Do you like stories with mystery and suspense? Strange and “wyrd” ones? Well, if you do, keep reading and enjoy Eggcentricsagas. If you are just joining Eggcentricsagas, you might want to start from the beginning: A La Mano: Part 1-The Treasure
As the boat lurched, Long threw himself to the railing and grabbed it. The sudden incline of the ship made him fall to the deck, but he kept a hold of one of the balusters. Hanging almost vertical, he could hear the water rushing in the open hatches. Drawing on his martial arts training, strength, and flexibility, Long was able to pull himself up and balanced on the railing.
Through the roar and fury of the storm, Long heard, “Jump!” He looked at the spirit of his mother and then glanced down at the churning water. The sailor realized that what he had heard earlier was the snapping of the chain of the starboard boom log. The log had floated free. Unbalanced with only one boom log, the ship had turned on its beam ends. The sails were in the water and, the boat was rapidly sinking. Long heard a few shouts from his shipmates, but their yells quickly muffled as his companions got engulfed by the waves pouring into the submerging ship. Long recognized that he was heading to a sailor’s grave.
“Jump!” his mother yelled again through the deafening gale blowing around his head and moved towards him. “Now!” her voice shrieked and blended with the wind. Rushing at him with her arms extended, she intended to shove him off. When the phantom reached him, she disappeared and, a fierce gust of air hit him. Blasting him off his perch like a dried leaf, down he fell into the tumultuous froth below.
A shock ran through his body as he became immersed in the frigid turbulence of the Pacific. A recollection of the time being nearly drowned in the river as a child came back instantly and replayed in his mind as he plunged downward. Though disoriented, he knew as he did then that he needed to surface. Using all his strength, he swam upward. His head broke out of the water and, he gasped for air. With horror, he watched as the last of the ship sank into the ocean and disappeared. Treading water in the roiling sea, he tried to get his bearings. How was he going to get to shore? The glimmering lights of the city port seemed so far away.
Scanning for any wreckage that he could hold onto, miraculously, Long spotted one of the ship’s lifeboats in the distance. He started to swim towards it, but it seemed to move faster than him. Drawing on his determination to live, he kept going. The waves continued to pound him; it was becoming difficult to keep his head above water. Why did his mother save him? To die out here in the sea alone?
Finally, his strength waned and, Long started to sink. Not yet ready to die, as he descended into the depths of the briny, he called out with his mind, “Help me, please!” Without warning, he felt a prodding under his armpit. Dynamically lifted through the water, turning his head, Long looked into an eye, beautiful and wise. The big dolphin glided forward and gently hooked its dorsal fin under his armpit so that Long’s arm draped over its back. With powerful thrusts of its tail, it brought Long to the surface. Filling his burning lungs with breath, the man wrapped his arms around his magnificent companion, marveling at the touch of its soft, rubbery skin.
His new marine partner towed Long to the sandy shore underneath the wharf, swimming in dangerously shallow water to rescue his human friend. When Long found his footing and started to crawl up onto the beach with the tide propelling him forward, the dolphin retreated into the deeper water. It popped its head up and carefully watched him with one eye. The bright moon shone on its intelligent face. Not knowing what else to do, Long waved at it to signal that he was alive and safe. Gracefully leaping out of the water a couple of times, the dolphin whistled and, then, was gone.
Exhausted by his ordeal, Long laid back on the gravelly shore. Feeling dispirited about the unfortunate deaths of his shipmates but amazed at the dolphin’s rescue of him, he tried to regain his vigor. When his body began to shiver uncontrollably from the cold, the sailor forced himself to get up. Without his crewmates or legal papers, he feared capture and arrest. Long knew he must find the secret underground tunnel.
He picked his way along the darkened shore. The wind had diminished but still buffeted him about with his unsure footing. Not another soul was about; no one dared to brave the storm. Eventually, the shore ended in a sheltered rocky cove. Looking up, Long could see a dark, gaping hole in the side of the slope. He climbed up the rocks carefully and arrived at the lip of the constructed tunnel. With fluttering in his belly, he peered into the shadowy opening. This was the only way to Gold Mountain and his ultimate freedom. Long Wu licked his trembling lips and, stepping into the darkness, went to find his fate.
Up next: The Magician’s Hat
