The Boat

The Boat

by

Gulnar Gurbanova

(This Story is Told by the Boat)

The sea was quiet and the gentle breeze was blowing. From behind the sea the sun was peering out from the distant horizon. I was not far from the sea. The wind was splashing water on me, but the sea seemed weird to me on that day as if it was threatening with its little waves. I had been made by an old fisherman and that fisherman was my owner. Most of our journeys were successful. My owner pushed me toward the sea. My journey today was about to begin. In 10 minutes we were far from the bank. My owner began to fish. I felt that the anger of the sea was growing as if it didn't want someone to touch the life contained within its waters. In a few minutes the weather changed and a terrible storm began in the sea. During my two years I hadn't seen such terrible weather. Huge waves began to shake me and tried to turn me on one end as if the sea wanted to engulf us for satisfying its hunger. It lasted about half an hour. When I came around I was far from the bank. It was silence, there was no storm, no waves. A huge wave had hit me to the cliff and I didn't know how long I stayed unconscious. I was seriously injured. Whats worse, I was alone in the middle of the sea. I blamed myself for not being able to save my owner's life. I began to grieve and drift away lost in my solitude. Suddenly, a loud voice of a flock of seagulls above the sea destroyed the silence of the sea, but one of them was a long way behind the flock. It didn't fly properly. There was something wrong with its wings. It was about to fall down, but this time I didn't fail. The seagull found itself in the boat. It was very weak and ill. Although I was injured as well, I had already forgotten my pains because I wasn't alone in the sea. I was very talkative, but the seagull kept speaking a little and sometimes pretended to sleep. Apparently, I wasn't interesting for the seagull. The seagull was very selfish. It was thinking only about itself and knew that the end of the boat's life was coming. So the seagull had to do something for reviving. The boat knew that the seagull needed the food. He had an idea. For getting the food, the seagull had to make a hole in one corner of the boat. The seagull was very weak and didn't want to put herself in suffering, but it had no way and began picking the boats one side. It was a terrible, aching feeling so the boat clenched it's wooden teeth trying not to cry. When the seagull finished it's work, the water began to run into the boat through the hole. A few fish appeared in the boat and the seagull ate them greedily, but it wasn't enough for its recovering. She needed more. This time the seagull's suggestion was more dangerous for the boat. The boat had to bend its one side into the water so more water would run into the boat and the seagull could catch more fish. The boat knew that it was the end of its life. The boat bent its one side into the water and the water began to run into the boat quickly. The seagull tried to catch more fish and fly away. The seagull got its strength and in one attempt it was in the sky. Only the top of the boat was seeing. It had a few seconds to watch the seagull flying in the sky, but the seagull didn't look back. It had already forgotten the boat.