Love Conquers All

by Galia Albin

  Chapter 46

  Gloria told her once about her honeymoon in Guatemala, but the only thing Talia remembered was the name of that exotic country. This splinter of memory flashed in her mind when she hired the services of the brother De Silva; Roberto, the pilot, and Miguel, the navigator and guide. Roberto, the owner of the aircraft, was a tall slender man with a thin braid dangling at the back of his balding pate. Miguel was younger and looked like a Jose Ferrer double. Both brothers were ragged and taciturn, and they inspired confidence in Talia’s heart.

  The De Silva brothers specialized in unusual and exotic trips that they tailor made for their clients. “Our job is to make dreams come true,”

  Roberto told her. “I can take you anywhere you want, to the Big Apple, to the Grand Canyon, to Seattle, Albuquerque, Mexico, Alaska...”

  “Cuba? Guatemala?”

  “Cuba, why not? Guatemala, sure thing.”

  “What’s in Guatemala?” Talia’s interest was piqued.

  “Everything! Secrets of the Mayan civilization, ocean, deserts, nature that you can commune with...”

  “Guatemala it is then, Roberto. Tomorrow morning.”

  “Roberto at you service. See you tomorrow, Senora.”

  The Astra executive plane was small and well equipped: eight leather upholstered seats that could be adjusted to a flat position, and a fully stocked bar hidden behind wooden paneling. Miguel served her champagne and saltines as she sat comfortably in her thoughts hovered in her head like the feathery clouds that floated underneath.

  They flew for five hours in silence. Roberto and Miguel whispered in Spanish. Occasionally they exchanged seats. At one time, the plane went through turbulence, and Miguel held his hand out to her in a soothing gesture. Talia felt no fear.

  At two in the afternoon. The place landed at the seashore. Talia stretched her limbs and went down to the wet sand.

  Behind her stretched a mountain range, and in front of her was the roaring sea. Talia walked barefoot, absorbed in her thoughts. The beach was deserted, and to her it looked as if no human had ever set foot there before her arrival. Thanks to Roberto, she thought, for having brought me to such a distant, God forsaken place or, perhaps, it is precisely here that God resides, in this great emptiness, in the desolate silence, broken only by the gushing waves shattering against the rocks.

  Soon she came upon a small lagoon of clear, still water, surrounded by jagged rocks. She undressed slowly, and laid her clothes on the sand.

  The water was warm and placid. The sunrays shimmered on the wavelets, tingeing them with gold and silver. Talia entered the pond and swam slowly across the quivering ripples. The swim was stimulating and invigorating. She realized that she had not felt so good, so much at peace with herself, for a long time. The past was obliterated, the present stretched from second to second, and the future did not exist at all. In the whole wide silent universe, there was only herself and the sea. The two men were a dim memory behind her. She was aware of their eyes riveted on her but she did not care. Their job was to-watch over her in this strange desert where they had brought her.

  Talia turned her head back and, at a gland, saw the two men watch her silently, the smoke from their cigarettes curling above their heads.

  At the edge of the lagoon, there was an opening to the sea. Talia did not want to stop swimming. And inscrutable power pulled her, impelling her to go on, to make her way to the open sea. The surging waves stunned her for a moment, and the foam spewed diamond droplets in her eyes. Here the name of the game was different, but she did not know what it was. She had to struggle. The sea was turbulent and stormy, a friend changed into a foe. She thrashed the water forcefully and continued to advance, her arms plowing vigorously, in big measured strokes.

  Time passed. How much time she was not sure. She was tired now, her strength depleted, and she decided to turn back. She turned around full circle, and then heard a thundering noise. Right in front of her rose the shadow of a huge wave, as tall as a high rise building. The wave pushed her forward, chasing her, threatening to swallow her and draw her back into the deep. How can she escape its menacing advance? With her remaining strength, she tried to go on swimming, but the mountainous breaker lifted her up. She was an infinitesimal speck, weighing less than the foam swept on top of the gigantic raging wave. She was mortally frightened.

  What chance did she have against the vicious elements? She hated it, she thrashed against it with her tiny helpless hands, she shouted for help; water filled her mouth and eyes; she tossed and turned like a weightless feather. She shouted hoarsely with her mouth full of salty sea water and her eyes blinded. Roberto and Miguel were far away, and her voice was drowned by the tumultuous waves.

  Dear God, she thought, tossed again and again by the waves, this is the end. Daddy, Jonathan, where are you? If I get out of this alive, I will start anew, I promise. I’ll take responsibility for my life, for my children. Please God, give me another chance. I’ll be a different person...

  Suddenly she found herself sliding down, beneath the raging wave.

  She had no choice. Talia plunged into the wave, the water surrounded her, and she no longer remembered anything.

  Trembling with fear and cold, she lay on the beach. Miguel held her gently, and Roberto covered her with a large towel. Then the two men carried her inside the plane. She got dressed behind a partition, and dropped, exhausted, on an open seat.

  Silence reigned on the flight back, too, but it was a different silence, free of tension and anticipation, yet filled with inner knowledge. She had been through a sublime experience, the full significance of which she had not yet totally grasped. The physical and mental confrontation with the natural elements and with her own loneliness, the manner in which she faced danger and triumphed over it, the prayer that emanated from the depth of her soul and renewed her spiritual resources. She vowed she would never again fear man nor fate, but would focus on her goals and believe in herself.

  It seemed to her that the two men in the plane were aware of her emotional intensity, perhaps even shared in her experience. When they landed at the airport in Mexico City, they shook hands and ruefully said goodbye.