MIDDLEWALK-37
It was early in the afternoon, on a bitter winter's day, when I was walking past Willie's shack, and on a whim, decided to ask him to take me out fishing. Willie offered that it was rather late in the day, but, "Seein' that I ain't had a customer all day, let's take the ole Sea Bass out. It's too late to go to the islands, though." This was my first trip to deeper water on the Sea Bass, and to prevent a bout of seasickness, I kept my eye on the horizon and stayed behind the pilot shack, centered in the middle of the boat. I need not have worried, for there was not much of a swell, and in under an hour, Willie found a good stopping point. He kept the diesels running at their slowest speed, and we cast our lines off the back of the boat, as it drifted forward at about one knot. Within ten minutes, we had both snagged and brought aboard a tuna. Despite the deeper water, the fish were the same here as what could be caught off of the pier, with the exception that out here they were bigger. Willie's catch was a beauty.
It's pretty quiet out in the ocean, with only the water slapping the hull and a toned-down hum of the engines making any sounds. So, both our ears perked up when we heard off in the distance the sputtering sounds of an engine in trouble. I pointed out to Willie a low flying dot, that gradually took the form of a single engine plane trailing smoke. It was headed in our direction, and in a minute, actually flew right over the Sea Bass less than a hundred feet off the water. A short distance ahead, it smacked down in the water, coasting for a few seconds, then flipping over. As Willie scrambled toward the pilot house, I watched as the tail of the plane stood upwards, then quickly disappeared into the water. Willie fired up the diesels and headed for the crash. Standing beside Willie in the pilot house, I saw some binoculars hanging on a hook, so I grabbed them and watched the water closely as we closed in to approximately where the plane had gone down. It was hard to make anything out, because the waves were rising and falling, and there was no reference point (except for a general direction). Suddenly, I saw a little orange life vest, pop up from nowhere as a wave crested, and then it disappeared into the next wave trough. I yelled to Willie over the roar of the engines, and pointed, and he nodded. As we came within a hundred feet, it became clear that there was a small boy wearing the life jacket, and clinging to it was a lady, likely his mother. Willie cut the engines, and I went to the side of the boat to try and grab them. It wasn't easy. The waves kept pushing them away. The water was colder than ice. Finally, I grabbed one of Willie's nets, threw it over them and hauled them in like a pair of fish. I got the little boy first, then pulled the lady on board. Both looked half dead, but the lady cried out, "My husband." Knowing that there was a third person still out on the water, I yelled to Willie, "There's one more," and his experienced sharp eyes then spotted a swimmer about fifty feet away. Soon, we had one more on board, all exhausted, all freezing from being in the water. The deck was no place to be, with a brisk wind blowing across it, as Willie gunned the engines heading for the coast. So, I opened the hatch and let them down into the engine room. There were little benches on either side of the hull, and although the diesels were roaring, they were also hot, and the four of us could at least sit down. Since we couldn't hear, all we could do was see, and our eyes followed water dripping off the survivors, and forming a little pool that sloshed back and forth in the bottom of the boat in tune to the wave action.
Once at the dock, I suggested that we take the three to see Dr. Harvey, as they were all likely to be suffering from hyperthermia. But they begged us not to. Not knowing exactly what to do, I suggested, "Let's go to Emily and Haley's. They're the closest house." So, our little party slowly made it in that direction, with their shoeless socks leaving holes in the snow. I knocked on the door and Haley answered. I quickly asked for her to let everyone in, and Haley answered the call like a trouper. She said, "Emily's at work, but she has plenty of clothes of all sizes." And in less than two minutes, she found something for all three. Each then took turns in her bathroom, warming up under the shower, and changing into dry clothing. Finally, they were able to sit down and collect themselves and we learned that they were the Reeds, Sheldon, Charlotte, and Eddie. Mr. Reed often flew into Zuzu City on business, and this time it was planned to be a mini-vacation with his family. The plane had been working perfectly, until suddenly the oil pressure gauge dropped to zero, and the engine began to quit. They were too far away from land, and the only thing that they could see was Willie's boat, out in the middle of nowhere. When the plane tipped over on landing, it was all they could do to get out of their seat belts, while hanging upside down, before the water rushed in through the open door. While we were learning their story, Haley rustled up a hot dinner, and soon life slowed down again to its normal Stardew pace. One issue was that none of the three had shoes. Mrs. Reed was close to Emily's size, and Haley found some athletic shoes for her. They looked brand new, and Haley said, "Emily bought them, but she never wears them." I went next door and told Jodi and Kent what happened, and they volunteered a pair of shoes (also athletic shoes) for Mr. Reed and Eddie. No one wears sneakers in the winter snow.
It was too late for the Reeds to take the bus back to Zuzu City, as Pam had been at Gus's for at least an hour. Haley and I decided that the best place for the family to stay the night would be in the Community center. It was warm, and although there were no beds, there were couches. With Haley leading the way, we took our tired troop there. I brought up the rear, carrying extra blankets and pillows.
The next morning, I showed up bright and early at Emily and Haley's. Both girls were already up and had breakfast on the stove. They covered the plates in aluminum foil to keep them warm, and the three of us headed for the Community center. During the night, Haley had washed, de-salted, dried, and folded their clothes, and again I brought up the rear, this time carrying a bag full of their belongings. When we got there, we found that Robin, Demetrius, and Maru had also made them a breakfast, and a few minutes later, Caroline and Abigale showed up, also with a pile of breakfasts. We all sat down and ate together. We told them about the Stardew Valley summer fair, and invited them to return and this time to come and have some fun. Time flew, and around quarter to ten, I volunteered to take them to the bus stop, as it was on my way home. At the bus, I realized that Mr. Reed's wallet, and Mrs. Reed's purse were both at the bottom of the ocean, so I purchased three tickets for them. Mr. Reed wanted me to write my address down so that he could pay me back, but I refused, saying that, "It's a gift from Stardew Valley." Walking back to my house, I wondered at how close it almost was, that a family of three could have mysteriously disappeared forever, except for the amazing coincidence that led me to ask Willie to go fishing. It was almost as if it never happened.
