by DAN MONTY
They held hands, walking along the beach in silence for a long time. The sun was going down, and Abby sat on the beach naked, pulling Bo down beside her. “I’ve never been saved by a woman before," he remarked, and Abby laughed. “I didn’t mean to shatter your ego, but you did look kind of helpless down there," she said with a grin. Bo smiled, sighing. He had never felt like he could get so close to a woman. He’d never allowed himself to get so close. He stood up, watching the tide roll in and shaking his head.
“This was my fault, Abby. I couldn’t save someone once. A woman I knew. I couldn’t save her, and she died. It turned out to be his daughter," he said, confiding in her. Abby stood up, brushing sand off her butt, and holding him. “None of this was your fault, Bo. Hans Strucker was a madman. None of us deserved any of this,” she went on. “So now what?” he asked simply, “We stay here with these creatures? I don’t see that working out too well," he said and looked down at his feet. There was a concern on his face and Abby was starting to get it. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asked. Bo nodded, “I can’t stay here Abby. I don’t belong here and you know it,” he replied. Abby turned her back to him. She hadn’t even thought about the future. She had no idea what she was going to do, but abandoning these mutants... these friends, was simply something she couldn’t do. “Why? Why can’t you stay? We can build a life here. Together!” she insisted, but Bo shook his head. “No. I can’t. I belong in a boat, Abby. I belong out there. This? All of this? It’s a prison. Everything about this place I want to forget. I have to go," he said, and Abby, tears in her eyes nodded slowly. “You’re a wonderful girl, Abby!” he said, pulling her close and embracing her tightly. “These people need you, and you'll be a good leader. But my life, my love, and my lady is the sea," he said. Bo walked off, heading towards the docks, as Hammer and Tiger approached Abby, walking out of the ocean. “Where’s he going?” Tiger asked, and Abby answered sadly, “He’s leaving," she said. Hammer watched him walk off and turned back to Abby, “You want me to chase him down?” He asked and Abby shook her head. “No. Let him go," she said, walking back to the resort.
◇◇◇◇
It took some time for Bo to find a boat and fuel it up. He tossed in some bottles of bourbon, his bags, a gun, and some food for his trip. He wiped sweat off his brow, the morning sunrise peeking over the horizon. He hadn’t slept much at all but it didn’t matter. He had to leave this island.
He popped open a bottle of Jack Daniels and drank, seeing Abby walking along the dock towards him in her black shirt and shorts. He smiled and screwed the lid back on the bottle. “Hi," she said, offering him a wave. He smiled back, running a hand over his bearding face. “I wanted to say goodbye, and give you something to remember me by,” she added. Bo stepped off the boat and onto the dock. Abby passed him something in her closed hand. The trinket fell into Bo's hand and he looked at it. It was a jagged shark tooth on a necklace. He smiled up at her, hanging it around his neck. “I’ll never take it off," he said, and Abby laughed. “Okay well, it’s just a silly gift, so if you do it’s okay. I wanted to thank you. I never really had a man that I felt like I could love and trust. I’m glad I met you, Bo," she offered, turning away. Bo called after her “Abby wait!” he said and she turned back to him. “I er... I’m not a perfect man. I have made a lot of mistakes. Mistakes I can’t take back. So I run. I hide and I live on the tide. I’d love to settle down with you, I just can’t. I just can’t,” he said, Abby nodding. “I know," she said, “but maybe one day you’ll change your mind, and I’ll be waiting," she replied. She turned away and walked off. Bo watched her leave before getting back in the boat, starting up the motor and speeding away.
13
Days went by, and Abby and her mutant friends took over the resort. Abby walked around the building, still thinking about Bo. He had been gone only a week, and already she felt as though she might never see him again. Why did he have to leave? Was it so hard for him to just settle down and stay still?
Abby however was getting used to this place. The island was theirs and would now serve as a haven for all of the surviving creatures Strucker had created.
Picasso was busy helping Squishy build a new home, in the old resort of the island. They had already gathered TV screens and computers, joining them together in the foyer of the resort. There were also small huts being built on the island, around the perimeter of the resort and the beach. In a few years time, they would have a civilization Abby decided to name Aquatica.
She walked out of the resort, and watched as other sea creature men and women working hard to build homes and farms. It wasn’t exactly where she saw herself living out her life, but in time they would make it feel like home. She walked along the beach, stepping out of her clothes and kicking her feet through the rolling ocean water. The sun was hot and as she walked along the beach, her clothes left behind her, she saw something in the sand. She walked over to it and bent down, plucking it from its place in the sand. It was a small starfish. She studied it, caressing its rough texture before gently tossing it into the sea. Bo she thought to herself. They would always have memories.
She walked towards the crashing waves, and jumped in the water, swimming out to sea. Deep among the waves, Abby was a mermaid, diving deeper and faster into the open sea and smiling as she thought about Bo. Was he on some boat out there in the ocean somewhere? Was he off on some strange, new adventure? Did he still wear the shark tooth she had given him?
She had so many questions as she swam faster into the blue, pining over the one that got away. Will I ever see him again? she asked herself, swimming alongside a beautiful pod of killer whales, as they chased her playfully through the towering coral reef. Abby couldn’t believe how beautiful the ocean floor was, her blue eyes lighting up to reveal a glowing world of bioluminescent fish, and bright, glowing coral. This was her home now. Aquatica. She missed her life in the city of Melbourne at times, but this place felt more wonderful than anywhere she had been in her life. Abby was finally free.
When she returned to the resort, more work had been done. She smiled at Crusto, as he lifted some boards into place to create a new room. Abby went upstairs to her room, closing the door behind her.
She slept, her dreams full of moments both strange and sad. She saw Bo, laying on the beach with those beautiful eyes looking into hers. She saw the ocean, and all the life within it. She heard the song Brandy and thought of Bo.
Epilogue
Three months later
The Gulf Coast of the United States
Bo Landers walked into a bar in a small Mexican beachside town, wearing a leather jacket over a t-shirt and blue jeans. He sat at the bar and signalled the bartender. “Bottle of Jack," he said, pulling out a pack of Marlboros, lighting one up, and throwing the pack on the bar. A nerdy looking guy in a suit took a seat next to him. He was a tall American, with a cool, collected look about him. Despite there being several empty bar stools, this guy chose to sit right next to Bo, and ordered a tequila shot. “Well fuck me if it isn’t Friday!” the guy said, downing the first shot, and whooping outrageously. The bartender sliding a small plate of beer nuts between them. ”Mucho gracias," he said, scooping out a handful and tossing them in his mouth.
Bo sat there quietly barely acknowledging the guy, smoking and sipping from his bottle of Jack. For a moment, they were just two guys in a shitty Mexican bar by the bay, but the guy next to Bo seemed to want to initiate conversation. “My dad used to say to me, if you give a woman a glass of wine a day, there’s a damn good chance she ain’t gonna have a stroke. But, you give a lady a bottle? She'll probably wanna suck it when she’s done!” the man said laughing his arse off. Fucking Mexico, Bo thought, taking a big swig from his bottle. The guy continued joking, “So this guy I know, right? He’s fucking this girl and she’s really driving him wild. So a car pulls up out front, and she freaks right out. She’s like ‘Oh my God it’s my boyfriend! He’s fucking crazy! He’s got a gun and he’ll kill you.’ So he’s outta
there, right? He grabs his clothes and runs out in the pouring rain. So he’s running along and suddenly, he’s surrounded by like 300 other people running in a fucking marathon! He’s holding his clothes, running naked. A guy runs up beside him, and he’s like, ‘Do you always run naked?’ and my friend is like, ‘Oh yeah. It’s so freeing this way.’ A second guy runs up beside him, and he’s like, ‘Do you always carry your clothes while you run naked?’ and my buddy's like, ‘Absolutely! I like to put my clothes back on after the race.’ He’s running along, and a third guy runs up, looking at him like he’s a weirdo, right? He’s like, ‘Do you always run in a condom?’ and my buddy’s like, ‘Only when it’s raining!’ HAHAHAHA!.”
Bo laughed along this time, having another drink from his bottle of JD. The guy looked at him more closely and smiled. “I know you! You’re Bo Landers! You’re that guy from the TV, right? Yeah you are!” he said, and Bo smiled, “Guilty as charged,” he said.
The man pulled out a picture of a kid with a massive wound, “This kid got bitten pretty bad not too far from here. It was a bull shark. They say the kid was paddling around on his surfboard, and this shark just went right for him! Ripping the board in half,” he said. Bo picked up the picture and studied it, putting on some glasses to have a closer look. “Now, I’m Steve McGraw. I work at the bait shop three blocks from here. They told me you were in town and I had to ask, how would you feel about hunting this bitch with me?” he asked. Bo shook his head. “Look, I appreciate you coming to meet me with this, Steve but I don’t do that any more. I got out of all that months ago," he said.
Bo had actually spent the last few months in Mexico getting drunk. The nightmares... oh God the nightmares! He’d tossed and turned in a motel room for three long months, waking up with hangovers and watching Mexican wrestling. He’d taken in the occasional cockfight, done some surfing, and skateboarding... but he could never forget the one that got away – Abby.
He supposed she’d probably forgotten all about him, but maybe not. He fiddled with the shark tooth around his neck, barely listening, as Steve talked on and on about shark attacks and injured tourists and locals. He took another swig from the bottle, stumbling off the bar stool and onto his feet.
“...I can pay you anything you like!” Steve exclaimed. Bo looked at him, placing his hand on Steve's shoulder. “It’s not about money. You’ve got the wrong guy" he said, winking at him before exiting the bar.
Bo stumbled out of the bar, his legs wobbling like a drunken cowboy. He’d lost his way, there was no question about that. Bo Landers had been an important guy once upon a time, but as he scratched his beard and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, he realised that the man he had been was dead. Too many people had suffered at the hands of this lonely drifter, that was for sure. He was broke, drunk and tired as hell. He could barely find the will to get up in the morning, let alone run off into any more adventures.
He lit a smoke, watching as two Mexican kids played guitars, a slow and pleasant ballad they played, Bo listening as the tune came to him. They were playing his favourite song Brandy by Looking Glass. The song took him back to those last moments with Abby. It got to his favourite part and he quietly sang:
Brandy, you’re a fine girl, what a good wife you would be,
but my life, my love, and my lady, is the sea...
Bo wiped a tear from his eyes and smiled, the two Mexican boys waving at him. He took a deep breath, flicking the butt of his cigarette onto the road, turned on his heel and went back inside the bar. What’s one more adventure? he thought to himself.
The fishing boat cut through the waves across the Gulf Coast. Steve, Bo, and a portly, bearded guy named Hog, sat in the cabin eating food at the table and telling stories. The cabin was cluttered and full of diving gear, as well as radio, and sonar equipment. Hog and Bo were in the middle of a conversation. “So why did you get out of the biz, man? You were like the Texan Steve Irwin!” he said, and Bo shook his head. “No man, I was a dumbass. I don’t want to talk about that,” he said, mildly agitated. “Uh-oh, ten bucks it was a girl!” Hog said with a grin. Steve waved him to drop it and let it go. One thing Hog had was a big mouth. “What? It was a girl, wasn’t it?” he asked and Bo smiled. “Maybe," he replied.
The boat rocked on the sea, the sonar flashing, as they drank and talked. Bo had missed being on a boat and he’d forgotten how relaxing it was. “I had a girl once," Hog said, breaking the silence, “her name was Tia. She was a dancer," he said. Steve leant forward, “He means she was a stripper," he said. Bo laughed. “No, no... She was a jazz club singer! She’d sing and dance on the stage. Anyway, we were at a party. I walked in on her with another guy, she was totally wasted. I just left... Felt like shit," he said finally. Bo nodded, drinking his bourbon and looking out the window at the ocean and the night sky. Steve got up, walking over to study the sonar, as Bo slowly began to open up. “My girl is out there somewhere. I think about her all the time. Sometimes, I feel bad for walking away. But one thing I’ve learned is you can’t have a lady and the water. You can’t have both. Besides, I’d only break her heart or get her killed. I can’t let that happen again, so I chose the sea life. Out here I can’t get anybody hurt. There are no tears, no broken hearts... just the wind, and the water. That’s all I need. I tried to be a good man on land, but I failed at every turn. God said to me ‘I put you on by his earth for a reason.’ Well I guess I ain’t found it yet. We all have a reason and a purpose, but I don’t want to hurt anyone else while I’m trying to find out what that reason is. So I ride the tide, because I ain’t been to good at walking the path. She’s out there waiting for me, but I never thought I was good enough. I have too many ghosts," he said.
“Ghosts are no good in a man’s head, my friend," Hog replied, “You gotta let those beasts rest in peace,” he went on. Bo took another drink, nodding and forcing a smile. He’d had too much drink and as he looked out of the window again, he thought he saw something out the window. He got up, walking out of the cabin, and looked out to the water. A woman ducked her head under the water, her fish tail surfacing for the briefest of moments. He rubbed his eyes, his heart racing. He turned his back to the sea, leaning on the railing, and fiddling with the shark tooth around his neck.
She was out there alright. And one day, he would see her again.
