Into the Mystic

by Garry Hicks

At Sea Day 2

  The boys relax on the rear deck and drink beer under a beautiful night sky filled with a million sparkling stars.

  Kyle sips his beer. "You had a good time last night Sean."

  "Yeah? I hope so because I barely remember."

  "You're lucky to remember anything drunk boy." Derek says. "Do you remember taking off your shirt on the dance floor?"

  "No, but damned if I could find my shirt this morning."

  "There you have it. The woman you were dancing with looked hot in it. Besides, she probably needed it more than you."

  "Crap, that was my Tommy Bahama shirt." he glances at Brandon. "You were dancin' up a storm Buddy."

  "Yeah, well, I was almost out of my mind and, the woman I was dancing with...so hot. So I kept dancing...just like you Sean." Brandon grins. "I just didn't give away my shirt."

  "I remember, we were both coming back to the table and they played that song...uhh, what was it Brandon, we both turned and started to dance again."

  "It was "You make me feel like dancin'."

  "Yeah, yeah, that's the song that did us in."

  Brandon pauses, gazes up to the sky. "I dreamed about fighting Pirates last night."

  Sean, sarcastic, responds, "You’ve been playing your video games again."

  Brandon states, matter of fact, "They show me my destiny."

  "I'll play along. So what's your destiny video game boy?" asks Sean.

  Brandon pauses, smiles, "Pretty simple really...I'm the man that saves the day."

  "Saves the day from what? Giant man eating monsters?" Sean asks.

  Brandon, calm, replies, "Evil...dark...black...evil."

  Sarcastic, Sean fires, "Dream on video boy."

  "Maybe this trip will change all that." Derek says.

  Kyle adds, "Yeah, maybe we find the sunken treasure we talk about."

  Sean grins, "Right...and maybe I’ll find the girl of my dreams."

  Kyle raises his hand then lets it sink down. "Or maybe we just, just, disappear, become another Bermuda Triangle statistic."

  Brandon, a bit hyped, blurts out, "Guys, don’t you get it? This trip is about escape, adventure, a chance to get away from our world. Anything is possible out here."

  Derek sighs. "Yeah, he's right guys. I’m not in the office being yelled at by pissed customers."

  Brandon stands, raises his beer. "Let’s toast, to adventure!"

  Kyle follows, raises his beer. "To sunken treasures!"

  Sean follows, raises his beer. "To a grown eight year old woman."

  Derek stands, raises his beer. "I’ll ignore that one...and to us coming back changed men!"

  All of them lean forward, raise and clink their beers.

  At sea, Day 3

  The Mystic sits idle, engine off. Sean and Kyle sit in fishing seats on the rear deck. Their poles, lines cast out, sit in holders. Derek and Brandon wander around the rear deck as they watch several dolphins jump all around the boat. The guys wear shorts and are shirtless. Each wears a hat to block the sun. Beer bottles are scattered everywhere.

  Derek approaches Sean. "Is your line deep enough so the dolphins won't get near it"

  "My line is so deep only a sea monster will see it."

  Derek and Brandon lean over the railing, watch the dolphins jump and play.

  Sean and Kyle are so relaxed in their seats they lean their heads back for a cat nap. Derek glances over at Sean, sees his line tug, go limp, then tug again.

  "Sean, wake up, you have some action on your line!"

  Sean jerks awake, watches his line yank the pole down. He grabs the pole, the line tugs again, he yanks it upward.

  He says, "Got it." as the pole bends. "It's a big one."

  Derek and Brandon rush over to the rear deck railing and scour the deep water.

  Brandon yells, "Nothing yet."

  Sean pulls the pole out of the holder as he tries to reel the line in. "Whatever it is I can't seem to reel it in."

  They all watch as the line zig-zags through the water, Sean’s pole bent to the breaking point. The line goes limp, Sean reels more line in.

  "Damn, I think I lost him." As Sean reels, the line tightens and almost pulls the pole from his hands.

  "You still got him baby." Kyle yells. "C'mon, pull him in."

  As Sean struggles to reel the line in, the Mystic starts to be pulled backward. Derek looks at the guys incredulously as the Mystic moves backward.

  "What the hell is so big it can pull us backward?"

  The backward speed increases as the rear end of the mystic starts to lower into the water.

  Derek yells, "Sean, just let the pole go!"

  “No way my man, we're having this beast for dinner."

  The rear end lowers even more into the water to the point the water splashes over the rear deck.

  Brandon yells, "Dammit Sean, let it go!"

  Sean holds tight until a hand reaches up to the line and cuts it with a knife. The Mystic bounces back up level.

  Sean shouts, "You had no right to do that Derek."

  "I'm responsible for this boat and I'm not letting her get dragged under just so you can be the big fish macho man."

  Brandon approaches Kyle. "What could be so big that it could pull this boat backwards? I mean...backwards?"

  Kyle smiles. "Maybe a submarine."

  "Very funny wise guy." Brandon replies.

 

  Later that night, the boys relax under a quiet, clear, star filled night. They chill on the rear deck, drink beer.

  Sean asks, "What do guys think that thing today was...I mean, something big enough to pull us backwards."

  Kyle grins. "I told Brandon it was a submarine."

  "Yeah. And I told Kyle he's a moron."

  "Well, whatever it was, I hope it's long gone and far away from here." Derek adds.

  Off the bow, unseen by anyone, two large rolling waves move rapidly toward the boat. The waves hit, they slam and rock the idle boat as a loud BANG on the bottom shakes it. Their empty beer bottles rattle, many fall over and roll across the deck. The boys all grab their arm rests.

  Kyle yells, "What the hell was that?"

  Brandon does the 'JAWS' theme, “Da da, da da, da da da da da da."

  Derek shouts "Grab the flashlights."

  Kyle hurries to a bin, pulls open the top, grabs two large, powerful flashlights, hands one to Derek. All four stare into the water, both flashlights shine deep.

  Brandon, half kidding, "I expect a giant great white to bite a hole in us any minute."

  Derek squints deep down into the water. "I see something, it’s pretty deep. Shine the other light over here."

  Kyle shines his by Derek's light. "What the hell!"

  Deep down, they spot a large, blurry figure.

  Derek, in a quiet tone, says, "Looks like a big shark, maybe a dolphin."

  Brandon nudges him. "I told ya, jaws dude!"

  Deep in the water, they see what looks like a large fish tail swims deep with a large shark.

  Derek glances at the other three. "I'm not likin' what we're seeing here."

 

  A bit later, all sit around a table, silent as they contemplate what happened earlier in the night.

  Derek stares blankly at the deck. "You know, it's one thing having waves slam into us but, then the bang, and at the same time...weird."

  Brandon adds, "Yeah, and it's even more weird after what Sean hooked today."

  "And now, those, those, sharks, dolphins, whatever they were, swimming beneath us." Kyle says, then pauses. "You remember what that women back in the Bahamas said?"

  "I remember now, she said I really like that shirt...can I try it on?" Sean answers.

  Kyle grins. "Not you meathead, you Derek, you remember what she said?"

  "You mean Trista?"

  "Yeah, Trista. Kinda strange...even eerie with her talk of sea monsters and mermaids"

  Derek muses "I'
m more concerned about her talk of all the missing fishermen...that's not where we want to end up. But, it's probably no big deal..."

  "Probably being the key word." adds Kyle.

  Derek smiles, "It was probably harmless mermaids."

  "I wish it was mermaids." ponders Sean.

  Brandon pops his head up. "Mermaids? Hold on, don’t move!" Brandon jumps up, rushes into the cabin, returns, sits, shines a small flashlight on a book.

  Derek stares at Brandon, asks, "Soooooo, what’s the mystery book?"

  Brandon holds the book out, toward the guys. "I forgot I had it in there. ‘MERMAIDS, Do They Exist?’ Timely topic, eh."

  Sean shakes his head. "Educational. I'm kidding about mermaids, he's serious. Go get your comics Brandon."

  "Shuddup man, I’ve been preparing for our trip."

  Sean, sarcastic, says, "You live in a fantasy world."

  "Really Sean?" responds Brandon. "How's living in the real world working out for you? At least I..."

  Derek interrupts. "Let him talk, I want to hear it."

  Brandon shines his flashlight on a page. "Listen, this mermaid stuff has been going on forever." he starts to read. "Mermaids have been seen through the centuries in every part of the world. In the First Century AD, Pliny the Elder wrote about 'women with rough scaly bodies, like fish."

  Sean chuckles. "Sounds like my last date."

  Brandon continues. "In the Fifth Century AD, Physiologus described the mermaid as 'a beast of the sea, wonderfully shapen as a maid, the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a fish, split at the naval'. First century man! Pliny the Elder, wild stuff!"

  Sean says "Pliny this!" he chugs his beer and spews out a thunderous "BURRRRRRRPPPP!"

  Brandon shakes his head. "Nice, you pig! Listen. In 1608 Discoverer Henry Hudson’s crew spotted a mermaid alongside their ship. He wrote 'she was looking earnestly on the men, she was spreckled like a macrell with long black hair, white skin and a woman’s breasts'. Henry Hudson, an explorer!"

  "Explore this." Sean chugs his beer and spews out another thunderous "BUUURRRRRPPPPPP!"

  Now Derek shakes his head. "Dude! You're such a pig. So Brandon, what you’re saying is, uhh, you believe in Mermaids?"

  "Well yeah, I guess you're right."

  Sean adds, "Yeah, but he still believes in Santa Claus."

  "Bite me Sean...but he's right, I do believe in Santa Claus."

  Kyle wonders out loud. "I gotta say, after what just happened." He holds a large spoon to his mouth like a microphone. “The Mystic was last seen two hundred miles off the Bahama coast. The Coast Guard said that after listening to radio transmissions from the crew, they were concerned the crew was under severe mental distress, perhaps even going mad!"

 

  CHAPTER EIGHT