The yacht, brand new, bobbed in the pale gray waters where it was moored. Freshly painted in chrome, Contessa was going on her maiden journey today with a family of three. Alan Barlow had purchased this beauty for a few million and before holding a party aboard with friends, he wanted to take his wife Ana and seven year old daughter to the middle of the sea to show them dolphins and seals. Family getaway. Or was it his guilt for not giving them quality time in the race for raking in the moolah and to stay on top of the Forbes list?
The press was all over the place and that was all that mattered to Alan. Publicity! Glamour, glitz, ambition, millions…billions!
The Barlow family posed on the pier for photographs with the gleaming yacht in the background. Ana’s white, flowing summer dress billowed in the soft breeze and her chestnut hair shone with streaks of gold like a halo against the sun making a slow, shy appearance.
Rosamund had an excited look on her face and was restless to embark. Her father had promised her some stunning pictures of the sky at dawn and they would miss it if they didn't set out soon.
After a final wave at a huge crowd who had come to see them off, Contessa set sail gliding across the shimmering Atlantic. A few miles into the journey, the sky had put on a surreal show of floating clouds and stunning streaks of colors. The Barlows gazed heavenwards, mesmerized. There was a nip in the air, and Ana pulled her mink wrap closer.
The water surrounding them sparkled silver and gold endlessly into the distance. Ana looked uneasy and darted a wary look at Alan. He seemed unperturbed and was engrossed in clicking pictures of the unusual scene unfolding in front of him. Rosamund dashed to the railing and peeked at the dolphins swimming alongside the yacht.
A few excited moments of monologues with the adorable sea creatures, she came back dazed and tugged at her mother's sleeve. A concerned Ana couldn't nudge an answer out of Rosamund.
The boat jerked and bobbed roughly for a couple of minutes. The dolphins and seals drifted away as though fleeing. And just as soon as it had started a painted performance, the sky decided it was curtain down. A thin gauze of pearly white laminated the horizon with puffs of pewter clouds. The weather forecast had heralded sunny and clear skies.
Alan reached for the radio but there was a queer buzzing sound and all the dials were spinning haywire. The horizon disappeared as mists swirled around the yacht spreading their tentacles around the sails, ripping it.
The yacht rocked mercilessly making Ana and Rosamund screech. There was no other ship or sea vessel in sight. Come to think of it, there weren't any when they set sail. What was happening?!
The mists grew livid and swelled into a fog enveloping them, smothering them. Dark pewter clouds billowed in the sky and the sun was just a memory.
The yacht was going down in a whirlpool or was it a whirlwind? Were they being sucked in by the sky or the sea? Disoriented, lost and helpless, Rosamund finally blurted out that a dolphin had spoken to her. In human language. Both Alan and Ana glared at her as this was no time for jokes.
But Rosamund was adamant and told them that the dolphin had warned her to turn the yacht around to where they came from. This was no place to be. It only looks alluring at first but they had inadvertently entered a portal, into the Bermuda Triangle.
Shell-shocked, Alan and Ana could only gape as darkness shrouded them.
****
Divers searched for them at the bottom of the deep waters for some accidental death, but with no success. The Contessa had disappeared without a trace along with the Barlow family!
(657 words)
©️ Sangeetha Kamath
Pic Courtesy: Image by Paquita Fadden from Pixabay
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