NATIA & The Invisible Island of Sawaiki

Meeting ghost

The swimming pool on the seventh deck was a large one. It was like an indoor- outdoor pool. Half of it was inside, with the other half spreading on to the open deck. She put her towel on one of the chairs and got into the pool. The water was not cold yet. It was a little near to lukewarm.

Natia swam around a bit. Did a few laps. And then just floated on top of the water. She likes to do that. She could do that for hours- floating.

And her mind was so clear now. Water always has that kind of effect on her. Be it physical or emotional troubles, being in water always makes it better. She should be born as a water creature in her next life. Maybe she was one in her previous life.

With a clear mind, she felt stupid about a lot of things she thought and said earlier. She was drunk with just one shot of vodka! Who knew she was such a lightweight? And it wasn’t like she had never had alcohol before. She used to have a few sips of vine now and then at home. So it was a bit unexpected. Maybe it was just a bad reaction to vodka, like she had to many other food and beverage items in her early childhood. Maybe her tolerance will get better. It wasn’t that she wanted to be a heavy drinker or something. But, she definitely didn’t want to get drunk at just one shot.

A small sound alerted her to someone’s presence. She got up from her floating position to check who it was.

And there, leaning a bit against the railings, stood Mr. Ghost.

“I am sorry. Did I startle you? I was just checking who was in the pool at this time,” Ghost said.

“Not really,” Natia replied.

It would have frightened her if she hadn’t seen him earlier. He wasn’t wearing a crew uniform. And his behavior was odd for a crew member on this yacht. So far, the other crew members on this yacht have acted almost invisible to the guests. They only appeared when they were needed. This man has a long way to go if he wanted to blend in with the rest of the crew. She thought.

And the things she heard about him should have put her on guard. Papa told the rest of the crew to keep an eye on him, despite him saving Aleksandr. He was a literal ghost with an untraceable background. And she was alone with him now, while everybody else was sleeping. It should have made her at least wary of him, if not frightened. Only, it didn’t.

He had this air of familiarity with him that put her at ease. It was quite surprising. With his looks, the large muscular body and tattoos, he had the looks of an underground fighter, or what she thought a bad boy underground fighter would look like. It must be his eyes. While she couldn’t clearly see his expressions with all the tattoos on his face, his eyes were nothing but kind and gentle.

Natia was jolted out of her thoughts when he asked her the question.

“You don’t remember me, do you?!”

Natia looked at him surprised. ‘Remember him? It was the first time she was meeting him!!’ Weirdly though, the picture of a huge red shrimp again came to her mind. She shook her head, confused. Was she still drunk? No, that’s not it. She took another look at the man.

He was tall, like six and half feet tall. Had flame red hair. If you look closely, you can see his skin also had a reddish tint to it. Like when you are burnt by the sun, though it was not obvious with all the tattoos. That must be it. His red hair and reddish skin must have played with her drunken-state- mind to project the image of a red shrimp. It was a vivid picture that, it got stuck in her mind. That’s why she was reminded of it again. She reasoned.

But, why shrimp, though? There are many other red animals, like.......Ah..like a red starfish? or a lady bug? Alright. She was more familiar with the shrimp since she ate them often. That’s it.

Why does he think she should remember him though, when they had never met before? Warm brown eyes were looking at her with a mix of expectation and anticipation. Then it struck her. Of course!

I think you are mistaken.” She said gently.

“I am?” He was looking at her confused.

“You must be looking for my sister Sofia. She was the one who was on the yacht when you saved Aleksandr.” Although Sofia had said she hadn’t had a chance to talk to him, it was possible that he saw her. Sofia and her were not similar, but it happened almost a decade ago. It’s possible for him to mistake her for Sofia.

She saw a flash of disappointment on his face.

“Oh.” He said. Then he seemed to be contemplating something. Natia thought he was going to leave, when he didn’t say anything for sometime. But, he then turned to her and smiled.

“I am sorry. I didn’t introduce myself. I am ‘the red ghost of the trench’. But, everyone here simply calls me ghost.”

Natia stared at him, her mouth hanging open.

“Red ghost of the trench?!! That’s your real name? Like your parents actually named you that?” Who names their child ghost?! She wondered.

“No. I acquired that name.”

“Oh." A nickname then. "So, what’s your real name?”

Ghost paused for a moment. He seemed hesitant. Natia remembered his untraceable background then. Was he some criminal who didn’t want to reveal his personal information? She regretted asking. He could be dangerous.

Oh my god! She didn’t put her sister in danger by saying it must be her he was looking for, did she? Was he really looking for Sofia? Trying to corner her alone without no one being around? Why? No. You must be overthinking, Natee.

“I was called storm in my language when I was young.” Ghost finally said, putting a stop to Natia’s wild thoughts. It only occurred to Natia then that ‘Red ghost of the trench’ must also be a translation from some language. She didn’t ask which language though. She decided not to ask him any personal questions, just for a safety, even though she didn’t really feel any danger looking at him. In fact, she felt like she had met him before, which was ridiculous.

Nobody said anything for some time. Natia again wondered if he was going to leave, when the silence stretched. But, Ghost wasn't done talking.

“So, you are master Andrey’s youngest child.” Said Ghost, breaking the silence.

Only then had Natia remembered that she hadn’t introduced herself.

“Ah yes. I am Trinity Maria.”

“Hmm. Trinity Maria.” He seemed to be mulling over it. “Trinity means 'a union of three'. And Maria means 'from the sea'. A union of three, from the sea. That’s an interesting name.”

“I don’t think it was intended to mean that.” She was named Trinity by her mother and Maria was given by her father seven years after. And she doesn’t think either of the names were given to her because of their meaning. Mom named her Trinity after a character in a book she had read and papa named her Maria after his mother.

“Really? I don’t think so. It suits you very much anyway.”

Suits her? What does he mean?

“But, a bit long for calling, I would say." He continued. "To think of a nickname.... Let’s see... Trinity....How does Natia sound?”

Natia stared at him, shocked and unable to say anything. No-one here calls her Natia.

“How do you know that? Who are you really?” She asked when she found her voice.

“What? I just came up with it because Master Andrey hid you all these years. Natia means 'hidden treasure', you know?” He then gave her a searching look. “You are actually called that?! Whoever gave you that name has a good sense of naming, I would say.”

Natia didn’t believe him. She already suspected they had met before. Now she was almost sure of that. But, how and where?!!

The man seemed to be in his forties. But, he could be older, if the story he told nine years ago, about losing his wife and child in the ocean decades prior to that, was true.

Even though he was denying any familiarity with her, by his words; there was this look he was giving her, like he expected her to realize something (or recognize him?) at anytime.

When nothing came to her after racking her brains for sometime, she decided to go back to her room.

Sleep didn’t come to her with ease. She lay awake thinking about many things. It was almost morning when she finally managed to fall asleep.

Natia saw a strange dream in her sleep. She was in San Francisco. Grandpa was fishing from the steps of their private staircase to the beach. The water level had risen so much that the last steps of the staircase were in the water. She was watching him from the higher steps. Grandpa catches a huge red shrimp. The shrimp has Mr. ghost’s head.

Two more shrimps emerge from the water then. They had large front claws; more like lobsters. The ghost shrimp winks at Natia and jumps back into the water. The other two shrimps beckon her to join them with their claws. They had the faces of mother and grandmother then.

Suddenly, grandpa and papa are at her side, holding her back from jumping into the ocean. A c***k appears on her face and spreads downwards. A shrimp appears from the c***k.