The Young Woman and the Sea

fiction
edward w pritchard

The old man, a fisherman had saved his money his entire life and at the age of seventy had married a thirty year old bride and left his homeland of Cuba to take her back to her native land of America. While on route, the yacht they had chartered sank at sea and their bodies were eaten by the large densuto sharks. The man before he died shouted galonos in a guttural fashion.

The man shouted galanos in a guttural fashion, a word of curse with no translation in our language, because he had worked and saved his whole life for this sea voyage, often skipping meals, drinking only the bitter coffee, or fortifying himself with the shark's liver tonic, sold in barrels at local health food stores; and now him and his chick were gone at sea. This man is no more.

But worse luck, called salao, the very most bad form of awful luck, had befallen the man's two friend's, his animal pet's a boa constrictor and a large aged tiger. Both now lived under the porch of the small beach hut he had inhabited. When the woman had came to the island, the snake and tiger were dismissed from the house and delegated to live under the hut. They could no longer listen to the American football with their old friend and they would never get to go to America to see the football as the had always planned to do.

The boa constrictor was first to venture out from under the hut for he was very hungry and wanted to find and eat the boy. The boy was also a friend of the old fisherman but when the woman had summarily dismissed him he didn't accept his fate and act like a true fisherman; he had sulked and often for hours on end threw rock after rock at the boa constrictor, stuck under the porch. The boy felt angry that he could no longer bring the man coffee, listen to tales of football and the great Dick Butkus or even help the man carry the large heavy wooden cross that the man dragged around. Note the boy symbolizes the past, and the boa constrictor must kill part of himself.

The tiger was lazy and often just slept and dreamed of the American football and the Detroit lions. But, the tiger also got very hungry and decided to walk the beach by the ocean in the moonlight and try to find, kill and eat the shark, the great dunsuto, that had eaten his old friend, the fisherman. The tiger was sad because he knew the old man had worked hard his whole life, first as a great arm wrestler, then an ambulance driver for the Italian army in WW 1, and then a reporter, and a career as a man's man; hunting, fishing, you know, - the ladies, always striving to live life on his own terms, but sidetracked by his failings and concern for the welfare of others.

The boa constrictor killed and ate the boy and local fisherman killed and skinned the snake and hung his long tail on the dock. A rich American lady tourist saw the beautiful snake skin and tail and wanted a nice purse made out of it and a new industry was born to help poor Cubans survive, and they could now, have, rather than have not.

The tiger is still down there roaming the beaches in the moonlight waiting for the American football to come to him, maybe a Havana franchise. Then he can sit in his lazy boy chair and dream of the Detroit-Havana lions. Then the great cycle of life will be complete. Note the tiger symbolizes our dreams.

The moral of the story-don't strive for fame as a writer be content to be a fisherman instead.
With all do respect and affection, and in all Earnestness Mr. H your pupil needs to get rid of his salao. While I dream bring me your brilliance.


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