S. Welles - To Ocean's End

She lifted my chin with two large, radiant fingers and brought her face close to mine. She kissed me gently on the lips and I felt something pass through my body like I was standing with my back to shore while a wave retreats. She slowly pulled away, taking the curse with her. My entire body went weak and I suddenly couldn’t figure out which way the ground was tilting. Amphitrite guided me to the ground by two fingers without letting me fall. Jessie propped me up against her chest and held my shoulders.

“You are finally free to live out your days as you see fit. You are finally free to grow old and die, as all men must do. Farewell, dear mortal.” She rose and mounted the kelpie, then rode off, hooves thundering and her hair and the kelpie’s mane flying. Poseidon was visible near the shore, astride his own kelpie. So my question in the palace must’ve gotten through to him after all. I watched her departure, until she caught up with her husband and both gods rode out of sight.

And just like that, I was no longer cursed. I was a regular human again. I could die. Or I could live. Right now, I was at a loss for what to do. At the very least, I needed to get back up. I sat upright and took a deep breath. “Help me up.” Sam held out a hand. I took it and he helped pull me onto unsteady feet. I wavered, but I caught myself and held still for a moment. I felt weak, yet felt my strength returning. Once I trusted my feet, I let go of Sam’s hand, wiped my eyes, and faced my crew. They looked ready to dish out another round of hugs, and some ass grabs from two particular techies.

Ed said, “Well this turned out to be an extra celebratory day!” He and Ted came over and escorted me to the table almost faster than my feet could keep up with. My beaming crew congratulated me over and over, and gave me friendly slaps on my back and shoulders I passed them. The two techies half pushed, half guided me into the fold-up seat at the head of the table. It was long enough to accommodate the entire crew, and laden with plates, cutlery, cups, napkins, and bowls of strawberries and green grapes. I just stared dumbly at it all as my brain tried to catch up with what just happened.

The rest of the crew joined me at the table, stepping over the benches and setting cloth napkins on their laps. Jessie and Mido went to a griddle and grill, and took a few trips to bring over heaping plates of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and ham. I was floored. The effort they’d had to put forth to set up such a grand banquet so far from the ship… I wanted to cry some more, but my brain was deep in blank mode and my emotions couldn’t seem to settle on anything good or bad to feel.

Well this explained why the galley had looked a bit empty.

Rammus laughed. “Captain, you look like you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

“I don’t,” I admitted, staring openly at the steaming feast.

“Start by enjoying breakfast,” Scully said. He poured himself a tin of coffee, then handed me the pot.

I took it and looked at the glass thing a moment. It was like everything in life suddenly had a new perspective and meaning now that I was pure human. It all seemed so precious, instead of endless. “I can do that.” I poured myself a mug.

All twelve of us settled down to filling our plates with a wonderful breakfast, and it really was wonderful. My smile was full and genuine. My heart still ached, but I had so many reasons to be happy right then. I would never forget this day.

Rammus, seated on my right, got to his feet and stood behind the bench and held up his hands. “Now, before we all dig in, Captain, I believe you mentioned a few days ago that you had things you wanted to discuss as a crew.”

I looked at Rammus, then at the rest of my crew. Ed hastily put down his fork and covered his mouth, then looked at me with apologetic eyes. I pushed to my feet and smoothed down the front of my coat. “In light of my sudden curse-free status, I have to admit that everything I had prepared to say just went out the window.” There was no need to relinquish my role as Captain anymore, nor go into hiding from the rest of the world. Retirement was in order, but not today. I was no longer a hazard any more than the next person. “Instead, I’d like to express my gratitude to all of you for sticking with me through all this. It’s far more kindness than I deserve. So thank you. All of you.” I grabbed my mug. “And to you especially, Jessie, the avatar who successfully helped me lift my curse. You’ve gone above and beyond. I can’t thank you enough.”

She raised her mug to me. “You’re welcome. You’re very welcome.”

“And I guess this means we can start calling you Amphitrite now, seeing as how there won’t be any confusion and such.”

She made a pensive frown. “I kind of feel like ‘Jessie’ suits me better now.”

“Well that saves us the trouble of remembering,” Sam said lightly.

The rest of my crew laughed. I held up my mug and all eyes fell on me again. “To a new chapter in our lives.” They all echoed my words and a round of mug-clinking followed, and then we all tucked in to my first breakfast as pure human in well over two hundred years.

I woke up to an alarm clock beeping away on the first morning of my lockdown that didn’t need to take place. I shot a hand out of my bunk and groped around the floor until I found the darn thing, and smacked the off button. I let out a relieved sigh, then gave my ears a moment to register the peaceful hum of the noise machine emanating from the hall. My brain stopped tricking itself into thinking it was still hearing the alarm, and I slid out of my bunk and stood before the cloth curtain nailed and taped over my cabin door.

I knew I wasn’t cursed anymore but, after almost two hundred and fifty years of monthly lockdowns, old habits die hard. I also knew being exposed to a light source wouldn’t trigger a transformation, but that voice of doubt was annoyingly loud in my head.

I took a deep breath in hopes of calming my nerves, then reached for the tape sealing the cloth to the doorframe as I kicked aside my boots, which were anchoring down the base. I paused with my hand near the tape as my heart rate skyrocketed. I knew I wasn’t gonna transform. I’d felt the curse leave me. But…

I steeled myself and ripped the tape away before I could chicken out. Soft hall lighting snuck in, and then the cloth fell back into place, memory of Jessie sneaking into my container with a lantern flashing across my mind. My heart lodged in my throat as I stifled a cry of alarm. I stood there, frozen with fear, until I realized I felt no tingling or aching sensations. I whipped aside the curtain and stuck out a bare arm. I scrutinized myself for any signs of color change but my skin tone remained human. I stepped into the hallway and braced myself for the tingling and aching, but I remained feeling no more than a little sleepy.

An emotional lump formed in my throat. I padded my way to the deck and into the pale light of dawn in just my shorts. Fog was thin today. The sun’s golden glow reached up from the east. The air was cool and humid. Newport was only beginning to wake up to another day of construction. The town itself was beginning to take shape after a month, but shape it had, coming back better than before. And here I was, standing in sunlight and watching workers sleepily make their way to one site or another, while I was supposed to be in lockdown—used to supposed to be. Here I was, completely human, able to enjoy watching the sun rise any day of the month. After all these years…

I lay on my back on the bow, facing east, and watched the sun rise while I shed joyful tears. I didn’t care how unmanly anyone might think I was being. I was the happiest I’d been in so long. I was free. I could die happy. But it wasn’t time to go just yet.