Big Fish by Daniel Wallace

Author:Daniel Wallace [Wallace, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Adult, Humour, Contemporary
ISBN: 9781616201647
Publisher: Pocket
Published: 1998-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

He Goes to War

He wasn’t a general, or a captain, or an officer of any kind. He wasn’t the medic, he wasn’t the poet, he wasn’t the cynic, he wasn’t the lover, and he wasn’t the radio operator. He was, of course, a sailor. Across the foamy sea he rolled with hundreds of others, aboard an invulnerable vessel called the Neried. This was a ship as big as his hometown—bigger, even. Certainly, there were more people aboard the Neried than lived within the city limits of Ashland, though he had put a great distance between himself and that town. Since leaving, he had accomplished many great things, and now he was accomplishing the greatest of all: defending the free world. He felt, in an odd way, that the world rested on his shoulders. That, even though he was merely a sailor, without even a medal, without decoration of any kind, somehow the entire effort hinged on his ability to see it through. It was good to be a part of this crew, then, on this invulnerable ship, slipping through the wine-dark sea. Being surrounded by water, by horizons everywhere he looked, made him consider the greater world lying beyond, and the possibility that the world held out to him. Being surrounded by water made him feel secure and at peace.

This is how he was feeling when a torpedo ripped into the hull. The ship felt like it had run aground, and Edward was thrown four feet across the deck. The ship began to list.

“All hands on deck!” the loudspeaker boomed. “Blow up your life belts!”

My father, a part of him in shock, thinking This isn’t supposed to happen, found his life belt and tied one of the cords around his neck and the other around his waist. He looked around him, annoyed, This isn’t supposed to happen, but far from panic. No one around him panicked, either. Everyone was amazingly cool, as if this were a drill. But the Neried was listing to port.

The captain’s voice came through then on the loudspeaker.

“All hands on deck. Prepare to abandon ship.”

Still there was no alarm, no hurry. Those on the flag deck moved toward a companionway leading to the quarterdeck. There was no pushing. Edward smiled at his friends, and they smiled back, even though the ship they were on was going down.

On deck he saw the extent of his new reality. Men were tossing rafts overboard as well as pieces of wood, life belts, benches, anything that would float. Then they jumped into sea after them. But the ship was like a series of ledges. Many misjudged the distance, hit the side of the ship, and slid into the sea. Everywhere men were flinging themselves into the water. Hundreds of heads, like human buoys, were bobbing in the water. The propeller was still turning, and some of the men were sucked into its turning blades. Edward sat down on the edge of the ship and removed the last letter he had received from his wife.

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