Countless flocks of seagulls had covered the sky with their voices, a whole colony had appeared in the canopy of the vast sky of the small island, hugging every shore and every rock with their aerial flight.
For the captain they symbolized freedom and the flight of the soul to other distant and dreamy worlds beyond the borders of human existence. Every time he gazed at the blue sky he cried and reminisced about the life he lived and all that was etched in his memory, you remembered sometimes happy and sometimes bitter, but he always said, that's how life is sometimes good times and sometimes storms but the good sailor in the storm he looks and smiles like the lavender he was.
Captain Michalis lived in Amorgos, his special hometown and his companion in recent years was his great love the sea and the splashes of the waves. Every day he went out to sea in his boat, spread his nets patiently and gazed at the deep sea that lay before him!
The Captain's soul rejoiced and in his shattered memory he recalled the joys and sorrows of his life. The breeze of the sea was enough to warm his heart. "My dear life you are the sea... and my winged friends" he monologued each time and seemed happy to still be able to face the wonders of nature.
One morning the Captain had an unexpected and pleasant visit in his boat, as he sat meditatively every day and gazed at the sea before setting out again to bring out our arson bread. His little grandson Nikolas had come to see him. He was shouting from afar "My grandfather, where are you, I missed you so much, I had so many days to see you" and as soon as he saw him, his soul laughed and said to him immeasurably "I have longed to see you for days, my son". And the little one exclaimed with joy "I came for you to take me for a ride today" and they both set off for a beautiful sea trip in the company of their swift friends, who covered the sky and hugged the golden and purple shore with their wings, sometimes diving into the blue and calm waters and sometimes in the raging waves.
The captain felt so happy to have his handsome grandson company and Nicholas was so excited. "My grandfather, I thank you for doing me the favor of taking me with you on the silver waves" and Captain Michalis felt proud. She loved him very much and Nicholas adored him. They had a special psychic bond since the day the sweet little wizard was born, as if a spring splash had touched the heart of the cruel and lonely Captain with tiny little drops of love and affection for the miracle of new life that had come to sweeten and his own life.
The sun had warmed up for good with its golden rays and the little frost that was left from the morning breeze. The mist that covered the sky looked like ethereal veils that were slowly receding into the deep blue of the vast sky.
Captain Michalis opened his boat in the embrace of the sea together with Nikolas side by side to discover new sea adventures that would completely touch their souls, as they would remember all that they experienced on that magical day.
The breath of the sea inundated with iodine and the imperceptible splash of the waves was the Captain's oxygen flooding his breeches. Nicholas was holding his grandfather's hand, smiling at him and saying:
"My grandfather you are a great captain" and he proudly looked at him and boasted. "Oh God, he kept telling me, what else do I want from my life anymore? I experienced everything in this sea!" He wanted nothing else from his life at that moment, except a warm and tender hug from his beloved grandson.
"My grandfather, Nicholas whispered longingly to him, I know you are the Captain of life but I have a question, can you solve a mystery for me?" Captain Michalis looked him in the eyes smiling and said "what do you want my boy", "I want you to tell me if there are mermaids I can't wait to meet them, I have been told that their bodies are half human and the other half fish... is it true my grandfather?' and then the Captain took on his serious tone and said to him "of course, my Nikola, it is true and now I will tell you a legend that all sailors know. The story of a mermaid who was the sister of Alexander the Great.
According to mythology, Alexander the Great entrusted his sister with the water of immortality, which he obtained after killing the dragon that guarded it. But his sister spilled it before her brother could use it, so he cursed her to become a fish from the waist down and wander the seas, transforming her into a mermaid. But she, knowing the harm she had done to her brother, did not hold a grudge against him and anxiously stops the ships that will be in her way and asks the sailors... "is King Alexander alive?" ... and if she gets the correct answer, "He lives and reigns and dominates the world", then she is contentedly lost in the depths of the sea, otherwise the sinking of the ship and the drowning of the crew are certain!!
The little boy was only scared for a moment and said impatiently, "Have you met mermaids up close, Grandpa?" have they spoken to you? And the Captain said to his little grandson, my little pirate, of all this Sea has, it is a great secret treasure, and yet unexplored by the eyes of men. When you grow up and travel you will discover a world of your own, like all of us in this life" and they continued their walk on the open sea in the company of the seagulls that hugged the sky from end to end in a wonderful feast . The captain stood for a while with his boat, spreading his nets. The little boy was delighted with the mastery with which his grandfather fished and collected all these fish in the sea.
She cried to him longingly, "Grandpa, look at the little fish, can you let them play carefree and happy a little longer? ” and so they spent the whole day together, a day that neither the Captain nor Nicholas ever forgot.
"But what a day she was saying and saying again", Captain Michalis monologued and felt an immense happiness to have wrapped his clothes, as if after so many years of endless searching in the seas he had lived, he had finally found the treasure he was looking for a whole Zoe. Deeply moved, he took Nikolas's hand and the two now embraced, walked into the dusk on the beach and promised to keep this day as a talisman in the cold and icy days and nights of winter!
From the anecdotal collection of short stories "Stories of the Sea"
