Slicing through the blue-green sea, we revel in the winds that cool our sun-seared faces. Our eyes squint through salted lenses as the spray anoints we who stand aboard our vessel. We are invigorated, buoyant, free…

 

And then we feel the tug.

 

The clench of some submarine beast? The sea monster of our mythology, with jaws that could sever our ship aft from bow before tearing us limb from limb?

 

No, ‘tis the current that takes us, whole, and further into the deep. We are yanked and sucked, and the mighty whirlpool before us licks its lips at the meal approaching it with ever-exceeding velocity. Our path melds into the awesome curvature of its vortex, and we spiral round and round, down and down. The wood underfoot creaks as the vessel heels into a perilous angle, leaving us clinging to stay on board.

 

Vertigo swirls our world topsy-turvy until the smooth and shining shaft we’ve found ourselves within suddenly seems to stop spinning. Nerves un-knot in our stomachs, and a strange peace settles in our breasts as the momentum of our ride slows and restores us to equilibrium. We glide, coasting the curves of the watery cyclone that now appears as burnished jade and turquoise. It narrows to depths in which no one can see what awaits, yet we can hear the succulent strains of song. It lifts our hopes like bubbles tickling at the edges of its fluid melody, and we are no longer afraid. We are expectant, as though drinking from a cup of life that promises of the eternal.

 

Onward we sail. Invigorated, buoyant, free…