From The Whale

Kid finds freedom in most unlikely of places

Jesse Fletcher's days were filled with what had become a routine of tranquility and comfort, where the everyday extravaganzas were really a multitude of recurring events.

Fletcher, a 26-year-old Ph.D. Electrical Engineer whiz from the academia of TAMU who just left InspiraTech, L.L.C. for Intel and was taking a two-week hiatus while in transition mode, enjoyed his days of predictability and the ones where even the most time consuming of tasks completed his 9 to 5.

“Fletch”, as his colleagues had taken to calling him from work discussions and guy talk over the last year or two, also had another facet to him that he never really mentioned to anybody, for no reason in particular.

Growing up near the Galveston, TX area of the world he’d come to gain intellect about, the waves and waters of the Gulf of Mexico called his name when nothing else seemed to make sense to him. The Gulf was really his entry into the mysterious yet fascinating world of snorkeling and diving that amazed even the Summa Cum Laude’s of TAMU’s prestigious Engineering world. That a really nice bike with ‘GIANT’ and solid colors plastered all over it, for the occasional stress release.

“Yo Fletch,” Andy would call to him on the occasional Thursday afternoon. “Where you heading out to this weekend? Some of the guys and I were thinking of hitting up the Moody Gardens area. You know, a lot of that football and computing gets to the head sometimes a little too much and some of us are wanting a little break. Can I tell them you’re in?”

“Thanks, man,” Jesse replied. “I appreciate the offer and all. But I already have something in the works for my weekend.”

“Any chance you’ll let me know what it is?”

“Nah dude,” he calmly but simply replied. “But don’t worry. I’m not blowing you off or anything. It’s just something I’ve planned for a while. Something I dare not call off.”

He sensed the exasperated yet intrigued look in Andy’s eyes. “I’ll let you know about it later, though. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Andy said. “Okay. It’s cool, man. Just be safe and all.”

“Always am,” Jesse said, in an exact and complete control tone that simply said, it’s for me to know and you not to find out until I want you to.

 

That was the day or two before.

Since then, Jesse, always meticulous and strategic in his planning, had everything he would need for his thought-out adventure. He’d studied the maps and trajectories of the creature he’d wanted to get up close and personal with for quite some time now. He was, as an Engineer of trade, always in need of something new and different to keep his high-rolling mind occupied and driven. His colleagues all knew this about him. It didn’t bother them.

 

This was something he’d wanted for a totally different purpose. It was something he needed. It wasn’t to prove anything to anyone. Hardly. It wasn’t to be able to talk trash to anyone about a talent or laid some f*****g claim to whatever “cool” thing he felt he wanted others to know about him.

No, Jesse just needed a break. A f*****g break from that everyday ordinary and accustomed familiarity. It had become predictable to him. This was something he’d gone out of his way to consult to Marine Biologists in his area about just for the hell of it. Dr. Hal Warrington he’d spoken to first about the sightings of the mighty and elusive humpbacks. He’d received solid information about spotting them and wanted to find out about the creature that seemed, with its very existence, to defy all he’d come to know about the building and functioning worlds of Engineering and living. This creature belonged in its own world of magical, mystical and known to academia.

And the research and science was all there to help prove it.  Jesse never had to worry about that. That was, in fact, one thing “Fletch” could rely on from his other science and practical-driven comrades.

It was the same sort of thing he’d heard from Dr. Elaine Cartwright and Dr. Alan Hornsby, leading experts on the mighty beast. Fletch had also taken some account from the witty and knowledge Dr. Slade Schillings, a funny character to his counterparts yet as expert as they came. His reputation was never in question in spite of his reputable name.

 

And with all their input about what to look for, what sorts of equipment to take on the boat with him and how to adjust to the conditions he was guaranteed to live through, Fletch had pretty much turned on his Doctorate mode when listening to them, knowing full well his technical arrogance for learning and knowing would serve him no purpose when in the realm of these respected individuals. He knew better than to assert any of his presumed knowledge when the field wasn’t his own. He knew how to be the student versus the expert. And being the student served him quite well when gathering their logs of input.

Breach this, they mentioned.

Breathing patterns, that.

Arches of the back, there is what you should look for.

Patches on the blubber.

The list went on and on.

 

Thus, on the Bay area he was about to set off on, like the one you see here, it was really very simple: go out and explore what he could, looking for the marine animal that gave him every reason to want to see it for the sheer spectacle as well as the reality that not everything revolved around technicalities and proving knowledge in order to obtain some type of concrete result, be it business profit or measured results.

 

He started out around 9 that morning. His luck would kick in only a few hours later. Some overcast, the waters were clear and the waves an even balance of high and low tides. It was an ideal day for taking the boat out indeed. Yes sir, not even Poseidon would object to Fletch and his adventure to be had. He welcomed visitors into his realm, especially ones with no evil, mortal intentions in mind. Jesse Fletcher was not one among those with evil intentions, much less harsh ones. His were of the curiosity and desire levels. Quite different. Quite reasonable, no pun intended.

 

Only a few hours into his cruising around and what not, with the shallow waters left behind him and the low tides just picking up to where he could dock his boat without worrying where the hell it would scatter off to, Jesse picked out his spot in an area he designated as “lucky.”

First came the completing of his wetsuit"fitting into it, sizing it right, making sure all the parts and nips and tucks felt okay before hitting any water of any real sort. Then came his snorkel material(s). Those were easily adjustable. He’d worn his so many times it was not a huge ordeal putting them on now. It was definitely not as if he was meaning to wear them for the first time and never again thereafter. No. His snorkel, the tube, and straps were fitted to his head awhile back. This was just another excursion with them.

 

Soon, he paused himself.

Splat, the water nearby sprung out with fuzzy blurs. Immediately, Jesse turned his head towards the noise.

Nothing. He waited just a bit. He knew he had to. He didn’t mind. He was counting on it, actually.

A minute or two later, another swish, splat, smack! He caught the arc of the mammal he’d waited for.

A mighty humpback came looming around his turf. And this close! Wow. Wow!

He never thought he’d get so lucky. But a lucky man he considered himself nonetheless.

 

He didn’t think twice about it. Only Marc, his longtime pal in the Scuba tours business and fellow marine enthusiast, went along for the ride. Fletcher knew that for all the comfort he had with what the hell he was doing he needed another person to physically be there to ensure his curious a*s didn’t actually get left out in the waters in the unknown. That would be total s**t.

“You sure you’re going to be okay man?” Marc asked Jesse cautiously, knowing how the spontaneous the kid could be in spite of his savvy. “Yeah man, I’m feeling something good going on inside. You’ll know if you need to step in, you know?”

“Yeah, man,” Marc replied. “I hear you.”

“Cool,” Jesse said. “Time to live this.”

 

Then it happened. Splash! Smack! Coo-tooch! The water slapped and sucked him in as Jesse’s human body surrendered to the world he and his billions of fellow species did not dominate. His adrenaline kicked in, as he anticipated it would. His nerves held steady. His instincts would be his guide at this point. That’s all that really mattered anyway"knowing or not knowing what to do when it mattered most, snorkeling or not.

His world, the one he knew, no longer existed. He was the visitor; the guest. He was on someone and something else’s turf. He respected this more than people really gave him credit for.

The mighty humpback whale floated nearby. My God, Jesse thought, his blood pumping in ways he couldn’t have predicted. This is something else. No wonder these things and other creatures have learned how to outlive us, Jesse thought to himself. Taking the sight of the marine mammal was beyond any advanced engineering mathematical calculation he could’ve trained himself to have learned to master. This was surreal. This was worth the moment. It put him in another realm of feeling; another realm of reality and living. He’d never fully known what perspective could have meant until that moment.

It wasn’t humbling. It was awe-inspiring. And it was exactly what he needed and wanted, especially for all the randomness his life had experienced recently. That is"the life he knew he belonged to back on the surface of things. It was a heaven of sorts. It was a place he’d created and knew he could find euphoria, for as long as he wanted.

 

“You’re not one of my kind,” the whale breached out its humming signal. “Are you?”

Jesse knew this interpretation from the logs of information he garnered and trained himself on in recent times. He wasn’t an expert, of course. But he knew his share to know what the hell those sounds were telling him.

     For a good moment or two, initially, no answer came from the Summa Cum Laude holder of Engineer titles. That title didn’t do much at the moment. Indeed, no clever answer even remotely conjured from the mind of a simple human, even one transformed into an underwater, breathing floater as smart as Jesse Fletcher. How could he? His mind decided to kick in, just a bit. He didn’t want to be rude. Not to this magnificent creature of almighty being. Jesse owed it his respect.

     I’ll name you Jerry, Jesse thought to himself. It seemed fitting. He had no idea why the hell that was so. It just was, and thus it was and thus it stuck.

     Jerry deserves a far more decent and respectable answer, Jesse thought.

“I am not,” he shook his head at the massive beast, at least 25 feet long. “And I mean you no harm,” was the message his body language sent.

     Jerry was going to tolerate this odd-looking visitor, thing. Jesse knew that"he could see it in his large, old, wise and faded eyes. It was written all over his missile-like figure.

     I like it here, Jesse thought to himself, portraying that same feeling to Jerry through motions alone. There was no sense in saying words; not in water. There were, after all, other forms of communication that worked in this world.

Then Jesse thought of something to convey that surprised even him. And it wasn’t something he would have ever expected to have conveyed to a whale, of all possible things.

There’s no ‘rush’ here, no such thing as time. Here, I am free.

With an aged look and breath of dignity leaving his muscles and lungs, manifested by the streamlined bubbles shooting to the surface and heavens beyond, Jerry’s gaze shot straight through Jesse.

     “Welcome home, brother. Stay as long as you’d like.”

 

 

Author's Note

A short story about a feeling; feedback and input are welcomed