Sea, Stars & Salvation

"A long time ago there was this little sailor girl. She was desirous, she had her own ship and she ruled the seas. No storm was too fierce, no wave too high. As she got older she began sailing in company, and for decades they traveled great distances and guested many ports. The sea was sometimes rough, but nothing she couldn't handle. She was a redheaded viking, she was a Phoenician queen, she was a pirate of the seven seas .

One day the ship went under.

She was caught by a current; did almost drown. Hardly knowing what was up or down she managed to swim to the surface, and she grasped desperately for air. Now the night had fallen.

In the dim moonlight she could see floating debris all around her, but she was alone. Her company was nowhere to be seen. She gathered the remains of the ship, and made herself a simple raft. The night seemed to have no ending, and she drifted at sea for an eternity. All she could do was to watch the dark sky, and map the stars. Her mind was a mirror of the universe; endless, unexplored and incomprehensible. Lost.

Yes, she was lost. She watched the stars and recognized Ursa Minor, only to realize that she didn't know what to do with it. Her navigating skills were nothing more than a vague memory, impossible to retrieve. What had happened? Hadn't she been sailing for all her life? Exhausted she fell asleep, and she lay shivering in the cold night. As the sun rose next morning, and the first ray of light hit her eyes, she woke up again.

She stood up on the raft and turned around, slowly. In all directions there was nothing but water, water, water. That first day the weather was fine and the sea stayed calm. She had managed to salvage supplies from the boat, so for the moment she had both water to drink and food to eat.

This is a story, so how she could survive on the raft for so long is a mystery we don't have to explain, but true is that she was there. Some days were so glorious she almost forgot she was lost, and others so tempestuous she wished for the sharks to rip her flesh and end her sufferings. Days, weeks and months went by. Even years. And all the time she wondered how she had ended up drifting at sea. Sometimes she was close enough to see the shore, and birds came visiting her on the raft. And occasionally other boats passed by her, and she waved to the people on board. She shouted to them as well. Why didn't they pick her up, you may ask? This is a story, remember? Things don't work the same way here.

But anyway, she sat there on her raft and asked herself all these questions. Was it possible it was all a dream? Maybe the others didn't see what she knew? Maybe her raft was a mirage, looking like a full-rigged ship from a distance? And how could they know she had let someone else steer her ship for so long she'd forgotten how to sail? And the ocean was bottomless and dark."

Not to be taken too seriously, it's a story, alright?