In Search for Kindred Spirit
Chapter 3: The Grace of Brotherly Love - Part 1
Lara reclined her seat, trying to make herself comfortable as she sat waiting patiently in the car. She was parked by the roadside opposite a moderate house in the quiet, middle class suburb. Tall umbrella trees lined and shaded the street from the bright sunlight in this beautiful day.
The aforementioned house was for now unattended, with its inhabitants currently away. Lara had pressed the doorbell a few times earlier, and when no one had answered, she had decided to stay and wait for their return. In this moment of quietness, the reflection of recent events came naturally.
She had visited Roth's family, as well as Whitman's widow. Grim had never been married and was not survived by any known relatives.
So that just leaves Alex…
Alex…another person who had made his feelings known too little too late…Lara remembered the pleasant surprise mixed with grave concern that had set in when she had found and read Alex's journal by the beach bunker…a journal that all but confessed his admiration and crush on Lara herself. She remembered her joy and relief when she had heard Alex's voice at the basement of the Endurance shipwreck, and her panic when she had finally realised that she could not free him from the debris. The anguish of seeing Alex put on a brave face to mask the obvious fear hiding beneath it…the pain at seeing him resigning to his fate…the sad smile on his face when she had kissed him for the first and last time…her scream following the explosion…and her tears when the dread realisation dawned upon her that Alex was finally gone along with the shipwreck deep into the sea…
Lara's thoughts were disrupted when she saw an SUV approach and turn into the house's garage. Out stepped a man in his 30s and an aging couple who appeared to be the man's parents. They carried a few bags out of the car and into the house. As the man was about to step through the front door, he turned around and spotted Lara. He then held his stare for a while, seemingly uncertain, before retreating inside.
Lara took a deep breath, trying to summon her courage. She put her face in her now sweaty palms and leaned on the steering wheel. Occasions like this never failed to agitate her. She had never met Alex's family before. How would they react when they saw her? How would they take to the news of Alex's death? Or perhaps they already knew? After all, the Endurance shipwreck had already been discovered, with Alex's body beneath it…
A sudden knock on her window startled her as she looked up quickly. It was the man she had seen earlier. Lara quickly rolled down her window.
"Are you Lara?" The man asked with a deep voice.
Lara swallowed and nodded, slightly surprised.
"You're here about Alex?" He questioned again.
"Yes," Lara replied, "I'm his friend and colleague."
The man's face visibly darkened, although it showed more sorrow rather than anger. He hesitated, before offering a hand shake, "Nathan. I'm his brother."
Lara shook his hand through the window, before stepping out of the car.
Nathan looked around. He then gestured for Lara to follow him. "Come this way. I know a park just down the road where we could sit and talk."
Lara duly obliged as they began walking towards the park, with Nathan a few steps ahead of her. The man was taller than Alex, and more muscularly built. He sported a crew cut hair, with his square face framed by a rugged stubble. He was dressed casually in a long sleeve T-shirt and a pair of jeans. It was obvious that Nathan was quite different from his brother, but beneath it all they still had a brotherly similarity. Perhaps it was their eyes…
"So…" Lara broke the silence, "how did you know my name?"
"Hmm…?" Nathan turned back, "Alex used to send me your pictures."
Lara couldn't help but feel a little uneasy at that. They didn't speak again until they reached the park Nathan had mentioned. It was a fairly sized recreational area, with children's swings, neat walkways, and a pretty fountain in the middle. They soon found a bench and sat down next to each other. On the far side, Lara could see a few couples and families walking their children and dogs. It was quite a tranquil place.
"I suppose you have something you want to tell me?" Nathan asked, leaning back on the chair and crossing his arms, with his eyes staring into the distance.
Lara inhaled deeply. It didn't seem like she would ever get used to this, but circumstances dictated that she must. She felt responsible, almost an obligation to try her best to ease the sufferings of those still grieving from recent tragedies.
Here goes…
And so she told the man what had transpired in the Endurance's ill-fated expedition. How they had searched for Yamatai to no avail…how they had then decided…how she had then insisted that they sail into the Dragon's Triangle…how their ship had been wrecked by the storm…how they had been stranded on the island…how they had then realised that they were not alone…how they had been hunted by the island's savages…and finally…how Alex had sacrificed himself to help the survivors and let Lara escape…
Lara decided to omit the supernatural elements, as well as Alex's romantic crush. While she explained, Nathan simple just gazed ahead, betraying no emotion or surprise to her recap of their ordeal on the island. It was a long and awkward silence once Lara had finished her story.
After a lengthy break, Nathan finally spoke with a soft voice, "That stupid boy…"
Lara remained quiet, as the man continued. "What was he thinking?" He said, "What did he think it was? Some kind of god damn action movie?"
"I'm really sorry…" It was the only thing Lara could say; having already lost count herself on how many times she had to say the same thing in the past few days.
"No…" Nathan sighed, "Not your fault…Alex was a big boy…he should take responsibility for himself and know his own limits."
"Still-" Lara began before she was interrupted.
"You know, when he told me you guys were heading into the Dragon's Triangle, I feared the worst…" Nathan continued, "I mean I didn't know what it was, but then Alex explained to me that it was like the Asian version of the Bermuda Triangle…I mean…who goes to places like that?"
Lara felt a lump form in her throat, choking her as her guilt once again resurfaced. It was, after all, upon her suggestion that the Endurance headed into dangerous waters. She was about to apologise again when Nathan spoke.
"You know…Alex used to tell me…" He began, "…that anyone who'd worked with you before would fall a little in love with you...at least that's what he believed…I think he must've done what he did to impress you…"
Lara could feel her cheeks burn, but at the same time, the guilt sticking in her heart hurt even more.
"I…I would've welcomed his approach…had I known his feelings earlier…" Lara confessed, although in truth it was unclear even to herself whether she truly believed it, or had simply said it to comfort a man who was still in pain over the death of his brother.
"It doesn't matter now does it?" Nathan said, his usual deep voice softened by a melancholy, "Grief is all the more sorrowful when you're left with regrets. Alex probably ought to have revealed his feelings before it was too late, the same way I should've told him how much I loved my little brother before he was taken away forever."
Lara listened as the man choked, his eyes by now red and watery.
"I never told him that…you know…that I loved him…" He continued with a throaty voice, "I just never thought brothers do that kind of stuff…It all seemed too mushy…but now…now how I wish I had one more chance…just one more chance to tell him that he would always be my beloved, dear little brother…that our family loved him…and that we were all proud of him…"
As the hard looking man sobbed and wept openly, Lara could feel her own tears forming and rolling down her cheeks. She moved closer to the man and wrapped her arms around him. Nathan had by now curled up and descended into a crying wreck.
Time seemed to freeze as they sat there, together, united in their mourning of a friend and a brother's passing, and suddenly, being physically so close to a stranger no longer felt awkward. Through Alex, they shared an emotional connection. And as the sun began to set, with its melancholic faint light basking the world, the curtain closed on yet another chapter of Lara's journey.
She and Nathan parted before nightfall. He had insisted that Lara not meet with his parents, as he believed they were simply not yet ready to learn the close details of Alex's demise. They had been devastated by the discovery of Endurance's shipwreck, and their son's body within it. After all, no parents should live to see the death of their children. It would be selfish to still want to meet Alex's parents after this. The bigger part was to realise the simple truth…
You just can't force the healing of wounds and make everyone happy…
Grief would take its time. Parents should be left to mourn. It would come to pass when Alex's parents would be ready, and Nathan would tell them the truth of what had really happened on that island. But for now, this was as far as Lara could go, and it would have to suffice…
Before parting ways, Lara requested, as a favour, that Nathan send to her all her photos that Alex had previously taken. Nathan duly obliged. And as Lara sat in her car, looking at them on her phone, her lips curved into a soft smile as she gazed at a particular photo of her and Alex.
It had been taken on a night aboard the Endurance. The crew were having a night off and there was a party on the deck. Lara herself had had too much to drink and was obviously quite drunk. The picture showed Lara, with her eyes closed and her cheeks rosy pink, kissing Alex's face. He had a cheeky smile and a blissful look in his eyes.
Your memory shall live on with me…forever…
The Grace of Brotherly Love - Part 2
Beneath the bright cerulean sky, a man dressed in a red sleeveless shirt and short brown pants sat by the white sandy beach leaning against a coconut tree, his hulking frame shaded from the brilliant sunlight as he bathed in the warm wind gently blowing from the sea.
He was alone…almost. The closest people were at least a few hundred metres away. He could faintly see those families, friends and couples playing at the shallow tide and the happy noises they made as they enjoyed their day out in the sun. Several yachts were sailing in the distant water, their white sails flying gracefully with the wind. Not far away beyond that were numerous green islands seemingly floating atop the blue ocean, a perfect place for tourists who loved island hopping.
Jonah took a sip from his coconut. After being rescued from Yamatai, he had decided to return to Hawaii to stay with his grandmother and his sister, whom had just recently relocated from New Zealand to open her new Café on this tropical paradise. Jonah now worked for her as he had used to before Roth had hired him to cook for the Endurance.
The Endurance…it seemed like a dear family that had been lost to the ocean. Jonah still kept in touch with Reyes, Lara and Sam. From what he had gathered, they were all doing alright. Either that or they just weren't telling him the truth. No matter…Reyes and Lara were both strong, resilient characters and should pull through. Sam was the most child-like, but Lara was always there to look after her…
Almost like a sister…a sibling like how Jonah's own brother had been to him…
The bond he had shared with his brother was a strong one. He remembered the little things his brother used to do for him, the little sacrifices he used to take to make Jonah happy. He remembered how during lunch at school his brother used to always give Jonah all his tasty food, food that Jonah loved like salted meat and potatoes and fish, in exchange for Jonah's bland portions like the beansprouts and bitter gourds and tofu. His brother had always told Jonah that he hated those supposedly tasty foods and instead loved those supposedly bland ones, and always with a smile on his face as he said so. Little Jonah never realised his brother was lying until he had grown up.
He also remembered how his brother used to give all the best toys to Jonah, while only reserving the lesser ones for himself. He remembered how his brother had single-handedly fought off a whole gang who had been bullying Jonah, how his brother never gave up, and how he had persevered despite sustaining some bad injuries in the fight. He remembered how his brother had taught him to swim and to overcome his initial fear of the water, and how he had encouraged him to embrace the warmth of sea and open his eyes to the wonders within.
Life with his brother had been happy, and despite the circumstances that they had lived in, Jonah had always felt at peace with his brother at his side…
However, all that bliss had been taken away on that fateful day…With his eyes gazing into the distance, Jonah recalled what had happened that day…
It was more than twenty years ago now. At the time, Jonah and his brother were living together with their father, whom had just been divorced by their mother, whom in turn had taken their sister to live with their grandmother. Their father was a fisherman, and that year the catch had been particularly poor. It made for a grave financial struggle, and their father's addiction to alcohol and gambling carried the situation from bad to worse. Their father was not a particularly big man. In fact, he was quite gaunt with long unkempt hair and rugged beard. But he was tall, and very intimidating with a frightening stare. When he earned some money, he drank and gambled them away. That was still alright and certainly much more preferable to when the catch was poor. Then he would become abusive, often beating Jonah and his brother with canes for no reason and sometimes even threatening them with knives. At times like this, his brother would hide Jonah under their bed and regaled him with stories of the beautiful sea goddess Pania.
Then one day came, when their father returned home from the sea with no catch. He followed this up by going to an underground casino, where he gambled away and lost all his savings. That night, he came home heavily intoxicated and with a crazed look in his eyes. Something was amiss even for their violent father and Jonah's brother seemed to have sensed it, for he hid Jonah away in the closet even as their father started swearing madly and cursing all the ills that had befallen him.
What happened afterwards was a haunting blur. From behind the closet door, Jonah could hear struggles and screams coming from his brother on the outside. Glasses were broken. Tables and chairs were hauled to the ground. Eventually all fell silent, and soon later, Jonah could hear heavy footsteps approaching, creaking the wooden floor as they did. The closet door was suddenly yanked open, revealing his father. There was a murderous glare in his eyes. He bared his teeth, and forcefully wrapped his steely fingers around Jonah's neck, closing ever tighter like a vine as Jonah lost his breath and started to choke.
It was then that a blade was suddenly stuck through his father's neck. The deathly grip around Jonah's neck loosened as his father's body slipped to the ground, motionless thereafter apart from the fresh blood gushing from his neck. Jonah looked up and saw his brother standing there, a knife in his hand, a sad smile on his face, and a fatal stab wound on his chest…
His brother then collapsed to the floor, having made the ultimate sacrifice…and despite Jonah's cries and pleas that night…his brother never woke up again…
The squawks of the flying seagulls brought Jonah back to the present. He took a deep breath and sighed, trying to shake off his thoughts. He then lifted his coconut over his head and poured the rest of its juice down his face. It felt cool on his skin and particularly refreshing on this warm sunny day.
The truth was…his brother had never left him…Jonah realised this now…
If Yamatai had taught him anything, it was that things that were supposed to be supernatural could very well be real. Jonah had always believed that his uncanny ability to sense danger, first during his stint with the New Zealand military, and later during the many expeditions of Endurance including Yamatai, was simply due to a keen sense and awareness developed by his very own experience. But now…he was convinced that it had been much, much more than that…
You never left…you have always been there watching me…protecting me…
A smile formed on his face, as his vision blurred with tears beginning to form in his eyes. His brother had never left. He had continued to live on, both in spirit and in Jonah's memory, guiding him…shielding him from harm…as he always had…
Jonah wiped his eyes. He stood up, elated and at peace. With the sun radiating its rays of hope, the wind gently caressing, and the sea calling, Jonah ran across the beach, joyfully laughing, and dived into the ocean.
He swam towards the horizon…towards the future…no longer afraid…and no longer alone…for the grace of a brotherly love would forever live on…
Brother…let us swim again together…once more…