The Ocean’s City
Chapter 52

“Hello!” I called, but the only response I got was my echo. “Dalton?” Dalton, my voice called back eerily. My eyes searched around for any sign of him. Still, they kept darting back to the alligator floating in the shallow swamp water. “Jones? Fran?” Jones? Fran? My voice taunted me as it scared a giant bird to swoop down towards me, only to pick up at the last moment. I ducked, causing me to slip into the water where my hand fell on something slimy, and it slithered for its life away from me.

“Ahhh!” I squealed. Ahhh! The echo caused goosebumps to rise from my skin. I stilled until something off in the distance caught my eye. A warm glow of light. Before I could even think, I was taking off, dodging fallen trees and slushing through marshes.

“Hey!” I screamed as I raced for the light. My eyes were glued to the one destination. My need to be found overpowering all other needs. That destination vanished into thin air. Hey!

I couldn’t think straight. I was panting like I had gone mad. My eyes searched frantically for the light. Relief flooded my soul as my eyes caught sight of the light slightly to the left and much closer, but before I began sprinting again, the same light glowed on the right side. Then, three more lights began to glow. They fluttered about until they disappeared again. That relief fled me like I was in a ghost town. Fireflies.

“No,” I whispered to myself. The night animals croaked and chirped a cheery tone to the beat of my desperate situation. It was like they thrived off of lost souls like me. A hiss rumbled behind me, causing me to turn on my heels and see a small hill surrounded by swamp waters. There lay three alligators. I back up slowly.

I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t sure if it was wise to be calling out for anyone. I would try every once in a while, but my Erie echo became too taunting. I decided it was best to be silent. I wandered the swampy water that slowly began to rise to my knees as I aimlessly sloshed around.

I begged for daylight, but it started to feel like daylight didn’t exist. At most, I tried not to let the fireflies trick me into thinking anyone else was here with me. Until I found that warm firefly glowing light remained, it didn’t fade; instead, it became brighter. I squinted my eyes, forcing myself to make sure it wasn’t the trickery of the swamp again. A husky man hummed a tune, and it danced from the water over to where I was aimlessly exploring.

“Hey!!!” I desperately yelled, and his humming immediately stopped. His light danced a bit before he seemed to have spotted me waving my arms about.

“A laydah !” Called like he was talking to the heavens. Then he hustled for an ore and began to paddle towards me. His boat was decent and flat, not like a canoe, but more like a makeshift boat of logs tied together. “What’s uhh garl like yuh do’in here foe?”

Despite his gruff beard and caterpillar eyebrows, his brown eyes glistened with a child-like concern. It told my heart I wouldn’t be left here to die.

“I…I... Um,” I want to respond but have no clue what to say. I thought about how worried everyone was to stick to the made-up story in the Wild West. Whatever they were scared of could have very well taken me to this reality. I wasn’t sure what my role was here. I wanted to tell him everything and nothing all at once. Tears took over my words instead. Which caused the man to freak out.

“Hey, ey ey… Yuh no needs a cry’n. Come’er en ma boat,” he gestured his fat burley hand, and I took it, causing me to sob more. The boat rocked back and forth, and he helped me get settled.

“eyes a tak’n yuh ta ma. Hers knows what a do.” I gave a nod and pulled my wet prune legs to my chest. The burly man wore overalls but no shirt and his hairy back wrinkled as he pushed the ore through the water, confidently leading us out of the unknown.

He spoke the whole way. He murmured about not understanding what a woman was doing in the swamps, how his mom was a kind lady, and how he was just minding his own business. Then he found me. He barely stopped to breathe as the waters got deeper and trees more spaced apart.

“We’re here, layduh,” he ensured as he pushed his boat’s final stride. I looked up from watching the murky water to replace a house raised above the water waiting for us to arrive. A warm glow came from the windows, and an equally large woman sat on a rocking chair and looked to be knitting.

“Ma! Ma! Eyes found uh layd uh in er swamp!”

The hefty lady jumped from her chair, completely confused; she squinted her eyes at me like I was poison. “Are yah shitt’n me?”

“Nah Ma I swear it.”

She looked at me, confused. I looked back, completely helpless, and I pleaded with my eyes that she would help. If she turned me down, I would indeed be eaten by the alligators.

“What’s yah do’in in the swamp be’in aleegatuh bate? Come’er darl’in.” She squatted down to take my hand and took it eagerly. Her hand was warm and plump and reminded me of my grandmother’s. It instantly relieved me even more when her arms came around me for comfort.