Sunkissed

Chapter Seven

The drizzle turned to rain, and the cold breeze into icy gusts of air. It was strong enough to sway the trees throughout the island. A branch from the Jacaranda tree is tapping its branches against the window panes of Sandra’s office.

Sandra sets off an exhausted sigh. She straightened her back and leaned back to her leather chair. It made a satisfying squeak as she put her weight onto its livebar. With her, was Mr. Vidal, who’s quietly observing the torrential winds outside her window. He seemed to be enjoying himself, Sandra observed. This had been going on for a solid fifteen minutes since she welcomed him inside her office. He said he wanted to have a word with her. But since then, he has not spoken, besides a few comments on how the winds are strong and what poor object or is being caught in the wind.

He amused himself by silently mocking those caught in the rain. He snickered as he watched those who are still stranded at whatever shelter they could stay in, and those who chose to brave the elements, only to be met with failure.

Sandra, being exasperated by this old reptile snickering at himself to his twisted amusement, raised her voice: “ I thought we was going to talk. Was there something you wanted to tell me? I’ve got plenty of other things to do.”

Vidal, still looking outside. “ The storm, it keeps getting stronger…” His tone shifted. “ It will eat up everything in its wake.”

“ I’m working on it,” Sandra replied hastily. “It’s beautiful, chaos.” Vidal said. And removed himself from the window and walked towards Sandra at her desk.

“ Life begets life. It is the natural order. Chaos and life come hand in hand. It is the big bang that created our universe. Like maggots sprung out of the dead. Sandra, do you know what happens to old whales when they’re at the sunset of their lives?”

“ No, but I doubt that its not different from what I’m looking at,” Sandra, retorted. Vidal barely lost his composure, and brushed her off.

“ Even the mighty whale sometimes meets death in an awkward position. When a whale gets too old, sometimes they lose their energy to swim- they just stay below the depths, waiting to be consumed by the blackened waters and let nature do its thing.”

Sandra rolled her eyes, she wasn’t going to listen to another one of his ramblings. But before she could speak,

“ They sink. To the bottom of the sea. Leaving a trail of decomposing flesh and bone.” He grins. And raises his arms sideways, as if embracing something from the sky.

“A tower of blood, a tower of life.As it sinks deeper below, the larger the streak of deep red grows. Like a lighthouse, but instead of warning seafarers of rocky shores, it calls upon the denizens of the deep. From the simplest microbe to the sea’s bottom-dwellers, all rejoice in the gift above. Life begets life. As one tragic death of a colossus, it brings forth a new ecosystem that could be sustained for many years. Chaos and creation, death and life, are all part of the cycle we are caught in. Whale fall.”

Vidal made another grand gesture. “ And who are we to stop such a thing?” Glancing at Sandra, who was visibly annoyed.

“ Having fun? I don’t have time for this; you’ve already wasted plenty of my time,” Sandra sternly replied. Her eyes glared at him.

“ I’ll leave. Just wanted to clear something up in my head. Thank you.” Vidal smiled. He gathered his things on Sandra’s chair; a leather satchel and an umbrella.

“ Wait.” Vidal was already halfway towards the door when Sandra asked.

“ Your pin.”

“ Ah, yes.” He scurried his way back to her desk and removed the pin from his jacket. Vidal, exhales as he takes one final look at the red pin.

He smiles and hands it over to Sandra’s extended palm.

“ Here. Heh- never really liked it that much. Too tacky.”

Vidal left without a word. But Sandra notices something. He left her today’s newspaper. The headline: A new body was found. Public unrest is at an all-time high because of these strange incidents. Under the black-and- white image of the scene, a tidbit of the weather forecast. The storm is to make its landfall in 3 days. Evacuation is advised.