The Sailor And The Nymph
Came a wind that called Sailor Bill one day. "Come sail with me," said the wind. And he did. On a fresh new morning with the sun on the water, he turned his ship out into the sea and steered for the horizon.
And the wind carried him well. He headed up strange coastlines and around foreign capes, through rocky straits and past foaming reefs. Dolphins surfed on his wake. Seagulls cheered him on. "Come sail with me," the wind called. And Bill listened.
With his face to the salt spray, he beat upwind to the great icebergs. He cruised back down to tropical seas. He felt as a brother to the flying fish and the albatross and the whale. No sailor went farther. "I am the greatest sailor that ever was," Bill shouted to the wind. "I am the greatest sailor that ever will be." And then with out thinking he said, "I am the king of the wind." And just that quickly the wind stopped.
Bill’s boat floated like a leaf on a calm fall day. The wind had deserted its self-proclaimed king. He stared into the wallowing sea. The dolphins had deserted him. The whales were not to be seen. A gull screeched in the distance. Bill was alone.
On the first day Sailor Bill shook his fist at the sun and waited for the wind to return.
On the second day he screamed at the clouds to bring back the wind.
On the third day he stared off into the empty sky.
On the fourth day Bill ran out of water to drink.
And still he floated like a leaf on a calm fall day.
From off on the horizon came a canoe with a lone paddler. The paddler stroked the water slowly and steadily until he skidded up next to Bill’s ship. "I have come to help you," the canoeist said, "now that the wind has left you."
"I’m the greatest sailor that’s ever been," said Bill, "the greatest that ever will be. I will help myself." The lone paddler glided away, and Bill waited for the wind that did not return.
The next day the canoeist returned. "I will help you," he said, "now that the wind has left you."
And Bill said, "I’m the greatest sailor that has ever been, the greatest that ever will be. I will help myself." And the lone paddler left again.
But the wind didn’t come back, and Sailor Bill got thirstier. The salt and the sun burned on his face. He lay in the bottom of his boat, weakened and helpless, slipping off into restless dreams. Once again the lone canoeist returned. "Please let me help you," the canoeist said again, "now that the wind has left you."
"Go away simple man," Bill said. "I am the greatest sailor that has ever been. I am the greatest sailor that ever will be. I will help myself."
So on he lay with cracked lips and withered skin in the quiet and the heat. Then Bill heard scratching and climbing on the outside of the ship. An arm appeared over the side. "Monsters," Bill cried. "Beasts come to get me."
With an oar and fish knife he fought back the beasts he saw coming over the side of his boat. He flailed at there tentacles and claws meant to carry the stranded sailor away. He struggled again and again with his enemies on through the night and into the day. And when the beasts finally fled, Bill was left again with only the sea and the sun and the calm.
Too weak to move, the sailor lay motionless in his boat for all of that day and on into the moonlit night. Then Bill heard rustling again like that of the beasts he had battled before.
He struggled up and crouched waiting for another battle. But this time no beast entered his boat, but rather a beautiful creature gliding on glassine wings floated down onto the deck and smiled at Bill. "A sea nymph," Bill whispered. He recalled the sea goddesses from the tales of his boyhood, protectors of the wayward sailor. The creature spread its airy wings to catch the moonlight and send sparkles like diamonds about the boat. "I will help you," the creature said. Bill could not disagree. He accepted the nymph's offering. The sweet, cool water flowed life back into the weakened sailor as he stared up into the loving face of the sea nymph.
Bill fell back into a deep sleep and dreamed once again, but this time of a breeze that filled his sails and carried him far away to his homeland and his life back on the shore. When he awoke the breeze did blow cool and fresh. And as the wind filled his sails and the boat eased away, the sailor looked off to the horizon. There he saw a lone canoe with a lone paddler gliding off into the distance.
