An Ordinary Drowning, Book One of The Mermaid's Pendant Read Online Free PDF Page A

with
a flirty breeze tangy with salt. John closed his eyes and sighed again. All his
senses had heightened. Sounds were clearer, smells sharper. Even his sunburn
had cooled.
    Sitting
up, he scooped some sand and let its powder slip through his fingers. It was as
fine as confectioner’s sugar and almost as white. An urge overcame him and he
scooped up more and rubbed it into his stubble. The sand felt less gritty than
he did. He grinned. He was alive and he’d never felt better.
    His
stomach rumbled. He was hungry. He rummaged in his backpack and found a
Snickers bar. Breakfast of champions it was not, but it would do for now.
    It
wasn’t until he bent over his sleeping bag, smoothing it before rolling, that
he remembered the dream. It was less a vision than a memory of movement, a
flowing along dark, swift currents studded with lights and teeming with music.
Infinity swirled at his feet and forever arched over his head. He’d been
without form, yet he’d been everything. He’d traveled alone, silent—yet not
alone. A multitude of others swam beside him. Together, they swam always, yet
they needed no destination. Once recalled, the dream disappeared like smoke on
the breeze. Even though he’d lost its details, it left a sense of fulfillment
in its wake.
    He
hummed and stepped over snoring campers toward the Portajohns. That’s when
Zoë’s absence hit him. He hadn’t slept away from her in nine months. A shadow
crossed the sun and he glanced up reflexively. The morning brightened even
before his eyes adjusted, but his peace faded. He shook himself. He needed to
find the mystery woman.
    Not
knowing what else to do, John decided to return to the scene of his rescue.
Perhaps, in the clear light of early morning, he’d be able to spot some clue
that he’d missed from the day before. The hike over the Carlos Rosario trail
only added to his perplexity. There was no good reason to think that a stranger
happened to be hiking along this trail, heard his floundering in the canal,
dove in and pulled him out, and then returned to her hike post-haste. It just
didn’t make any sense at all. The Luís Peña Canal was a destination, not
someplace anyone would just pass by. And what had brought Ana, the local witch
woman, to the shore with her pungent herbal medicine?
    The
trail ended near the quiet little beach where his rescuer had brought him. John
searched the perimeter of the shore again, but the only thing that he found out
of the ordinary was a shriveled sea star lying exposed on a large rock. He was
the last one to know anything about sea animals, but it seemed a strange place
to find a sea star. There was something forlorn about it. He touched it with the
tip of his finger. Out here, it was nothing but some tern’s morning meal. He
cradled it on his palm and turned to face the canal.
    The last
thing that he wanted to do was go back into the ocean. He stood for a minute or
two, studying the impervious water—water that had nearly swallowed him. He
looked again at the sea star, desiccated when it should have been moist,
living. He was too late to save it, but he couldn’t leave the sea star lying on
the stones. Returning the helpless creature to the ocean was the best he could
do to set things right. He owed it to the woman who’d risked her life to save
his. Holding his breath, he took a step into the canal. The water was blood
warm and silky. It caressed his thighs and urged him deeper. He sighed and sank
to his knees. Beneath him, the sand shifted to accommodate him. He lowered the
sea star below the surface and watched as the water lifted its husk off his
palm and carried it away. The current swirled around him, alive and tender.
Like being naked and draped in satin sheets. He knew that he was alone. He saw
nothing through the crystalline water, not even a darting fish, yet fingers
stroked his calves and thighs, toyed with his hair, caressed his shoulders. A
hallucinatory torso pressed against him, arms encircled