Drift

Chapter 3

This was day two of their relaxed trip around the coast, and Lia couldn't have been happier. The day before had mostly been spent joyriding, but today, they took out the jet ski and went tubing and skiing once they got far enough out. After they had had enough fun in the water, they cleaned off and continued the day simply appreciating the joy of just boating as they continued to travel farther south. As the night fell, they gave the motor a break for the night, and they all sat on the side of the boat, admiring the sunset in silence.

"Look at that!" willis whispered. "There's an... an elephant? On a lizard?"

"What about that one over there," Symone said, motioning to a cloud a little to the right of the sun. "That one looks like Abraham Lincoln if he had a Mohawk," she chuckled.

"You guys are weirding me out," Rich said, as he smiled at the goofy wife of his sitting next to him. "I think your eyes alone are more beautiful than a million sunsets," he said cheesily.

"Okay, okay, break it up guys," Ben interrupted. "We don't want this evening turning PG-13," he joked.

Ivy snapped out of her daydream and spoke up. "That's right," she said, "You shouldn't be saying you love each other or anything inappropriate like that, especially not in public!" she exclaimed sarcastically.

As they joked around, they were all continuously sharing the shapes and colors they saw in the sky, such as a "really scared dog" with "squirming peachy snakes" for legs and colors such as the unique purpley-reds that would occasionally spritz across the pink, orange, and dark purple sky as the giant warm sun dipped below the ocean for the night.

Lia had not the slightest of ideas regarding the origin of the word "breathtaking" until that night. Every single second, something was different. A cloud changed in shape. A color changed in intensity, if not into a completely different color. And as the sky itself kept evolving into twists and swirls of awe inspiring radiance, the sky behind their backs swiftly converted into a pitch black, which turned slightly blue where the emerging night met with and consumed the remainder of the sinking sunset. The moon pushed it's way into the scene, ready to illuminate the darkness with the light that it's pale lonely surface reflected from the sun. Stars gradually and quickly began to speckle the sky, scattered and swirled like dust blown from the palm of your hand, forever floating in the wind. And if you looked hard enough, you'd notice that even some of the stars were different colors, too.

The immense amount of power and beauty of all of this had amazed, distracted, and shocked Lia to the point that she really did occasionally forget to breathe, and would find herself suddenly realizing that she needed to inhale. She thought, whoever came up with that word... 'breathtaking'... must have been looking at something like this when they did.

After thoughtfully stargazing for a couple of hours, the tired friends headed to bed in their rooms.

The following morning, they all sat in the big cabin on the second deck, where the sunlight was streaming in and warming the soft, comfy blue cushions in a long booth around a big round dining table of polished wood. As they basked in the sunlight, they conversed like the tired people that they were, made multiple "your mom" jokes, and each had some coffee with a sufficiently large bowl of cereal for breakfast (yes, even millionaires eat cereal.) Rich, for whatever bizarre reason, loved eating cereal on the yacht, so naturally, he brought 60 boxes of assorted brands and kinds to share, as well as 50 gallons of milk. Nobody ever really knew what to say to that, but they all liked cereal, so they didn't exactly complain.

After her fabulous bowl of Lucky Charms, (of which she picked out and ate the marshmallows, and neglected the over glorified Cheerios,) Lia headed outside of the cabin, bundled up in a warm and cozy blanket, and sat down in one of the chairs on the front of the ship. The sky was splattered with grey streaks, which was very unexpected, due to a flawless weather forecast for the next two weeks. They're just some light little foggy dust bunnies... Lia thought to herself. I love this weather and the breeze anyways, she continued, so I'll just enjoy it before it rains or something like that and my whole life gets ruined.

And enjoy it, she did.

The progression of events that morning had led to Lia snuggled up and leaned back in a secured beanbag chair, happily reading her favorite John Grisham book as she sipped a fresh, cold, fizzy coca-cola from a glass bottle and passively nodded her head to the beat of the somewhat loud music, which was mostly Queen. Absorbed in her reading, she barely even noticed anybody else around her, or what they were doing.

That's how she liked it.

Symone and Rich were sitting side by side in the highest point of Tranquility, snuggled up in a blanket. The breeze was whipping Symones thick, long, blonde hair everywhere, forming millions of thin, golden halos floating around her face, which accentuated her beautiful blue and yellow eyes. She and her husband watched the sun shimmering on the ocean, all the while admiring the playful dolphins that had been spy-hopping alongside the ship for some time.

Lia hadn't even noticed the dolphins, despite all of the commotion being made by the passengers and the crew. They had all been leaning over the railing on the nose of the boat, trying to catch a glimpse of the happy, intelligent, wild animals. Ivy was right in the middle of everybody with the best view, her long, wavy, marvelously red hair flowing in the wind, like a beacon of her presence. Of the select few colors available on the ocean, (blue, blue and blue,) her gorgeous fire-like hair dancing in the breeze was a thing of beauty. Good thing she had the best spot, though. That girl loved dolphins so much that had she not been in the spot she was, she probably would have injured someone in an attempt to see them with her own eyes. Witnessing a whole pod of them? That right there pretty much made her whole year. She didn't leave that spot unless the dolphins went elsewhere around the moving vessel.

Lia had seen plenty of Dolphins. Seeing this little pod didn't really strike her interest. Whales are what got her attention. She never could describe her interest in them, nor why she unconditionally loved them so much. There was so much about them that she loved, yet... couldn't explain. There's just something about them that's deep. Deeper than anything. Even the ocean itself. They're just... old. Full. Wise. They've seen things. They've done things. When the average person thinks of whales, if they try to think hard about a whale's purpose, they'd probably come to the conclusion that they're really not all that impressive or important. They're pretty. They swim. But that's about it. Swim, breed, and stay alive.

Yet, there is nothing on the face of the planet that is unimportant. Nothing. Everything is needed. Everything is used. Yet humans rob this beautiful place of it's living pieces that it needs to survive. Everything is used for something it wasn't originally for. Tortured, twisted and molded to use how man sees fit, and things are killed and smacked around for the sake of having something extra for us that we don't really need. Everything seems... dirty. Polluted. Sticky, in a way. Everything that was once so pure seems infected.

Whales, though... they seem to be so pure, compared to the rest of the planet. They're so clean. Simple. Fresh. Fluid in their movements... meaningful in their sounds. There's something wise about them. Something sentient.

They are intelligent beyond what we can imagine. They're wise beyond what we can comprehend. They don't just know things... they understand them. They're deep. That's all Lia could ever think of to describe them, really, was deep and wise. They're always more than meets the eye.

Lia could only ever think about whales when people brought up or saw dolphins. At that moment, even, as she was torn away from her book to see the dolphins, all she could think of was how badly she wanted to see a whale. Whales were on her mind, and whales only. She liked dolphins, but they're easier to peg when trying to define their hearts. Whales? They're mysterious... and that was the biggest thing Lia loved about them. She loved a good mystery. Everything about them is unique and intriguing... even their very presence in the ocean. They're so hidden, Lia thought, looking at the dolphins, but once again, pondering whales. They're so secretive. What's their secret? What's behind those big, sad, and lonely eyes? Lia could only ever think about the whales, their minds, and their songs.

Even if they were (seemingly) useless? They make mournfully beautiful music. Music that Lia most certainly longed to hear one day. Music that, unbeknownst to her, she would soon hear.