Tide
The Odyssey of Jonah Abbott: Part 2
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3
This is a limited serial, which I have finally named The Odyssey of Jonah Abbott. Refresh your memory of Part 1 titled “HELP” here. This episode was written under the influence of this song. Thank you for your patience while I put this series together. I hope you enjoy!
The waves washed over the man. He bobbed to the surface long enough to gasp for another windy, rainy breath, before a wave crashed over him again. There was a boat nearby, it was at an odd angle, the mast and sails sticking unnaturally out of the sea. Another wave crashed over him. He turned to look around him. Behind him, the opposite direction from the boat, was another man. His friend, Peter. His eyes were wide with fear—another wave. Reality was turning over and over with the waves. He was between the boat and Peter—panic. What’s the right thing to do? He sees a few men scrambling over the side of the sinking boat. They’re trying to save the boat. They’re getting farther away. He started to swim towards them. In a trough between waves, Peter called out to him.
“JONAH!”
Jonah kept swimming.
I sat on the shore, watching the light fade and my shadow crawl desperately towards the sea. I don’t know how long I was sitting there. I needed to get away. Away from the stranger. Away from the ghost. Away from the village. Away from inquiring eyes. Away from it all.
Peter’s voice echoed in my mind. Help him.
I frowned at the waves as they nibbled at my feet, like some kind of monster clawing at me, trying to pull me under.
I heard footsteps approaching behind me. Layla. I smiled sheepishly at her. “You found me.”
“You’re not hard to find. When you’re in your head, you always come out here.” Behind her, our home had lights shining dimly. “Kids are down. Now I need to wrangle my dear husband in.” She sat down next to me in the sand, I put an arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder.
“Thank you, dearest.” I said.
“What’s on your mind?”
I sighed heavily, looked out to the gathering dark, the waves crashing. “Too much.” I replied. “Too many things. Too many worries.”
“What did the stranger say?”
I rubbed my face tiredly with my free hand. “He’s from the Easterlands. His name is Martin. He has a…”
Help him.
“He has a ghost. There’s more to the story…I don’t quite understand. But he needs our help.”
“A ghost? What does that mean? How can you help with that?”
“A voice, a spirit. Who is with him, who speaks to him. Who needs to be put to rest.”
“He told you this?”
“I—no. Not exactly.” I grabbed a handful of sand, and tossed it anxiously it towards the sea.
Layla put a reassuring hand on my arm. “Come inside, Jonah. Enough of this talk. I can tell it’s weighing on you. Let’s get some sleep and figure it all out in the morning.”
I offered my hand to help her get to her feet, and followed suit. “Okay.” I reluctantly agreed. Tomorrow.
Tomorrow would be an interesting day.
“He talked to you yesterday, Elder Jonah.” Dr. Lee was waiting for me on the steps of the clinic.
I sighed. “Good morning, Dr. Lee. Yes, he was able to speak.”
“What did he say?”
“I want to talk to him again. I want to see if he can tell the same story twice.”
“But what did he say?”
“It doesn’t matter right now. I—”
“Jonah, may I speak freely?”
Breathe.
“Of course, Dr. Lee. You know I value your candor.”
Dr. Lee paused, took a breath, like what he was about to say was going to erupt out of his chest.
“Jonah, something is wrong. You aren’t telling me everything. The patient won’t talk to me. I can feel when something isn’t right, someone is not being honest with me. And I don’t want it to be you. I don’t like being kept in the dark. If rumors and uncertainty spread, what can I say? We have to talk to the village. It is my job—”
“It is your job to look after the health of the patient!” I interrupted. “You view him like a splinter that needs to be removed from the comfortable, wholesome integrity of our village, but he is a man that needs help. Your concern is health—heal him! But let me worry about the village.” I felt my face flush with anger. “I have to act with an abundance of caution. I am being cautious.”
“You know as well as I do that caution can be costly,” Dr. Lee retorted.
“I’m done discussing this. I have to talk to the patient, I have to think.”
“The patient is resting now. It is not a good time.”
“Then wake him up!” I shouted.
People started poking their heads out of their homes, hearing the confrontation happening on the steps of the clinic. I was conscious of their eyes on me while I looked up the steps to Dr. Lee.
He shook his head. “No. It is not best for the patient.”
We glared at each other, a standoff. My mind was swirling. “When I come back—I am going to talk to the patient. Make sure he is ready.” I turned on my heels and stalked away, towards the sea.
Breathe.
“Breathe.” I muttered to myself. “Breathe. What does that do. How does that help?” The sun was rising higher over the village, the heat of the day beating down on me, falling like the weight of judgement. I let myself burn in the sun. I deserved it. I needed it.
“Dr. Lee is so focused on the village. That’s my job. MINE! Let me worry about it. Can’t he just let me worry about it? I will assemble everyone. But I don’t have a plan. He’s not helping me. He’s hurting me! He gets one stranger in his clinic and now he’s an expert on the village!”
The calm rushing of the waves answered me.
“I don’t have a plan. I need a plan!” I pounded my fist into my hand. “I can’t do anything without a plan.”
The stranger, Martin, had told me his story. I rolled the story over in my mind…
“My family were aristocrats in the Easterlands—nobles. Our family ruled our village for decades,” he had said. “A rival family wanted to take over. We were attacked. I fled, but my brother—he was the older, he had a family. He saw me as I was running, he asked me to help, asked me to fight. I panicked. I turned and ran as the attackers overwhelmed the gates. I made it to a boat, I started sailing west—their ships caught up to me, attacked me in the sea, beat me, threw me in the water. I thought I was dead. But I was worse than dead—I was alive, I was a coward. My ghost—my ghost is my brother. His spirit found me. He haunts me, judges me for my cowardice. I must go back. I must go back.”
“What must you do?” I had asked.
“My brother tells me you have a ghost too.” He had said, after a pause and a conference with his invisible partner.
“What do you need to do?” I was determined to get the answer.
“Do you listen to your ghost, Jonah? Do you let him speak to you?” He looked at me as if he already knew the answer.
“Please, tell me!”
“I have to go back. I must find my brother.” Martin said.
“What do you need from me?” I pleaded desperately.
“I have to go back…” Martin collapsed in his bed, and fell asleep.
I returned to the present from the memory. I realized I was knee deep in the water.
I needed to talk to Martin again. I needed a plan.
I took a deep breath.
“Are you happy, Peter?” I thought. I turned, and began the walk back to the village.
I could tell something was different as I approached the village. People were milling about in the streets, my wife was standing on the front steps, her arms crossed—a tell-tale sign she was worried. She saw me before anyone else—the slightest movement in her head told me she spotted me. A few moments later, a villager saw me, and exclaimed. A few ran forward to reach me.
“Elder Jonah! Elder Jonah! Dr. Lee has called an assembly.”
“Elder Jonah! Is it about the stranger?” another asked.
“Elder Jonah! What is going on?” inquired a third.
“Elder Jonah! It is unusual for Dr. Lee to call an assembly without you. What are you going to do?”
Tell the truth.
“I don’t know what I am going to do,” I said. By now I had arrived at the village, they were ushering me down the street. “I will see you at the assembly hall. Let me speak to my wife.”
I disengaged from the crowd, and walked up to my wife. She was biting her lip.
“What’s happening?” she asked as I climbed the steps.
“You know how you said we would figure it all out in the morning?”
“Have you?”
“Not in the slightest. But it seems Dr. Lee is forcing the issue. So we’ll figure it out.”
“Are you ready?”
I paused. That was an interesting question, not what I expected. Leave it to Layla to cut to the heart of the issue. I sighed heavily, and wrapped her in my arms. “No.” I said, gravely. “It will be okay, though. Everything happens for a reason. Let’s find out the reason.”
She nodded, “Okay.”
The assembly hall was the largest building in the village. It had a platform for speakers, a dais, and a large space with seats for the whole village. I had spoken there many times, for many reasons—but this was the first time I felt like I was on trial.
I was seated on the platform, with some other distinguished villagers, people of particular respect and honor. Dr. Lee looked sheepish, despite having called the assembly—he knew he was out of line, but clearly did it anyway. The assembly hall was packed with all the villagers, who had streamed in to get clarity to the rumors about the stranger, or to witness the salacious drama—or both.
Dr. Lee approached the dais and brought the assembly to order.
“Friends! Friends, welcome. Thank you for gathering so quickly,” he began. “I know this is all very irregular, but we have an irregular circumstance on our hands, and I felt it was important to tackle the issue head-on. Many of you have heard rumors, and I feel it is best to eliminate rumor and present to you the facts.”
Dr. Lee continued, “A stranger appeared on our shores yesterday morning. He washed up with the morning tide, and was found on the beach by Elder Jonah. Some of you assisted in carrying this stranger to my clinic where he has been receiving care.”
“This stranger showed some troubling signs from the beginning. He was catatonic—in a state of shock. He had wounds, like he had been beaten, all over his body. He furthermore had wounds on his hands, as if he had done some fighting himself.”
“Since his arrival in my clinic, he has only spoken to Elder Jonah, and yet everything about him concerns me. I have heard him babbling like a crazy man—and yet Elder Jonah treats him like a sane man and has not shared any details with me pertinent to his care. I am afraid that this man is a pirate, a criminal, a crook—a danger to all of you. And for some reason as yet unknown, Elder Jonah is protecting him. My friends, you deserve answers. You deserve to know what Elder Jonah knows. I think every day this stranger stays in our midst, is another day we are in danger. That is why I acted swiftly to gather this assembly so we may all learn and all decide what to do.”
Dr. Lee’s smooth-talking from the dais infuriated me. He was impatient to prove himself for some purpose unknown to me.
Dr. Lee concluded with a flourish, and said: “I now invite Elder Jonah to the dais,” and stepped away, and avoided my gaze as he took a seat on the far side of the stage.
Tell the truth.
I stood, and slowly walked up to the podium. “Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and family—I am as surprised as you to find myself called to assembly.” A wave of polite chuckling radiated through the crowd.
“Dr. Lee is correct that we have a visitor among us. What a strange event for our quiet village! This assembly is premature. I have not concluded my own assessment of the stranger. He has asked, through me, for our help. I see no reason not to help him so far. I would think kindness to a stranger would be a virtue more than a vice. As he heals from his wounds under the expert care of Dr. Lee, I hope to better assess what kind of help he needs and whether we are able to offer it to him.” I scanned the crowd, blank faces not receiving the drama perhaps they hoped for.
“Let me illuminate the situation more. Dr. Lee is right—so far, the stranger has only spoken to me. He told me his name is Martin, and that he is from the Easterlands.” The mention of the Easterlands sent a curious shiver through the crowd. “As far as I know, he just wants to go back. The particulars of how he came to our shores don’t seem important, especially if we can help him on his way.”
I relinquished the dais, and returned to my seat. What more could I say?
But then, Dr. Lee returned to speak.
“Elder Jonah speaks wisely. But he hasn’t told us everything.”
My heart skipped a beat in my chest.
Tell the truth.
“Elder Jonah, I overheard him speaking to you.”
My blood ran cold.
Dr. Lee continued, “I heard him say he has a ghost. I heard him say you have one too.”
My heart was beating in my throat.
“Elder Jonah, do you care to enlighten us as to what this is about?”
I heard the pounding of my heart in my ears, and looked at the crowd of curious eyes with a new terror. I felt like I was lost in the sea, reality tumbling with pounding waves.
I heard Peter’s voice. “JONAH!”
To be continued…
Did you enjoy this story? Would you like to read more? Check out other flash fiction from The Volume section of Gibberish!
Thank you for reading!
AJPM
Dr. Lee is a snotface and Elder Jonah needs a lawyer. That is all.
I feel like Jonah would have been better off attacking Dr. Lee first. Point out that his job is to protect life and he's currently doing the opposite of that. Because he is being a Karen right now and needs to be shut down.