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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Adventure
- Published: 05/19/2022
Once Upon A Misty Sea
Born 1951, M, from Gore Bay, Canada.jpeg)
LLE MAE’N DECHRAU
It had been ages…well…years since Eddy Tall had visited his cottage on Lake Of Mists…Too long in fact…Not since Sarah died…oh some six or so years earlier. When Eddy awoke from a night’s sleep that morning he decided the time was perfect to drive up to the cottage once more. Maybe he would get a sense of his beloved wife there because the cottage was where they were the most happy during their 55 years as Mr. and Mrs. Tall. It had been their hide-away from the world of business, family and a crowd of friends that were more interested in…well…That didn’t matter anymore. Eddy had locked all that out when none of those friends took the time to see Sarah off into the nether reaches of the afterlife….where-ever that was.
Eddy’s life had changed again when at the age of 80 the government decided he was no longer fit to keep a driver’s license. He laughed that morning when he got in the car and drove off into what he was thinking of as oblivion…the cottage…that no one knew about…not even Eddy Jr. their no-count delinquent son who hadn’t even showed up to his mother’s funeral and only visited his father when he needed money. And…there is another part to the story of Eddy Sr’s. Son that will come to light at the end of this tale.
Eddy discovered he could drive just as well as he ever could and navigated the streets of the city easily remembering every turn on the way until he reached the highway. Once there it was clear sailing all the way to the lake and the cottage, with only one stop for a bite to eat and to buy up some food for the visit to Lake of Mists and the quaint, pioneerish log cottage and of course the boat he and his Mrs. had gone out in to fish up supper. He’d do the catching and scaling and she’d do the cooking. Their life together had always been just that balanced….just that perfect.
Eddy worried for a minute….well a small minute….probably seconds….that he had forgotten to lock up the house. But then he thought…”What does it matter. I am not going back and eventually someone will figure out I have gone and abandoned the place and…well…None of that matters now…it will all be explained when they find the kid.
The drive to the cottage…as always took a perfect three hours and Eddy had his usual conversation with Sarah though Sarah was a little quiet…but then…she never had much to say anyway…always happy mostly just to listen. Still Eddy could imagine her responses when she might have put in a word or two and of course one of her sweet endearing smiles. “That’s what I miss most my love. Your smiles. I don’t think I ever saw anyone else who could smile so beautifully and lovingly as you.” He recalled in a whisper as he turned the car into the cottage drive, a little over grown and “In need of a trim. I’ll do that tomorrow…maybe…or not…first a little fishing... then well…”
DAU
The cottage had a quietude to it that reached into Eddy’s heart with three senses, one of joyful memories, one of loneliness and one of emptiness. Opening it up and letting the sun in helped a little but without Sarah there with her smile a shadow of sadness lingered in the corners, especially in the breakfast nook where she often sat starring out over the water…dreaming…of something she never spoke about…except in her final words on her death bed…words that resounded ever after in Eddy’s memory. “It’s a happy place here in our little hideaway. Sometimes I wish we had someone to share it with.” Had she been lonely all those years?
Indeed there was a mist upon the lake…a very fine one lingering in the late morning. It would stay on all day like it was…late summer…cool air and a pale sun. Eddy removed the silver urn with Sarah’s ashes from the travel bag…opened it and poured the contents on the table in the breakfast nook. “There my dear.” Eddy whispered lovingly then turned away and shuffled contently to the boat house where the little boat they had cherished waited for just one last row upon the lake. “Well maybe the second or third last.” Eddy said over a chuckle. “Maybe there is time for one last good vacation…or maybe not…who knows.”
The boat was sound Eddy determined after a thorough inspection which was his custom every year before trusting their lives to its float….and the oars were just as solid as ever and the oar-locks too. He decided against taking the fishing pole and tackle box since Sarah would not be cooking any fish today…or tomorrow or any day after that.
Eddy climbed into the boat, cast off the line and pushed out onto the still waters of Lake of Mists. A warm…cozy feeling came over him and then appearing in a shimmer of pale golden light came Sarah all dressed up in her boating dress and the kitchen smock she used to wear to cook up the fish. She said not a word but sat there smiling sweetly…as she always did…waiting to cook the lake trout her Eddy would catch. When he did reel one in she always said…in a loving whisper… “My Eddy…You are such a fine fisherman…we would never starve if it ever came to that.”
Eddy rowed gently, steering the boat toward his favourite fishing spot where it was most likely he would catch a lake trout and as he moved further from the shore and closer to the deepest part of the lake the sun paled to late afternoon and the mist once only on the water’s edge drew toward Eddy…and the air cooled…a fish jumped…a breeze whispered…Sarah slipped away... a crow cawed and….
TRI
“She’s a fine day with a fair wind Mr. Tall. Keep us steady on our course and we’ll find the Easter’s long before we need them.” Said Captain Leonardo to the steersman.
Eddy smiled. “The rudder makes no complaint Cap’n and the yards are shoutin for joy. Naught will give us trouble this day and his Lordship will have a fine sail and her Ladyship will have a steady stomach. And look aport sir…I spy a whale….such a creature of beauty…not meant for killin I think.”
Eddy didn’t flinch at the change. It seemed as right to be at the helm of a tall ship as it seemed right to be rowing out to the middle of the lake and to make the moment even more right he knew that below deck his Sarah was busy in the Galley cooking up a feast of fish and fritters. “All’s well and couldn’t be better Cap’n Leonardo. Leave the steerin to me and we’ll be watchin the nauts whisper by with a hearty song."
In a cheerful whisper Eddy chanted his own version of a shanty.
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Heave away me jolly mates, we're all bound away.
“Not quite the way I recall it.” Said the Captain will a chuckle.
“No sir it Taint but it’s how I remember it and it suits me fine.” Eddy replied.
“Then chant away Mr. Tall at your loudest voice and we’ll all join in with our best to keep up." Then all at once 29 voices on the deck of the Mist of Dreams resounded…
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Heave away me jolly mates, we're all bound away.
And so it all seemed just as it should be. Eddy remembered the row boat on the Lake of Mists as clearly as clear could be and if he closed his eyes he could even see the rustic log cabin hide-away…and…himself sitting quietly in the boat with his beautiful Sarah.
“All is well.” He thought with a smile then took a better hold on the ships wheel adjusting the course that had wavered just a hint…easily righted.
And the Mist of Dreams rode the languishing swells of the south Atlantic ever nearing the southern tip of South America and the always challenging waters off the ragged shores of the Falkland Islands. If fact Eddy veered his gaze westward and there etching a thin shadow above the surface of the sea…seeming to rise and fall with the swells, was an island and certainly one of the Falklands, “East Falkland I’m sure.” He said aloud. At the same moment as he drew in an excited breath he could feel the cold air that swirled about the tip of South America…Cape Horn even though the wind was hailing from the north east.
“The winds we face will not be kind.” Said the Captain as though reading Eddy’s mind.
“Down right mean Cap’n.” replied Eddy. “But rested I will be fit for the challenge sir.” He added.
“Aye Steersman…Aye…You know your way well….that’s easy to tell.”
PEDWAR
And before the good ship Mist of Dreams was but an hour from sight of the Falklands the sea and the wind began a new song…sweet for a moment but hidden behind the sweetness was lament and beyond that whispers of rage.
And with the passing hours to days and near on a week the swell of the Atlantic as it faced challenge with the Pacific grew shorter and deeper and the wind changed from tack to tack by the hour so that the steersman…not Eddy... was taxed to his limit for he had but short experience upon the sea and none in the sea and wind of the cape.
So Eddy was beckon on deck and soon it began….and soon both steersmen were waiting for the raging winds of the Dark Passage...
“A storm comes Cap’n.” Eddy warned and the rudder is complaining. Fore long we’ll need a third set of hands to hold our course.”
“I am not above lending an old skill. Beckon me when the time is upon us.” Captain Leonardo replied earnestly.
“And what of our passengers Cap’n?”
“We’ve tucked them safely below and out of our way and the crew below deck is tightened down as well…including that wonderful cook…”
“Then we are in fair shape and no wind or wave or thunder breaker will spoil our course.” Cheered Eddy.
And the hours passed. And the winds twirled and twisted and the sea bound lifting the ship on high and dropping it into the valleys ever growing deeper as the watery mountains grew higher.
Still three men grasping the wheel held the ship a right or righted it when it turned or listed and the rain drove into their faces and the prow hung over their heads frighteningly near the point of floundering.
“There’ll be no vitals this night Mr. Tall.” Said the captain.
“But we ate well for breakfast and luncheon sir…so we’ll do well until all this blows by…then we can all feast and rest until the strange winds of the Easter Islands challenge us again.” Came a cheerful…frightened response from Eddy Tall.
“”From where you came Mr. Tall I know not but where ever it was I am glad you came to this vessel for you are our grace.” Complimented the Captain.
“I hail from the Lake of Mists is all I can say. How I came to be here is beyond my know. And sir I am glad to be in your company for you are a good skipper.” Replied Eddy.
Then………
PUM
A storm exploded…rain, wind, and finally hail that hammered the sheets relentlessly until two of the foresails were torn and the mizzen was nearly ripped completely from the mast. The mountains of wave tossed the great ship about like a toothpick yet for all the beating the Mist Of Dreams held together and the crew bravely kept her righted for long…long hours, but time proved to be an enemy none could withstand and it was certain the sailors would soon have spent their strength…And just as that moment seemed to be upon them the storm abated and the Mist of dream found itself in irons and not a breath of wind to be found.
“Well now tossed and twisted or lollygagging in irons!” Exclaimed the Captain. “Which is worse would you say Helmsman Tall.”
“For a time dead air is suitable…but not long…just enough for a good rest for the crew and passengers and a moment to mourn seaman Crans who was thrown from the nest minutes before the storm abated. But now I think the sea owes us a fair wind all the way to the Easters.” Eddy Tall answered…an answer that was received with a hearty bout of laughter from the Captain, mates and crew.
“The sea will give no quarter to the likes of us if she wills it not. She takes….and takes and rare have I heard that she gives and…I see on the horizon another mast and in these waters that can only mean trouble, especially if it is a Spaniards mast I see.” Said the Captain…Then… “All hands to stations…open the gun ports and load your canons. Better that we be ready even if our guest is friendly rather than caught asleep and vulnerable.”
And it was best that the Captain so ordered because the ship that camest, though no Spaniard hoisted and even greater threat upon its mast. “A Pirate’s banner!!!” Cried the first mate.
“There’s a wind. Set sails abound and if we can before they are upon us….flee for we are a pleasure craft not a warship and with but 10 canons we should put up a meager fight for one ship let alone three.”
And then…The Mist of Dreams crashed upon a stand of rocks barely beneath the surface of the calm sea and she sank…with all hands and crew…
“But is it not strange Cap’n that none perished and all found a way to this island seemingly casting up from the bottom of the sea to collect us?” Eddy Tall inquired. “And all being cast ashore on the same beach.” He added.
“Tis indeed strange!” Said his Lordship as he approached and a damn fool place to be when all rests on my attending business on the Easters.”
“Well my Lord Larkenwhite. It seems we’re all here stuck with other important places to be and it seems unlikely any shall find us soon or even later. And I might think that here as a matter of order Cap’n Leonardo has the rank and command….not you.” Belted out the first mate whose name was Alderfen…Sonny Alderfen.
The look on his Lordships face would have made an excellent cartoon for a political tabloid. He turned and stumped away.
CHWEECH
Sleep…It came with sunset and was good because beside Eddy lay his beloved Sarah though in the hours they had been together on that beach far from nowhere and marooned with 50 others she had had not spoken a word to him or any one. It was as though she was mute…..and….it seemed…..deaf for she did not respond to his or any others words directed toward her. She just stood or sat staring with that familiar sweet smile upon her lips.
But when they laid on the sand Sarah curled up at his side folding into his arms and together fell asleep in bliss.
And the sun rose, bright against a clear blue sky with the golden rays glinting off gentle waves edging into shore….a shore that was much smaller than the night before.
Eddy woke to see the island had grown smaller and to his utter dismay there remained but he and his silent Sarah who continued to stare and smile.
Though distressed by what had occurred in the night Eddy was plagued with hunger and thirst and nothing to quench either for the five trees left on the island bore no fruit and the pool of fresh water had been long swallowed by the sea.
And where had the others gone…gone…abandoning his wife and himself…left to die…of thirst…long before starvation could claim them.
But a gruesome…morbid thought passed into his mind that would at least give sustenance to Sarah…or would have had he not stood there at that very moment to watch as she faded and rained in sparkles into the sand and there quickly washed away by the incoming, relentless assault of the tide.
“I will neither starve nor die of thirst at this rate. I shall be drowned when I can no longer keep my body afloat or…a worse fate…be eaten by sharks…yes…I saw sharks….just before the ship struck the rocks.
This is insane.”
Eddy fell to his knees. “Of course. This is all an illusion or would that be delusion…Ah but what does it matter…my brain has broken…shattered completely…or I am locked in a macabre nightmare or…or what…or maybe I am…well…maybe this is hell…purgatory…maybe I should scream. Would it serve any purpose? Probably not.
And the island grew smaller until there was but a thin strip of sandy beach encircling a mound of grey jagged rocks on which stood 5 useless trees.
Eddy climbed up on the rocks and waited for the beach to be consumed by the tide then waited a little longer until the sea climbed half way up the rocks. Then in a desperate act to have an end to the nightmare…because now he was convinced a nightmare it was, he threw himself into the sea and dove deep until there was no more air to keep his lungs which filled with the briny froth of sea water…
Little by little though as the seconds passed it grew on him with an admiring quickness life in Eddy’s body ebbed and then….darkness…..
SAITH
The little boat bobbed gently on the rippling water of the lake. Eddy opened his eyes and set his gaze on the rustic log cabin…the hide-away…where he and Sarah had escaped over many a year when the world outside became too great to bear. She… Sarah stood upon the dock…waving….smiling sweetly.
“I’ll bring in a trout my love”…he called out and cast a line into the shimmer lake water.
In only a minute or two Eddy cheered in triumph as he reeled in a trout just the right size to accommodate a meal for two.
Quickly he laid the fish on the bottom of the boat and rowed to the dock and happily carried the catch inside for his beloved Sarah to cook.
Alas…though there was a fire in the cook stove and a frying pan warming on a hot plate nicely oiled…and there was a lemon, an onion and some ginger sliced and ready to cook up the fish in... there was no Sarah.
“Ah she must be out fetching water…or more wood” Thought Eddy as he quickly cleaned the fish…and when Sarah had not returned when he finished Eddy placed the fish and all the fixings into the pan to start it cooking.
While he watched the trout sizzling in the pan he thought about the Cap’n and the Mist of Dreams…the deserted island and the adventure he had, Eddy completely forgot about the fish in the pan and the cabin and even Sarah for in a blink before him was a window and beyond the window was a garden courtyard with nicely trimmed lawns, pruned trees and benches to sit on…not to mention several old people shuffling along on walkers or sitting in wheel chairs…staring at nothing…just as he seemed to have been…staring out the window…at…what… “At the dream in my head. It was all a dream…Nothing was real…Sarah…the cabin…the boat…all long gone…and yes I remember now…I live here…a prisoner in a waiting room where only the old live...a waiting room with one exit…death’s door.”
Eddy glanced about the room and his eyes fixed on a calendar, designed for inmates just like him. It showed the date…of course…July 19th…the last time he noticed it was January 4th. The calendar also displayed the meal schedule and outings for inmates that still had control of their mental capacities…a state Eddy knew in that moment did not include him. He had been on some kind of journey for seven months…completely unaware of his conscious surroundings.
A sad smile curved his thin dry lips from a downward frown to a straight line. Then he chuckled…not because anything was funny…it was a chuckle designed by irony.
“Dad.”
Eddy responded not to the name but to the recognition of the voice. It was Edward Tall Jr….Dr. Edward Tall Jr.
“Hello son….or should I consider you the warden of this prison you put me in?”
“Dad. I did not put you here to be mean or to take your life away or steal from you. I placed you here because you were….are no longer capable of looking after yourself.”
Eddy Sr. smiled…almost warmly. His no count son who had gotten rid of the burden of his father was right in what he had done. With his mind clear…at least for the moment he understood this.
“It’s all good Son. I have a special place I go to…in fact it is a wonderful place in my mind and I will return there very soon…and maybe this time I won’t come back… It is well that I am here where there are people to care for my body. It is up to you to see that they do because in here,” Eddy Sr. tapped his temple with a thin shaky finger…”I am alive…young and well and want to exist there as long as possible.”
WYTH
Edward Tall…Dr. Edward Tall Sr. turned his gaze out the window and said no more. Nor was there ever an occasion that he spoke again or showed any awareness of the physical world. Still…every Tuesday and Saturday Eddy Jr. visited his father and told him all about his life…which was much the same as his father’s when Eddy Sr. was a practicing family physician. He and his wife Anne even escaped to the cottage on Lake Of Mists.
“It seems Father has forgiven me for placing him in the nursing home.” Eddy Jr. had told his wife after the last conversation he had with his Eddy Sr. “I wonder if I will follow in his footsteps into whatever place he is living now…A place he seems to be quite content with.”
“Eddy. He has dementia. I doubt he is anywhere. You are a doctor….you should know this.” Anne replied.
“Indeed…but maybe we do not know as much about dementia as we think.” Eddy countered then turned away and left the room.
“I have everything ready to go to the cottage dear. Edith will be coming with us…she has a surprise for us….I think it is a grandchild…” Anne called after him.
Eddy Jr. smiled….Their daughter Edith was nick-named Eddy By Eddy Tall Sr. two days after she was born. Unofficially she became Eddy the 3rd. “I wonder if the tradition will continue."
The drive to the cottage took a little less than three hours…including a stop for a lunch and to purchase groceries for the weekend. Edith…Eddy 3rd was already there with her husband Ron. Eddy Jr could not help grin delightfully at how much things never change….Edith was about to take over the family practice….just as soon as the new member of the family was born. Eddy 4th.
Eddy Jr. found his way to the boat dock as soon as they arrived. He would not have done so normally….waiting first to help settle in but something drew him there.
The little row boat bobbed in the water tied neatly to the dock. The fishing pole and tackle box sat in the bottom of the boat and Eddy Jr. tried to recall if he had left it there. Normally he would have brought it to the porch of the cottage.
There was….as usual…a mist on Lake of Mists. A fish splashed in the water and……….
NAW
The little row boat bobbed delightfully on the rippling waters of Lake of Mists. Eddy Tall Sr. sat quietly casting and reeling in his fishing line but it seemed on that day…at that moment no fish were inclined to take the bait…if he had remembered even to bait the hook. “Ah but what does it matter…I’ll just enjoy the quietude while the boat drifts…maybe on and on forever."
Then Eddy Sr. glanced toward the rustic cottage where he and Sarah had for so many years escaped to hide away from the demands of life. Where he had fished for their supper and she had cooked the fish he caught. It all seemed to have passed through the years in perfect harmony. Even when Eddy Jr. was a child it had all seemed so perfect and….indeed it had been….and now it was perfect again because Eddy Sr. Had come to realize that Eddy Jr. had been very right in putting his father in the care of the nursing home. No child should ever…ever care for their parent and learn more about them than they had growing up….After all….parents have secrets that their children….or…child should never know…secrets that could slip out instead of being taken to the afterlife where they belong.
There….standing on the dock looking down at the little row boat was Eddy Tall Jr. and Eddy the 3rd. Eddy Sr. was delighted to see the bulge in his grand-daughters belly…then he felt a rush of amazement because he realized he was seeing into the conscious world from his…. “Well…Where exactly, is this place?” He pondered. Then…”Of course. What else could it be called…The Kingdom at the end of the world."
Eddy laughed and laughed and laughed for joy as loud as he could and he called out to his son and grand-daughter but of course they could not see….or hear him…this was a one way image… “Ah be happy in your years. And when the time comes maybe you to will find a special place in your mind to live out your existence. It really is a wonderful place to be.”
Eddy Sr. took up the paddles of the little rowboat….turned it about and slowly…deliberately rowed into the mist of the lake chanting…
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Slowly…quietly…the rustic cottage faded into the gathering mist and the open waters of the big lake rolled out before Eddy beckoning him to…. “To where in this grand world am I to go now?” Asked Eddy Tall Sr.
BLE MAE’N DOD I BEN
“Anywhere we wish to go my husband.” Said Sarah in answer…giving Eddy a little start…be a glad start it was indeed. “I would begin by rowing T’wards those mighty sail rushing hither upon the horizon. I believe they may be searching for their Steersman and Cook and the Lord and Lady Larkenwhite and all their servants must be weary of ships fare by now….since I have been gone for so long.”
“It will be a joy to feel the wheel of the Mist Of Dreams in my fingers again my love…and to listen to the song of the wind upon the sheets and the rhythm of the lanyards on the mast.” Replied Eddy. “Though I am surprized she survived that crash upon the rocks that sank her.”
“We are come before that time and so when that time comes again we can warn the Captain of the peril and avoid disaster. That is the goodness of a world you build yourself my dearest. You can always go back and fix what was or went wrong.”
Eddy rowed for all he was worth toward the L]Mist Of Dreams and before long the little boat was spied by the watch in the Crows nest and they were gathered from the wide ocean and welcomed gleefully by the crew….the servants and the Lord and lady themselves.
And Eddy took his place at the helm….and Sarah found her way to the galley and ever there was a happily ever after this was the epitome of the sense….though it must be known that there are many adventures to be had upon the high seas or landward in the fantastic Kingdom At The End Of The World.
“Chant your chant for us Steersman Tall…In the tongue of our fore-fathers.
Dewch cael eich offer er mwyn Am byddwn yn gadael yfory
Dyrchafael i ffwrdd, mi jollies, dyrchafael i ffwrdd
Dewch i gael eich offer er mwyn Am byddwn yn goin ar draws y d?r
AND FAIR YE WELL WHERE EVER THE WIND AND WATER MAY CARRY YOU.
Once Upon A Misty Sea(Donald Harry Roberts)
LLE MAE’N DECHRAU
It had been ages…well…years since Eddy Tall had visited his cottage on Lake Of Mists…Too long in fact…Not since Sarah died…oh some six or so years earlier. When Eddy awoke from a night’s sleep that morning he decided the time was perfect to drive up to the cottage once more. Maybe he would get a sense of his beloved wife there because the cottage was where they were the most happy during their 55 years as Mr. and Mrs. Tall. It had been their hide-away from the world of business, family and a crowd of friends that were more interested in…well…That didn’t matter anymore. Eddy had locked all that out when none of those friends took the time to see Sarah off into the nether reaches of the afterlife….where-ever that was.
Eddy’s life had changed again when at the age of 80 the government decided he was no longer fit to keep a driver’s license. He laughed that morning when he got in the car and drove off into what he was thinking of as oblivion…the cottage…that no one knew about…not even Eddy Jr. their no-count delinquent son who hadn’t even showed up to his mother’s funeral and only visited his father when he needed money. And…there is another part to the story of Eddy Sr’s. Son that will come to light at the end of this tale.
Eddy discovered he could drive just as well as he ever could and navigated the streets of the city easily remembering every turn on the way until he reached the highway. Once there it was clear sailing all the way to the lake and the cottage, with only one stop for a bite to eat and to buy up some food for the visit to Lake of Mists and the quaint, pioneerish log cottage and of course the boat he and his Mrs. had gone out in to fish up supper. He’d do the catching and scaling and she’d do the cooking. Their life together had always been just that balanced….just that perfect.
Eddy worried for a minute….well a small minute….probably seconds….that he had forgotten to lock up the house. But then he thought…”What does it matter. I am not going back and eventually someone will figure out I have gone and abandoned the place and…well…None of that matters now…it will all be explained when they find the kid.
The drive to the cottage…as always took a perfect three hours and Eddy had his usual conversation with Sarah though Sarah was a little quiet…but then…she never had much to say anyway…always happy mostly just to listen. Still Eddy could imagine her responses when she might have put in a word or two and of course one of her sweet endearing smiles. “That’s what I miss most my love. Your smiles. I don’t think I ever saw anyone else who could smile so beautifully and lovingly as you.” He recalled in a whisper as he turned the car into the cottage drive, a little over grown and “In need of a trim. I’ll do that tomorrow…maybe…or not…first a little fishing... then well…”
DAU
The cottage had a quietude to it that reached into Eddy’s heart with three senses, one of joyful memories, one of loneliness and one of emptiness. Opening it up and letting the sun in helped a little but without Sarah there with her smile a shadow of sadness lingered in the corners, especially in the breakfast nook where she often sat starring out over the water…dreaming…of something she never spoke about…except in her final words on her death bed…words that resounded ever after in Eddy’s memory. “It’s a happy place here in our little hideaway. Sometimes I wish we had someone to share it with.” Had she been lonely all those years?
Indeed there was a mist upon the lake…a very fine one lingering in the late morning. It would stay on all day like it was…late summer…cool air and a pale sun. Eddy removed the silver urn with Sarah’s ashes from the travel bag…opened it and poured the contents on the table in the breakfast nook. “There my dear.” Eddy whispered lovingly then turned away and shuffled contently to the boat house where the little boat they had cherished waited for just one last row upon the lake. “Well maybe the second or third last.” Eddy said over a chuckle. “Maybe there is time for one last good vacation…or maybe not…who knows.”
The boat was sound Eddy determined after a thorough inspection which was his custom every year before trusting their lives to its float….and the oars were just as solid as ever and the oar-locks too. He decided against taking the fishing pole and tackle box since Sarah would not be cooking any fish today…or tomorrow or any day after that.
Eddy climbed into the boat, cast off the line and pushed out onto the still waters of Lake of Mists. A warm…cozy feeling came over him and then appearing in a shimmer of pale golden light came Sarah all dressed up in her boating dress and the kitchen smock she used to wear to cook up the fish. She said not a word but sat there smiling sweetly…as she always did…waiting to cook the lake trout her Eddy would catch. When he did reel one in she always said…in a loving whisper… “My Eddy…You are such a fine fisherman…we would never starve if it ever came to that.”
Eddy rowed gently, steering the boat toward his favourite fishing spot where it was most likely he would catch a lake trout and as he moved further from the shore and closer to the deepest part of the lake the sun paled to late afternoon and the mist once only on the water’s edge drew toward Eddy…and the air cooled…a fish jumped…a breeze whispered…Sarah slipped away... a crow cawed and….
TRI
“She’s a fine day with a fair wind Mr. Tall. Keep us steady on our course and we’ll find the Easter’s long before we need them.” Said Captain Leonardo to the steersman.
Eddy smiled. “The rudder makes no complaint Cap’n and the yards are shoutin for joy. Naught will give us trouble this day and his Lordship will have a fine sail and her Ladyship will have a steady stomach. And look aport sir…I spy a whale….such a creature of beauty…not meant for killin I think.”
Eddy didn’t flinch at the change. It seemed as right to be at the helm of a tall ship as it seemed right to be rowing out to the middle of the lake and to make the moment even more right he knew that below deck his Sarah was busy in the Galley cooking up a feast of fish and fritters. “All’s well and couldn’t be better Cap’n Leonardo. Leave the steerin to me and we’ll be watchin the nauts whisper by with a hearty song."
In a cheerful whisper Eddy chanted his own version of a shanty.
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Heave away me jolly mates, we're all bound away.
“Not quite the way I recall it.” Said the Captain will a chuckle.
“No sir it Taint but it’s how I remember it and it suits me fine.” Eddy replied.
“Then chant away Mr. Tall at your loudest voice and we’ll all join in with our best to keep up." Then all at once 29 voices on the deck of the Mist of Dreams resounded…
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Heave away me jolly mates, we're all bound away.
And so it all seemed just as it should be. Eddy remembered the row boat on the Lake of Mists as clearly as clear could be and if he closed his eyes he could even see the rustic log cabin hide-away…and…himself sitting quietly in the boat with his beautiful Sarah.
“All is well.” He thought with a smile then took a better hold on the ships wheel adjusting the course that had wavered just a hint…easily righted.
And the Mist of Dreams rode the languishing swells of the south Atlantic ever nearing the southern tip of South America and the always challenging waters off the ragged shores of the Falkland Islands. If fact Eddy veered his gaze westward and there etching a thin shadow above the surface of the sea…seeming to rise and fall with the swells, was an island and certainly one of the Falklands, “East Falkland I’m sure.” He said aloud. At the same moment as he drew in an excited breath he could feel the cold air that swirled about the tip of South America…Cape Horn even though the wind was hailing from the north east.
“The winds we face will not be kind.” Said the Captain as though reading Eddy’s mind.
“Down right mean Cap’n.” replied Eddy. “But rested I will be fit for the challenge sir.” He added.
“Aye Steersman…Aye…You know your way well….that’s easy to tell.”
PEDWAR
And before the good ship Mist of Dreams was but an hour from sight of the Falklands the sea and the wind began a new song…sweet for a moment but hidden behind the sweetness was lament and beyond that whispers of rage.
And with the passing hours to days and near on a week the swell of the Atlantic as it faced challenge with the Pacific grew shorter and deeper and the wind changed from tack to tack by the hour so that the steersman…not Eddy... was taxed to his limit for he had but short experience upon the sea and none in the sea and wind of the cape.
So Eddy was beckon on deck and soon it began….and soon both steersmen were waiting for the raging winds of the Dark Passage...
“A storm comes Cap’n.” Eddy warned and the rudder is complaining. Fore long we’ll need a third set of hands to hold our course.”
“I am not above lending an old skill. Beckon me when the time is upon us.” Captain Leonardo replied earnestly.
“And what of our passengers Cap’n?”
“We’ve tucked them safely below and out of our way and the crew below deck is tightened down as well…including that wonderful cook…”
“Then we are in fair shape and no wind or wave or thunder breaker will spoil our course.” Cheered Eddy.
And the hours passed. And the winds twirled and twisted and the sea bound lifting the ship on high and dropping it into the valleys ever growing deeper as the watery mountains grew higher.
Still three men grasping the wheel held the ship a right or righted it when it turned or listed and the rain drove into their faces and the prow hung over their heads frighteningly near the point of floundering.
“There’ll be no vitals this night Mr. Tall.” Said the captain.
“But we ate well for breakfast and luncheon sir…so we’ll do well until all this blows by…then we can all feast and rest until the strange winds of the Easter Islands challenge us again.” Came a cheerful…frightened response from Eddy Tall.
“”From where you came Mr. Tall I know not but where ever it was I am glad you came to this vessel for you are our grace.” Complimented the Captain.
“I hail from the Lake of Mists is all I can say. How I came to be here is beyond my know. And sir I am glad to be in your company for you are a good skipper.” Replied Eddy.
Then………
PUM
A storm exploded…rain, wind, and finally hail that hammered the sheets relentlessly until two of the foresails were torn and the mizzen was nearly ripped completely from the mast. The mountains of wave tossed the great ship about like a toothpick yet for all the beating the Mist Of Dreams held together and the crew bravely kept her righted for long…long hours, but time proved to be an enemy none could withstand and it was certain the sailors would soon have spent their strength…And just as that moment seemed to be upon them the storm abated and the Mist of dream found itself in irons and not a breath of wind to be found.
“Well now tossed and twisted or lollygagging in irons!” Exclaimed the Captain. “Which is worse would you say Helmsman Tall.”
“For a time dead air is suitable…but not long…just enough for a good rest for the crew and passengers and a moment to mourn seaman Crans who was thrown from the nest minutes before the storm abated. But now I think the sea owes us a fair wind all the way to the Easters.” Eddy Tall answered…an answer that was received with a hearty bout of laughter from the Captain, mates and crew.
“The sea will give no quarter to the likes of us if she wills it not. She takes….and takes and rare have I heard that she gives and…I see on the horizon another mast and in these waters that can only mean trouble, especially if it is a Spaniards mast I see.” Said the Captain…Then… “All hands to stations…open the gun ports and load your canons. Better that we be ready even if our guest is friendly rather than caught asleep and vulnerable.”
And it was best that the Captain so ordered because the ship that camest, though no Spaniard hoisted and even greater threat upon its mast. “A Pirate’s banner!!!” Cried the first mate.
“There’s a wind. Set sails abound and if we can before they are upon us….flee for we are a pleasure craft not a warship and with but 10 canons we should put up a meager fight for one ship let alone three.”
And then…The Mist of Dreams crashed upon a stand of rocks barely beneath the surface of the calm sea and she sank…with all hands and crew…
“But is it not strange Cap’n that none perished and all found a way to this island seemingly casting up from the bottom of the sea to collect us?” Eddy Tall inquired. “And all being cast ashore on the same beach.” He added.
“Tis indeed strange!” Said his Lordship as he approached and a damn fool place to be when all rests on my attending business on the Easters.”
“Well my Lord Larkenwhite. It seems we’re all here stuck with other important places to be and it seems unlikely any shall find us soon or even later. And I might think that here as a matter of order Cap’n Leonardo has the rank and command….not you.” Belted out the first mate whose name was Alderfen…Sonny Alderfen.
The look on his Lordships face would have made an excellent cartoon for a political tabloid. He turned and stumped away.
CHWEECH
Sleep…It came with sunset and was good because beside Eddy lay his beloved Sarah though in the hours they had been together on that beach far from nowhere and marooned with 50 others she had had not spoken a word to him or any one. It was as though she was mute…..and….it seemed…..deaf for she did not respond to his or any others words directed toward her. She just stood or sat staring with that familiar sweet smile upon her lips.
But when they laid on the sand Sarah curled up at his side folding into his arms and together fell asleep in bliss.
And the sun rose, bright against a clear blue sky with the golden rays glinting off gentle waves edging into shore….a shore that was much smaller than the night before.
Eddy woke to see the island had grown smaller and to his utter dismay there remained but he and his silent Sarah who continued to stare and smile.
Though distressed by what had occurred in the night Eddy was plagued with hunger and thirst and nothing to quench either for the five trees left on the island bore no fruit and the pool of fresh water had been long swallowed by the sea.
And where had the others gone…gone…abandoning his wife and himself…left to die…of thirst…long before starvation could claim them.
But a gruesome…morbid thought passed into his mind that would at least give sustenance to Sarah…or would have had he not stood there at that very moment to watch as she faded and rained in sparkles into the sand and there quickly washed away by the incoming, relentless assault of the tide.
“I will neither starve nor die of thirst at this rate. I shall be drowned when I can no longer keep my body afloat or…a worse fate…be eaten by sharks…yes…I saw sharks….just before the ship struck the rocks.
This is insane.”
Eddy fell to his knees. “Of course. This is all an illusion or would that be delusion…Ah but what does it matter…my brain has broken…shattered completely…or I am locked in a macabre nightmare or…or what…or maybe I am…well…maybe this is hell…purgatory…maybe I should scream. Would it serve any purpose? Probably not.
And the island grew smaller until there was but a thin strip of sandy beach encircling a mound of grey jagged rocks on which stood 5 useless trees.
Eddy climbed up on the rocks and waited for the beach to be consumed by the tide then waited a little longer until the sea climbed half way up the rocks. Then in a desperate act to have an end to the nightmare…because now he was convinced a nightmare it was, he threw himself into the sea and dove deep until there was no more air to keep his lungs which filled with the briny froth of sea water…
Little by little though as the seconds passed it grew on him with an admiring quickness life in Eddy’s body ebbed and then….darkness…..
SAITH
The little boat bobbed gently on the rippling water of the lake. Eddy opened his eyes and set his gaze on the rustic log cabin…the hide-away…where he and Sarah had escaped over many a year when the world outside became too great to bear. She… Sarah stood upon the dock…waving….smiling sweetly.
“I’ll bring in a trout my love”…he called out and cast a line into the shimmer lake water.
In only a minute or two Eddy cheered in triumph as he reeled in a trout just the right size to accommodate a meal for two.
Quickly he laid the fish on the bottom of the boat and rowed to the dock and happily carried the catch inside for his beloved Sarah to cook.
Alas…though there was a fire in the cook stove and a frying pan warming on a hot plate nicely oiled…and there was a lemon, an onion and some ginger sliced and ready to cook up the fish in... there was no Sarah.
“Ah she must be out fetching water…or more wood” Thought Eddy as he quickly cleaned the fish…and when Sarah had not returned when he finished Eddy placed the fish and all the fixings into the pan to start it cooking.
While he watched the trout sizzling in the pan he thought about the Cap’n and the Mist of Dreams…the deserted island and the adventure he had, Eddy completely forgot about the fish in the pan and the cabin and even Sarah for in a blink before him was a window and beyond the window was a garden courtyard with nicely trimmed lawns, pruned trees and benches to sit on…not to mention several old people shuffling along on walkers or sitting in wheel chairs…staring at nothing…just as he seemed to have been…staring out the window…at…what… “At the dream in my head. It was all a dream…Nothing was real…Sarah…the cabin…the boat…all long gone…and yes I remember now…I live here…a prisoner in a waiting room where only the old live...a waiting room with one exit…death’s door.”
Eddy glanced about the room and his eyes fixed on a calendar, designed for inmates just like him. It showed the date…of course…July 19th…the last time he noticed it was January 4th. The calendar also displayed the meal schedule and outings for inmates that still had control of their mental capacities…a state Eddy knew in that moment did not include him. He had been on some kind of journey for seven months…completely unaware of his conscious surroundings.
A sad smile curved his thin dry lips from a downward frown to a straight line. Then he chuckled…not because anything was funny…it was a chuckle designed by irony.
“Dad.”
Eddy responded not to the name but to the recognition of the voice. It was Edward Tall Jr….Dr. Edward Tall Jr.
“Hello son….or should I consider you the warden of this prison you put me in?”
“Dad. I did not put you here to be mean or to take your life away or steal from you. I placed you here because you were….are no longer capable of looking after yourself.”
Eddy Sr. smiled…almost warmly. His no count son who had gotten rid of the burden of his father was right in what he had done. With his mind clear…at least for the moment he understood this.
“It’s all good Son. I have a special place I go to…in fact it is a wonderful place in my mind and I will return there very soon…and maybe this time I won’t come back… It is well that I am here where there are people to care for my body. It is up to you to see that they do because in here,” Eddy Sr. tapped his temple with a thin shaky finger…”I am alive…young and well and want to exist there as long as possible.”
WYTH
Edward Tall…Dr. Edward Tall Sr. turned his gaze out the window and said no more. Nor was there ever an occasion that he spoke again or showed any awareness of the physical world. Still…every Tuesday and Saturday Eddy Jr. visited his father and told him all about his life…which was much the same as his father’s when Eddy Sr. was a practicing family physician. He and his wife Anne even escaped to the cottage on Lake Of Mists.
“It seems Father has forgiven me for placing him in the nursing home.” Eddy Jr. had told his wife after the last conversation he had with his Eddy Sr. “I wonder if I will follow in his footsteps into whatever place he is living now…A place he seems to be quite content with.”
“Eddy. He has dementia. I doubt he is anywhere. You are a doctor….you should know this.” Anne replied.
“Indeed…but maybe we do not know as much about dementia as we think.” Eddy countered then turned away and left the room.
“I have everything ready to go to the cottage dear. Edith will be coming with us…she has a surprise for us….I think it is a grandchild…” Anne called after him.
Eddy Jr. smiled….Their daughter Edith was nick-named Eddy By Eddy Tall Sr. two days after she was born. Unofficially she became Eddy the 3rd. “I wonder if the tradition will continue."
The drive to the cottage took a little less than three hours…including a stop for a lunch and to purchase groceries for the weekend. Edith…Eddy 3rd was already there with her husband Ron. Eddy Jr could not help grin delightfully at how much things never change….Edith was about to take over the family practice….just as soon as the new member of the family was born. Eddy 4th.
Eddy Jr. found his way to the boat dock as soon as they arrived. He would not have done so normally….waiting first to help settle in but something drew him there.
The little row boat bobbed in the water tied neatly to the dock. The fishing pole and tackle box sat in the bottom of the boat and Eddy Jr. tried to recall if he had left it there. Normally he would have brought it to the porch of the cottage.
There was….as usual…a mist on Lake of Mists. A fish splashed in the water and……….
NAW
The little row boat bobbed delightfully on the rippling waters of Lake of Mists. Eddy Tall Sr. sat quietly casting and reeling in his fishing line but it seemed on that day…at that moment no fish were inclined to take the bait…if he had remembered even to bait the hook. “Ah but what does it matter…I’ll just enjoy the quietude while the boat drifts…maybe on and on forever."
Then Eddy Sr. glanced toward the rustic cottage where he and Sarah had for so many years escaped to hide away from the demands of life. Where he had fished for their supper and she had cooked the fish he caught. It all seemed to have passed through the years in perfect harmony. Even when Eddy Jr. was a child it had all seemed so perfect and….indeed it had been….and now it was perfect again because Eddy Sr. Had come to realize that Eddy Jr. had been very right in putting his father in the care of the nursing home. No child should ever…ever care for their parent and learn more about them than they had growing up….After all….parents have secrets that their children….or…child should never know…secrets that could slip out instead of being taken to the afterlife where they belong.
There….standing on the dock looking down at the little row boat was Eddy Tall Jr. and Eddy the 3rd. Eddy Sr. was delighted to see the bulge in his grand-daughters belly…then he felt a rush of amazement because he realized he was seeing into the conscious world from his…. “Well…Where exactly, is this place?” He pondered. Then…”Of course. What else could it be called…The Kingdom at the end of the world."
Eddy laughed and laughed and laughed for joy as loud as he could and he called out to his son and grand-daughter but of course they could not see….or hear him…this was a one way image… “Ah be happy in your years. And when the time comes maybe you to will find a special place in your mind to live out your existence. It really is a wonderful place to be.”
Eddy Sr. took up the paddles of the little rowboat….turned it about and slowly…deliberately rowed into the mist of the lake chanting…
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be a-leavin tomorrow
Heave away, me jollies, heave away
Come get your gear in order
For we'll be goin across the water
Slowly…quietly…the rustic cottage faded into the gathering mist and the open waters of the big lake rolled out before Eddy beckoning him to…. “To where in this grand world am I to go now?” Asked Eddy Tall Sr.
BLE MAE’N DOD I BEN
“Anywhere we wish to go my husband.” Said Sarah in answer…giving Eddy a little start…be a glad start it was indeed. “I would begin by rowing T’wards those mighty sail rushing hither upon the horizon. I believe they may be searching for their Steersman and Cook and the Lord and Lady Larkenwhite and all their servants must be weary of ships fare by now….since I have been gone for so long.”
“It will be a joy to feel the wheel of the Mist Of Dreams in my fingers again my love…and to listen to the song of the wind upon the sheets and the rhythm of the lanyards on the mast.” Replied Eddy. “Though I am surprized she survived that crash upon the rocks that sank her.”
“We are come before that time and so when that time comes again we can warn the Captain of the peril and avoid disaster. That is the goodness of a world you build yourself my dearest. You can always go back and fix what was or went wrong.”
Eddy rowed for all he was worth toward the L]Mist Of Dreams and before long the little boat was spied by the watch in the Crows nest and they were gathered from the wide ocean and welcomed gleefully by the crew….the servants and the Lord and lady themselves.
And Eddy took his place at the helm….and Sarah found her way to the galley and ever there was a happily ever after this was the epitome of the sense….though it must be known that there are many adventures to be had upon the high seas or landward in the fantastic Kingdom At The End Of The World.
“Chant your chant for us Steersman Tall…In the tongue of our fore-fathers.
Dewch cael eich offer er mwyn Am byddwn yn gadael yfory
Dyrchafael i ffwrdd, mi jollies, dyrchafael i ffwrdd
Dewch i gael eich offer er mwyn Am byddwn yn goin ar draws y d?r
AND FAIR YE WELL WHERE EVER THE WIND AND WATER MAY CARRY YOU.
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Gerald R Gioglio
07/17/2022Amazing piece, Donald. Nice work. Happy StoryStar day for sure. Jerry
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Lillian Kazmierczak
06/19/2022Waht a great tale. We can only hope that is what all Alzheimer patients see in their minds...that would be so lucky for them!
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Lillian Kazmierczak
07/17/2022This was such an enjoyable read! Congratulations on short story star of the day!
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Donald Harry Roberts
06/19/2022Thanks for reading this one Lillian. I wrote this story after watching my mother live in her mind for an extended period of time. I was on hand often to make sure the home took very good care of her. She would laugh and get angry and I know that she raised a child she lost between my younger sister and I. She carried a doll around for almost a year.
I truly believe that Alzheimer's is more than just a disease...I believe it is an etherical vehicle that carries people on to the next life. I do not believe its anything magical...just a chemical balance.
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