The Sea Singer by Shome Dasgupta

Author:Shome Dasgupta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Accent Press

14

BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE OCEAN, March fell asleep. Her eyes were closed and bubbles surrounded her nostrils. Her body reached the surface and she floated, her arms and legs bobbing up and down with the cresting of the waves. In her sleep, she saw flashes of Mario standing behind the counter, cleaning its top. She saw Mario walking towards her, smiling and talking, but she couldn’t hear the words – she could only feel her skin tingling. She saw herself as a baby being held by a man she didn’t recognize. She saw herself, again as a baby, cradled in the arms of a lady she didn’t know. She saw a seagull with a man she didn’t know in its beak.

March kept her eyes closed and without thinking, paddled her legs to propel herself through the water. She had never swum before, but her body worked instinctively. But every opportunity she had to get a good breath of air was swallowed by the stormy waves. Annoyed, she stayed beneath the surface and decided to learn how to swim with the dolphins around her – now was as good a time as any to learn, she thought. She opened her eyes and saw the Kolkaper port. March swam as much as she could towards the city; her legs tore through the ocean’s body, her calves bulging. After using all her energy to swim underneath the surface, she rested and let the waves guide her towards the Kolkaper harbour. The storm had already passed over the city and the ocean was calm. She was not far from the shoreline. As March rested on the waves, she shouted ‘Odysseus’ and thought about Homer’s poem. She was about to start swimming again when she heard someone say, ‘Hello.’ She looked around and saw a girl on a long slender yellow board.

‘Are you okay?’ she yelled.

‘Just going for a swim,’ March shouted.

The surfer was getting closer to her.

‘I fell off the ship during the storm,’ March said.

The surfer waded up to March and helped her onto the board.

‘We should make it back in no time with the help of the waves,’ the surfer said. ‘You must be cold.’

‘I dreamt,’ March said.

The surfer looked back at the ship, which was still far behind.

‘You swam from the ship?’

March coughed. The surfer laughed.

‘You made it to Kolkaper quicker than the ship.’

‘My legs helped me,’ March said.

The sun began to show through the grey-green clouds, warming the back of March’s neck. They made it to the banks of the shore and lay on the sand for a few minutes.

‘Let’s get dried up and then we can go to the harbour and wait for the ship to come with your belongings,’ the girl said. ‘My name is Kratoa.’

March introduced herself to Kratoa and thanked her again for her help.

‘You would have made it anyway,’ Kratoa said. ‘I was just giving you some company.’

They walked on the sand towards a building that was used as a locker room.

‘I have never walked on sand before,’ March said.

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