Hitchhike

Intro

I was awakened abruptly that night. A crew member shook me awake and told me I had to get up to the deck immediately. Unsteady on my legs and in a fog of seasickness, I did my best to crawl to the stairs. Holding tightly to the railing, I pulled myself up the steps from the bedroom to the boat’s living room, and then up another set of stairs to the top deck. I made it to the front of the boat, where nets covered the floor.

It was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything for a few seconds — only the stars and blurry silhouettes of the other passengers. Then I heard a voice shout, “Look!” I turned my attention to the water, and there they were: luminous dolphins swimming through the ocean like shooting stars falling across the night sky.

They were criss-crossing ahead and beside our catamaran, leading us into the biggest adventure of my life. It was the most magical, unforgettable sight I have ever witnessed in my life. These playful companions would have gone completely unnoticed if it wasn’t for an organism called phytoplankton. This plankton lights up when disturbed, which ultimately results in a bright glow wherever the dolphins are in motion.

We could see them as they were approaching the boat due to their shooting-star-like sparkling trails. These trails stayed lit up for some time, creating an illusion of contrails from airplanes, only they were shining in bright blue and green. These angels of the night zigzagged in front of the sailboat, and their trails mixed with ours as the boat sailed across their paths.

Some dolphins chose to guide us into the night, some chose to jump around, leaving a colorful mark in the water where they surfaced and where they landed. As they painted the darkness with light, my soul felt more alive than ever before. It was a pivotal moment that would stay with me forever.

I heard myself repeating only one sentence, like a mantra: I can’t believe this, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. My mind was so occupied with the indescribable beauty of this scene, that my body forgot about the seasickness.

Time passed differently as I watched these dolphins. It could have been 5 minutes or 30 minutes, I honestly couldn’t say. But for however long it lasted, it was imprinted vividly in my memory. The dolphins marked the first day of our two-week-long trip across the Atlantic. We could not have asked for a better sign to ensure us that it would be the story of a lifetime.

Looking for a literary agent — hitchhiked 12.500 miles on land and water over a year-long journey to save my own life, for more, contact me: myseven.w@gmail.com