The Voyage

I cannot tell you how many hours and days
passed with me standing at the shore looking
out at the ocean. After a while I began to wonder
at what might be in the waters. I walked to the
water and felt my feet become wet. I kept going
until the water was at my chest and began to swim.
And so I swam. I swam for days and nights without
rest. I went as long as I could and found nothing but
ocean surrounding me as far as I could see. Finally,
I saw a boat in the distance and began to swim towards
it frantically. My heart was pounding. My body was
aching from all the swimming. I couldn't give up yet,
I had to get to the boat. As I approached I could see
that it was a small wooden lifeboat. How long it had
been adrift and where it had come from I could not
begin to imagine. At last it was close enough that the
grain of wood on the planks became apparent. Pain
was wracking through me as I finally clutched the
boat. I held on for some time. There was no one
there to help. It was only the boat and I on the waves.
I managed to find enough strength to climb aboard.
Once inside there was nothing inside to give any
indication of anything. It was a simple wooden
lifeboat with one plank crossing its midsection
that I could use to sit upon. In my exhausted state I
fell asleep. A vast and dreamless sleep held me
for hours or days. I felt myself become the ocean
waters and the peace and power that is incarnate
within. Slowly my eyes opened. It was night.
Starry skies in the darkness shone upon the dark
waters. Constellations gazed into moving mirrored
waters. The night grew sick and faded into day.
The waves were gently passing by. I sat there with
no thoughts. I no longer felt hunger nor pain. I was
alive through a process I could not understand. Sleep
would come and go as it pleased through me. One
day after waking I was surprised to find a small island
off in the distance. We were quickly being pushed
towards it by the water. I could not believe. My heart
was furious and I had to calm myself through my
breathing. I could see sand and trees and all that
they promise. At last the boat beached itself onto the
sand. I fell out onto my knees and cried til I was
exhausted. When I could gather my strength I walked
the shore. In the near distance I could see something
resting on the sand. As I got closer it appeared to be
a box of some kind. The thick worn cardboard of it
was weathered. It felt like in my hands. I opened it
up and found this inscribed on a piece of paper.
"You are here now. I am here as well. Find me. Let's
end this loneliness together. Find me beneathe the
sun and stars. I am here. I am waiting." My search
for you has begun. Perhaps the end of loneliness is now.