It was her birthday and she had gone for a morning summer sail alone. She dropped the anchor in a cove off her favorite beach at Angel Island, stretched out in the sunshine and fell asleep. She dreamt of pristine white sand beaches and clear, turquoise water, delicate coral waving from rocky reefs teeming with rainbow-hued fish and dolphins playing tag with each other. She swam for hours in her dream, at ease with the sea creatures swirling around her and never needing to come up for air.
When she awoke the sun was high overhead, beaming hot rays onto the deck. She stripped off her shorts revealing her one-piece swimsuit. She often swam in the Bay, enjoying the brisk and salty water. She was a strong swimmer but always wore a life jacket with a tether attached to the boat when she was alone.
“I hate school. I don’t know why I have to go,” she pouted, sitting in the passenger seat next to her mother and looking out the window.”
“Superstitions are a bunch of malarkey. You can’t ward off bad luck with a spell. Why even bother with the whole thing?” Lisa asked while sanding the transom of the boat on stilts in the boatyard.
“Heidi, my wee love! I was just thinking about you,” she’d sing out in her Irish lilt as I walked through her front door. Taking my face in her hands she’d kiss my cheeks and lips and forehead.
The little boat skipped across the water, her sails filled with warm summer wind and her owner standing proudly at the helm. Today was the first day they had ventured beyond the bay into the ocean together and she quivered with anticipation, surging forward with all her might.
Vivo O Sonho 