One would
never realize the black seas below were tumultuous on the polished deck of this
luxury ocean liner, 'BellaVitam'.
Rows of
Elysian orange sling-backs are neatly placed dotted with tiny round tables and
even tinier umbrellas atop hollowed out coconuts while poppadum and canapé are
devoured sans guilt.
Above the
turquoise canvas is peeled away, an endless blazing sun beguiles. It is vehement
but not bothersome for a meandering breeze quickly licks away any distracting beads
of perspiration.
All is perfect on this Liner de Vie until
it becomes apparent that one of those orange sling-backs has become vacant.
When you notice the vacancy depends on how close the chair is to you...
Who could
possibly want to leave this perfection?
A glance around the deck is
fruitless. Soon urgency turns to panic as you cerebrate the worst and begin to
search the blackness below.
And that
is when you see her.
She tries to appear calm, relaxed
and put together. But how can she be? She is drowning, a slow and struggling
death.
Constraint
seals her lips for the opposite may upset the appearance of perfection on board
- she would rather suffer and die alone than do this.
Do you
respect her plea to maintain the illusion and discreetly throw her an anchor so
she may sink faster?
Or do you
say to hell with appearances and throw her a lifeline - knowing she may try to
pull you overboard too?
Soon your moralities are screaming
at you for there is nothing perfect or luxurious about suffering and disregard.
You decide
to throw her a lifeline but first you must shout to the other passengers to
support the line so you don't go overboard as well.
She fights, she screams, she cries
and she blames but exhaustion brings with it concede and finally, together, you
are able to pull her out of the blackness.
When she eventually dries out, she
is able to comprehend and she realizes her chair was much closer than she ever thought
it was.
-MJHaynes
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