Luana Ambivalence

I sat buffing my monument of nobility that appeared in my dreams. A mirror shine, as always. A faint buzzer went off in my room. The walls were coated in morning light. The radio clicked on and (as it turns out) I interrupted a major turning point: "Time of death: 7:20AM, Cause of death: 'Weather-related electrocution' - well that's it doctor, we did all we could - you should be commended for your effort."

The doctor hung his head and closed his eyes, his hand still holding a bag of oxygen - he felt as if he had given up. A nurse reassured him that this would not impact his status as chief resident. "How does she know," he muttered as he pulled off his gloves. He had flashes of nature in an overexposed state: blades of grass poking through the soil, butterflies emerging from their ugly wrappings, a bird diving down and gliding for the first time, an apple falling from a tower. Image flashes such as these propelled him forward forcefully. Call it 'delusional' if you must.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special announcement from the Coast Guard: As of 0730, gale-forced winds may shake things up near the gulf. Clipper ships, consider yourselves warned!"

I stepped out onto the deck, I noticed some of my crew had eaten breakfast already. "Good morning you wild taxonomists of the Southern half of our earthball. Did we name anything last night?" I looked around and no one really noticed me. "Yeah we actually saw a two-of-sixteen trichordate and named it." I thought of Gaia and knew she'd be pleased, so I guiltily filled out some forms for her and filed them away. Gaia was simply stunning, long hair...flowin' down, on the ocean...waves splashing down (against an enormous land mass).

"What did you name it?"

"Luana."

A sharp wave crest slammed the side of our ship, and then a few smaller ones followed. We really took off after that. Blazing down the shoreline, a powerful, frothy wake erupted behind our clipper ship. In a display of unanimous strength, the bow raised slightly out of the water and the wind whipped in then around the vacuum and howled so loudly men working on the docks stood up and shed tears of awe. I cried a little too, but mostly I gripped the wheel with one hand and held her steady. I pushed the throttle to its limit, knowing full well that any added velocity at this point came from the whims of the winds, tides, and fortunes.

Below the deck, I scribbled some personal thoughts on a notepad I bought back on mainland. Sheesh.