September 2017 The sun was about to set and leaving trails of orange hue in the indigo sky. The only audible sound was the sea waves and some seagulls flying in circles. Tranquility wrapped the evening just like any other day.
Eventhough nothing extraordinary had ever happened on the shore, that man dutifully ignited the light that aimed to the horizon. In case, a certain ship was sailing toward the reefs.
After doing his usual evening task, he was hurriedly walking down the stairs because he just remembered the fence was still open. He worried that the lambs were going to escape the fence. Since losing his wife, he tried to farm and look after some livestocks. He bought two lambs from the trade. His old golden retriever was not trained to help him watching the lambs, so he doubted the lambs were still in the yard. He had to check his livestocks.
The golden retriever barked in joyful demeanor when he opened the backyard door. That man scratching the back of its ears and smiling. He was relieved because the lambs were still there grazing in his own yard. These days, he seemed to be forgetful. Was aging the reason he became forgetful? Or was it the loneliness and his isolated life that made him forget several things?
He lost in his thoughts while walking pass the yard. He stopped at the fence and immediately closed the woody fence. His movement slowed down when he caught an odd object laying on the beach. Maybe that was just a tree trunk floating until the shore. He squinted to make sure that object was not what he was thinking. However, that object slowly looked like a human body stranded on the sand beach.
Oh God.
He opened the fence again and ran down the hill. He tried to keep watching his steps because the path down there was steep. He almost slipped when he reached the shore.
He walked fast through the sand beach. This part of the shore was protected by the reefs. However villagers rarely went there because the beach was also protected by some rocky hills. It was pretty isolated and that was the reason that the beach felt like a hidden gem no one knew. He gasped when he saw that the human body was laying on the sand. Never had in his life seen a stranded human body on the beach. What if that was a corpse instead of living human? Nobody would survive in the cold ocean. But he didn’t see any sign of rotten flesh or putrid smell.
Slowly that man got closer to the … boy. That odd object was a male teenager. His skin was pale white. He wore a white loose shirt and dark slacks. His feet were bare. His button shirt was loose and showing some skin. He seemed to eat less for days his ribs were protruding. Blood was stained on his temple. He probably stumbled upon a coral while drowning. He was lucky that the wound was not severe.
There was no movement from his chest that indicated he was breathing air. Nobody would have found this boy if he left the shore right now. He doubted this boy was alive considering the boy’s not moving and knew it would be a foolish decision to wake up a dead body. But then, he crouched and touched the boy’s shoulder.
The man was taken aback when the boy was jarred and breathing air deeply like he was inhaling air for the first time. The boy opened his eyes and his eyes were so strange. One eye was normal with bright blue iris. One eye was fully black as vanta black colour. No light could reflected on his black eye. Only darkness. It was the first time for the man to see a black sclera like that. He watched the boy sat down and touched his bleeding temple. He winced and looked innocently perplexed. His body was soaked. His buzz cut hair was damp.
The man tried to ignore the eeriness of this boy’s eye. He was merely a young man. He needed to help him. He must call the police after this.
“What's your name, kid?” inquired the man in a polite tone.
“My name is Reef,” answered the latter which made the man think this boy was joking.
“I mean your real name. Maybe your head was hit too hard—”
“Reef. You can call me Reef. Does my name bother you?” he said in defense.
The man blinked. “No. It was just not a common name. Can you stand up, Reef? Let me help you clean your wound, but my house is up on the hill.” He still was not sure to call him like the coral rock beneath the ocean.
“What should I call you, sir?” asked Reef before trying to get up while staring at the man warily. His normal eye was allusive while his strange eye was grim.
“You can call me Arthur.”
Reef was able to stand up even with a grimaced face because his head was dizzy. If Arthur didn’t prop him, he would be falling. Then, he walked side by side with Arthur toward the hill. He stared back at the ocean in a vigilant way—like something would chase him and tear him apart.
He walked down the path beneath him and carefully stepped on the path upward the hill. The path appeared like stairs. He tried to keep his balance, while Arthur kept an eye on him.
“Where am I?” asked Reef while climbing the stairs.
“You don’t know?” The man was so awkward.
“How can I know? It’s my first time reaching the surface safely,” answered Reef in sarcasm.
This kid is sassy, thought Arthur. Maybe I should have left him on the shore. And what does he mean by reaching the surface? He looked behind to find out the kid kept staring back at the ocean like watching or waiting for something. Fear was depicted on the kid’s face. Arthur tried to ignore Reef's uncanny way and push his thoughts forward about Reef’s origin. He didn’t even know why but he was curious how Reef ended on the shore.
“You are in Cornwall,” answered Arthur eventually. They already reached the yard. He opened the fence. Copper was running toward them with tongue sticking out.
Reef startled at the dog. He looked like he had never seen a dog before. Arthur’s house was exactly behind a lighthouse that confronted the ocean. The house was two stories high made of grey stones, with square windows on the facade. Ivies grew on the wall. Flower pots were arranged around the door. It was so aesthetically pleasing. Reef stood still in front of the building until Arthur beckoned him to get inside.
Reef’s blue eye looked around the interior of Arthur’s house. It was warm and homely even though some furniture seemed worn out. There were two old sofas that faced a hearth. A picture of a couple stood on the desk beside the sofa—Arthur with his deceased wife. He looked to another room where Arthur was looking for first aid kit. It was a dining room.
Arthur grabbed the first aid kit from a storage cabinet. He immediately gave a sign for Reef to get closer and sat on the stool. “Where do ya come from, kid?” He started to clean Reef’s wounds with gauze and antiseptics.
Reef hesitated before answering, “The North Sea.” He didn’t wince at all when Arthur cleaned his wound.
Arthur stopped his movement. “Are you serious? I heard that concussion can cause short term memory loss indeed.” But there were no lie showing in Reef’s eye. Reef’s stare was so genuine. But Arthur didn’t let his guard down. “Don’t lie, kid. Stop the nonsense.”
“My origin is from beneath the stormy ocean where no one could reach the seabed,” said Reef solemnly. His face slowly became grim and somber. He wasn’t ready to explain his former home. His right eye was no use on the surface. He couldn’t see with his right eye.
Endless questions popped out in Arthur’s mind. It didn’t make sense. But looking at this boy’s soaked body and he could see him trembling a little made him postpone all the queries inside his head. He had no idea what creature he brought home.
Arthur smiled incredulously. “Well alright kid. I’ll ask more later. Clean up and change your clothes first.”
Reef got into the bathroom. He slowly let panic consume him. His right eye was dull. His magic was gone completely after reaching the surface. He stared at the tub in the bathroom and filled it with water. After the water almost overflowed, he got into the tub and drowned himself. He let the water completely soaked him and tried to breath under the water but it only ached his lungs. He couldn’t breathe. His respiratory organ were burning under the water.
He rose immediately and coughed the water from his mouth. Slowly he touched the supposed gills that hidden behind his ear. It left only scars. The gills were no part of him anymore.
The sea creature’s ability had disappeared completely and he was severely aghast. It reminded him so much of the wandering journey when he was stranded in the middle of desert. But, at that time he could still see using his black eye.
Slowly he touched his black eye where there was no white nor pupil. He remembered clearly years ago when Father took his human eye and replaced it with the vanta black eye so that he could see clearly underwater. And right now this eye was nothing.
He realized. He was already a human. Merely a human who couldn’t breathe underwater. Eventually he reached the surface altogether. He achieved his dream. But something ached his long-dead-heart.
Something lost and crumbled inside him.
That night, Reef slept on the couch right in front of the hearth. It was a cold night in autumn season. He sat on the couch that supposedly only for one seat. He straightened his long feet to a footrest. He pulled a blanket until his chin. It was not the comfiest position to rest but Arthur only had one bedroom. The other room in the house was already became a storage room.
The house was quite and serene at night. He could only hear the ticking clock on the wall and the faint sound of sea waves.
Reef looked at the fireplace and his mind was swirling with many thoughts.
First, Arthur still didn’t believe him about his origin. Perhaps, his origin story didn’t make sense at all to any human on the surface. Well, his experience meeting human was so little. He only ever met humans in that journey where his soul was wandering. He often questioned whether that event was real or just part of his insane dream.
Second, where should he go after this? How do people live on the surface? He had some theory of being human … but he didn’t know what he should do first.
Slowly he was dozing off. He was exhausted after getting trapped in the current underwater that made him stranded on this place.
The last thing that appeared on his mind was … how he could meet that girl again?
In the morning, Arthur woke him up and told him to get ready for going to the police station. After eating breakfast, Arthur gave him an eye patch to cover his black eye. “People might be scared of your dark eye,” murmured Arthur while giving it to Reef.
They went out by walking to the small town nearby the lighthouse. The sun was already bright up there.
“Are you going to dump me there?” asked Reef nonchalantly.
Arthur who walked in front of him was silent for a while. “Let’s see if they have any information about a missing person.”
Reef sighed. There would not be any missing news, except perhaps if Father was announced that news under the ocean. Slowly, he looked back to the sea again with vigilance.
They walked past the side streets and stalls. So many people greeted Arthur while he walked by the stalls. Some of them looked at Reef with curious and suspicious eyes.
When they arrived at the police station, Arthur immediately asked for any missing person news in case Reef was on the poster of missing person. However, there was not even any news of a missing person in that small town.
“What’s your family name?” asked the officer.
Reef startled. Common sea creatures never had a family name. But father ever told him to use his name as a legacy. You are Reef Oceanos, his father’s voice echoed in his memories. “Oceanos,” said Reef. “Reef Oceanos.”
Arthur frowned at Reef’s uncommon surname. This kid’s name sounds like a fictional name. Is he saying the truth?
The police officer nonchalantly typed something on the computer. “Well, nothing comes out. His family name is not in our data bank.”
Reef’s stare only meant see-I-am-not-lying. Arthur who sat beside him was tapping the officer’s desk and thinking so hard.
After several minutes, he declared, “Thank you. I think I am going home with this kid.”
“Have a nice day,” said the officer.
Reef blinked in disbelief. In his head, he was already scheming to survive in the surface world. He was ready to get dumped once again.
Even though he was clueless about the surface world, he was confident about surviving. He used to roam under the harsh condition of the seabed. The surface world might be far easier. And here, the real sun shone every day.
Reef held his smile. He didn't want to lookexuberant with this news.
At least, he had a place for a while until he was done analyzing the surface world and being able to survive alone.
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