Вадим Иванович Кучеренко
The Strait of Death
– Do you remember how the old walnut-shell “Fortune” was cracked in two parts, virtually like a nutshell, near the Cape of Hope? – In his excitement, the old man wanted to change his position in the armchair in order to be able to gesture with his arms, and Anton helped him by putting a pillow behind his back. Uncle Egor impatiently pushed away caring hands and continued. – It was made of wood and as light as a feather, both of her halves were getting out from the sea for a long time since, as if they didn’t want to rest in peace. And the whole crew of “Fortune”, starting from a sailor boy up to the boatswain perched there like hens, including the captain himself. It was a laugh!
Anton heard about that very first and thus unforgettable shipwreck of the old man so often that he thought that he would be able to see it with his own eyes. But he never mentioned that.
– We had been sitting there for two days until a passing boat took us aboard, – the old man became silent for a moment, as the story was over. But it wasn’t typical for him to drop the leading role in the talk, and having finished another glass given to him, he immediately started a new story.
– But what was that? Was it really a shipwreck? As if, pah! There were a lot of us – young fellows having fun as if we’ve had too much rum, and weren’t going be fish food soon. It is known that when you have buddies by your side, death is not scary at all. When you are alone – that’s when real fear comes, especially at night. I remember being washed away from the "Infanta" deck during the storm, don't remember how. The wave swallowed the ship and dragged me with it, hitting me with such force that I got knocked out. I woke up in the sea, holding a life savior. I still don’t know where it came from. Thrown around like a fishing buoy in the dark, swallowing mouthfuls of salt water. And then suddenly the sea became still, and the water began to glow as far as the eye could see, as if it was set on fire from the depth, and the flame reflected on the surface. I have never seen such a beauty, but the fascination was short-lived. I felt someone soft touching my leg as if it was a puppy. “What if it bites me”? And I can’t risk screaming. Who knows what could come out from the depths and what for? So I waited till morning when "Infanta" rescued me, I nearly died from a heart attack. God bless the captain. He was a good man, always taking care of his crew. Nowadays you can’t find a man like him. I was young, didn’t know much about the sea: is it kind or cruel.. Now I would not have been so much frightened, of course…
