Page 144 of Fifty First Times (Sharing You 0.40)
“Whales?” The southern right whales are right here and one just touched me.
“Everyone gear up and get ready to swim with the whales, but let’s let our héroe be the first one in the water.”
Everyone is patting me on the back while I make my way to Jewels to make sure she’s okay. Our guide, Tomás, has already checked her out and said that she just needs to rest, and to give her some space.
While I’m backing off from the gathering crowd around her, I catch her eye and she mouths an exhausted “Thank you.”
The captain comes over to me. “How do you say in English, ‘Again into the deep’
?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.” Laughing, I get ready to return to the arctic sea. Donning my scuba gear, I once again plunge into the forty-degree water. I don’t have time to register how cold it is because I’m literally surrounded by a family of three southern right whales. I do a quick mental calculation. Around one hundred and thirty tons of whale circling our boat. That’s like fifty elephants all stacked together. I kick off from the boat and swim right alongside them. The pod dives further into the ocean and I lose sight of them. I peer through the deep water hoping to catch another glimpse. As I’m looking ahead, I feel something brush against my leg. When I turn around, I’m eye to eye with a sixty-ton female. Knowing full well that what I’m doing is illegal, I put my hand on her head and feel the warty callosities that help us identify each whale. As I’m swimming with this huge, monstrous mammal, I fail to notice that my research partners are lowering down the waterproof speaker we rigged up to blast off our emergency whale mothers’ call. It’s a test we’re conducting to prevent unknowing whales from getting hit by commercial vessels. I hear the familiar “Wwwwhhhhoooo . . . Wwwwhhhhooo!” And as I turn around to see where it’s coming from, the whole pod has swum down to the deep unknown.
“Luke, did you see that? It worked perfectly; as soon as we blasted the sound they took off! We can literally save hundreds of whales from being killed every year if we can get this installed on all the shipping and fishing vessels!”
It’s amazing. I can’t stop smiling. Everything is coming together. All the research and hours studying whales from afar is finally paying off. Right now.
When I get back on the boat, everyone is clapping and patting each other on the back. The only thing that could make this day more perfect would be a little more time with those majestic beasts.
Or the beautiful hostess. My beautiful hostess. At least, in my head, she’s mine.
I spot Sarah and ask, “How’s Jewels doing?”
“She’s fine, but just a bit shaken. She’s down in the cabin; you should go see her.”
I open the hatch and walk down to the cabin, where I find Jewels with her head on the dining table. “Hey Jewels, you okay?”
She raises her head and a smile spreads across her face. “I’ve got a bad headache, but other than that, I’m fine. Sorry I hit you.”
“Totally forgiven. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Well, thank you for being my hero. Now, tell me about the whales. I heard you swam with them.”
As I sit down and start to relate the story I can’t help but notice the excitement on her face and slowly realize how little it has to do with the whales. I wonder if my feelings are written that plainly on my face? I’m contemplating that thought as I feel the boat setting a course back west to port.
Date: August 11
Materials: Pesos, international pay phone
Experiment: Comparatively investigating the fundamental disparity of empty nest syndrome in reference to male and female Homo sapiens parental figures.
Back at the camp, Bobby doesn’t waste any time asking only the most vital questions. “So, are you excited to see your Latin lover tonight?” he asks with his teasing tone seeping into every syllable. “Foreign love affairs are hot, dude.”
“I don’t know if I would classify what little interaction we have as a love affair. More like a stupid American with a crush.”
“Admit it, you love her.”
“What? Like love at first sight? Yeah right. Not possible.” Or at least I didn’t think it was possible.
“Whatever, bro. I know what I saw and you’ve been struck by Cupid’s Spanish cousin, Cupido!”
We both bust out laughing. But I can’t help but think that maybe . . . just maybe, Bobby’s right.
When we arrive at the restaurant for dinner tonight, my stomach is churning, my adrenaline is pumping. In an effort to calm myself, I grab the door and let everyone in ahead of me. As I catch up to the group, I notice an older gentleman standing in her place. My heart sinks. She’s not working today. Damn it.
When I go to sit down at the table I see Jewels’s purse on the chair next to her, I sit down and try to forget the stupid girl that has me acting like a child. Everyone is still buzzing about the experiment and I’m bombarded with questions about the whales and the rescue.
“What did their skin feel like?”
