I jumped off the pole of that boat, hoping to fly and then to glide. But I misjudged the jump like I was a dumb tern. The ship plunged as I tried to jump, and I fell forward into the sea. I flapped and flapped to get some lift. Damn you boat, I thought as I got ready to feel the water on my red feet! But then I felt the lift-off. Steady beats, and up and up I go. I’ve had enough of boats and fish. Homebound, I went. I saw the sun and felt the pull from that distant pole, and I knew I had fucked up. I should not have stayed on that boat for that long. I should have gone with the gang long ago. 300km to go was my guess. So I climbed, 10, 20, 50 meters above the sea, not for fish, but for the wind that’d take me home to my sweet Clementine. It was a trick my daddy taught me when I was a kid. Fly like an albatross, he said! So I did, until one day I went to 300 meters! I got confused. I got too cold. And I almost ended up in Peru. I am no albatros, I knew, so I stayed no higher than 50 and found good wind. I glided home, smelling the distant cliffs. For hours, I went directly towards her wings. And then I saw the gang below. Boobies and gulls, and some whimbrels too, having a blast on top of a rusty Panamanian floating fridge. And I could not resist. It was time to rest. I plunged in at full speed. Kraaaka! Kraaaka! Kraaaka!! I yelled. Get out of my way! And it was enough to scare a few into flying away. I landed softly and unencumbered, laughing as I watched them climb into the skies. “That wasn’t nice,” he said. “Fernando! Why aren’t you with your mum?” I yelled. And he took off, white like a gull, and we all laughed and laughed as my scared child flew home.
Thank you for reading. This flash story is part of Stanley and Fernando, a series of flash fiction about a parent-son duo of red-footed boobies living near the Galapagos Islands.
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About Me
I’m Nestor Lopez-Duran, writing under the pen name N.L. Duran. I am a former psychology professor now sailing around the world while writing fiction and reflections on life at sea.