point when they would all die eventually in that horrible raft? She was ready. She had convinced herself it was the best thing she could do. To kill. To take her own life. Anne took the biggest metal pot and violently started to hit her head with it. Since she couldn’t knock herself down with the first hit she kept going until Robert and Nico got up. Right when they were going to stop her. Anne smiled “I love you” - she said calmly before dropping down unconscious to the water where she would drown. Nico saw it all and cried intensely, the sea raged with anger.
Patrick went towards the edge, looking for her mom and reaching his hand but it was all in vain. A giant wave the size of the raft hit Patrick from behind and he fell into the sea. Robert and Nico acted impulsively. “Patrick, come here!” said Nico, weeping. The silhouette of Patrick was still visible and you could tell he was fighting the waves. He managed to get next to the raft but Nico and Robert were constantly falling down because of the waves. One of these waves pushed Patrick beneath the raft. “Dad! help him!” The cries of Nico made Robert jump down. He was looking everywhere but he could barely see with all the water movement. Nico could feel his brother hitting the raft beneath violently. “I see him!” shouted Robert before realizing what he had seen. “Fuck! Something bit me in the leg! Help!” Cried Robert. Nico tensed his hand to lift him up while the violent hits from Patrick became weaker.
With both Robert’s strength and Nico’s, Robert was able to get up. Nico calmed down and so did the sea. After Robert looked at his wound and Nico gave him the medical kit Robert put it away. “I just want to hug you son, help you and know that you’re safe” Said Robert. Robert and Nico didn’t know how to react. They didn’t care now about the sharks, the food, the isolation, the water, the waves or even the food poisoning they both had. They just cared about how to react to such a loss.
They stayed hugged in the raft for forty four hours full of suffering until the day came where the sea started crying. It was having the biggest tantrum Robert and Nico had ever seen. It raged and waves built up until they were the same height as them. They had to both hug each other up and grab the raft by the strips that were holding their equipment to not get propelled onto the sharks. Nico was holding the strings while his father holded his other hand but the adrenaline itself wasn’t enough to exceed the weakness in his body. He shook his hand away from his dad so he could hang onto something else and get a good grip. The bottle of oxygen was great for that but his father didn’t realize it and he hanged into another one of the strings. A high pitch sound came from his dad. His leg was bleeding badly and he couldn’t take it any more. As a last ditch strength he curled up in a ball on the floor but after this Nico saw the silhouette of a middle aged man being propelled into the ocean. After this the sea calmed, waiting to see Nico’s response. The clouds disappeared and the sun started to go down the horizon. Nico whimpered the whole night taking everything in until his body obliged him to sleep.
