Uncharted Waters by Scott MacKenzie

Author:Scott MacKenzie [MacKenzie, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

For a moment, when I first wake, I forget all my misfortunes. I lie in blissful ignorance like a Saturday morning child. The soft morning light coming in from the paneled windows above my head floods the aft cabin with warmth. I turn onto my side, watching Tenn sleep. The rays of light make her blonde curls shine and her cheeks glow. She looks like an angel sleeping beside me. It’s hard to harbor any ill will toward her when she looks so peaceful and innocent like this.

Eventually the realities of life begin to bubble up to the surface. I turn over and readjust my position, trying to hold on to the peacefulness of the morning. As if I don’t have a care in the world, as if I don’t have hard decisions to make. I can feel Tenn turn and shift; she, too, is fighting reality. She pulls herself out of bed and does a sleepy shuffle to the galley. I pretend to sleep while she makes coffee.

Then, unexpectedly, the motor starts. It’s loud and vibrates the entire boat. I can no longer pretend to sleep, so I sit up to look out the port window and see that we are drifting away from the dock.

We shift into gear and motor away. I throw the sheets off and scurry up the ladder to see what’s going on.

“Morning, Vince.” Tenn holds out a cup of coffee for me.

I quickly survey the area to make sure we are on a safe course before accepting the steaming mug.

“We have to go, darlin’,” Tenn says.

She has one hand on the large wooden steering wheel and the other holds a coffee. She seems cavalier and aloof as she maneuvers the boat around the docks and buoys, heading out to the open sea.

I sit down on the long wooden bench and drink my coffee. I have no idea where we are going, or what she has in mind. I’m not sure it matters. Very little matters to me at this point. I sip my coffee, looking blankly over the horizon. The sun is hot for so early in the day, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. It’s not in my character to go out to sea so blindly, and it’s not that I suddenly trust Tenn, it’s more that I have accepted the reality that I have very few options. I’ll go where the wind takes me — literally.

The sea is flat, and the boat is as stable as a train on rails. I stand, and Tenn positions herself for an argument, her body tensing up as she readies herself for my objections.

But I have no intention of asking where we’re going, or why. I’m done playing games with Tenn. I climb through the companionway, make my way back to bed, and pull the covers over my head.

The motor stops.

I stay under the false security of the light sheet. The sun makes its way through the light fabric, illuminating my safe, pillowy space.

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