Daughter of the Dutchman: Confusion and Decisions
I sat at the edge of my world - the boulder from which I had first seen my father – alone with only my thoughts.
Thankfully my mother approved of Michael. Calypso did as well, but she was wary. She didn't want me to be unhappy, and she feared that I would be when I would be leaving in two years.
Neither my mother nor Michael knew what I was planning. What I had promised my father I would do. I don't break my promises easily, but Michael was getting pushy.
Neither of us were getting any younger, and his parents were pushing him to settle down and get married. Michael was anxious, unsure of himself and what he wanted. Confused.
And now I didn't know what I wanted. I had a few choices, but they were all hard decisions and all were life changing.
I could leave Michael, tearing my heart in half but being with my father and the sea.
I could stay with Michael, married and happy with small children to raise. I could stay with my mother and brother and his children and Michael….
I could turn my back on both Michael and the oceans, instead going inland and becoming a nun. I shuddered at the thought of being alone, and discarded that thought almost immediately.
Michael? Or my father and the sea?
I couldn't decide, and now was the time to make that decision that I had put off for the past two years.
Michael? The ocean? My mother? My father? Adventure? Children? What did I want the most?
"I don't know what I want." I whispered, frowning. The thought was a scary one.
~*~The Dutchman~*~
Weeks passed, and my eighteenth birthday came. Michael had been looking like he wanted to tell me something, but couldn't quite find the time or place to say it.
My birthday dinner was like any other day, with stew and bread. In fact, it seemed like I was the only one to remember that it was my birthday.
"Michael?" I asked after dinner was finished and the dishes put away.
"Hmm?"
"You've got something on the end of your tongue that you've been wanting to say for a while now." I stated, not looking at him.
I could feel Michael's green eyes on my back. "Calypso …" he started, hesitant. I said nothing, content to let him speak when he was ready.
"Calypso Elizabeth Turner, will you marry me?" he said quickly, throwing the words between us.
I turned around, meeting his anxious green eyes.
I couldn't put this decision off any longer. I was eighteen, in love, and confused beyond any imagination.
"I-I-"