It took us two days to make a raft big enough to get us across the Waters of Death. At least we hoped it's big enough. Gilgamesh ended up cutting down like 300 trees to build the thing. I know that seems excessive, but he wanted to be safe. I don't even know how much vine we used to hold the trunks together. Gilgamesh was especially careful with the base of the raft. He said that if it fell apart, we would all die, but if it held together we should be safe. The base ended up being 50 trees wide and two trees deep, so that was the first hundred trees. After they were all carefully attached with the vine, we started a second row of trees and then a third row. We made it so that the middle row of tree trunks rested over the openings between the trunks in the first row and so on. The king said that would keep water from splashing up between the trunks. I knew he was great with engineering from seeing the wall he built around his city, but this raft business was brilliant. I probably would have gotten us killed.
Urshanabi refused to go with us. He said that just because we were crazy enough to get ourselves killed didn't mean he had to be crazy enough to join us. He did tell us how to get where we were going although he said we'd never make it. King Gilgamesh thanked the ferryman for his help then we all climbed on board the raft. In the center of the raft, was one tree standing upright that we were using as a mast. The king had woven the lion skins together again for a sail. They did a pretty good job catching the wind. Gilgamesh had to move around to keep us going in the right direction while Tommy kept a lookout for the island home of Utnapishtim even though I was sure Gilgamesh would actually spot it way before Tommy did. Nicky and I sat close to the sail, using it to block some of the sun. Out in the middle of the river, the sun was extremely hot.
"How long have we been in Sumer?" Nicky asked me quietly.
"I don't even know anymore," I said honestly. "A couple of weeks maybe."
"You know," he laughed, "Our report is past due."
"Maybe when it's so awesome, Mr. Reed will still give us full credit," I said with a smile.
"Nobody is going to believe us when we tell them were we've been. I'm not sure how we ever explain this," he continued.
"Do you think we'll be in trouble with the police?" I asked.
"Hope not," he said, but I could tell he wasn't really sure. "You've got a really good tan going," he told me.
"Thanks, you've got an excellent sunburn," I laughed in return.
I looked up at Gilgamesh and asked, "Do you think Utnapishtim will help you?"
"I do not know," he said honestly.
"If for some reason he can't," I told him, "I just want you to know that we'll make sure everyone remembers you."
We sailed for I'm guessing, about four hours when Tommy shouted, "Land ho!"
Nicky and I stood up and watched, as we got closer to the island. When the raft came onto shore, an old man was there waiting for us. "Where is Urshanabi?" he asked confused. "Who are you?"
"Urshanabi wouldn't come with," Tommy said extending his to the man. "You must be Utnapishtim. I'm Tommy, that's my sister Dani, our friend Nicky and King Gilgamesh of Uruk, son of King Lugalbanda and Lady Ninsun, slayer of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven, friend of Enkidu." The king smiled.
"Slayer of Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven," Utnapishtim said, and I wasn't sure if he was impressed, in doubt, or frightened that he might be next on the list.
"We have come to discuss the gift of immortality you have been given," Gilgamesh told him.
"What is there to discuss? I have been alive since before the great flood," Utnapishtim said coldly. "You may think of this as a gift. I may think of it as a curse."
"Would you tell us about the great flood?" Nicky asked curiously.
Utnapishtim looked at him for a couple of seconds then said, "What you have heard as a child, is that not enough?"
I knew Nicky went to church a lot more than we did, and he would know the story of Noah and the Ark, but not knowing Utnapishtim's version, I had no idea how different they might be. I didn't know how Nicky would respond to that question. When he started telling the story he knew, I was a little surprised. "God came to you," he said.
"Enki, the god of the seas," Utnapishtim corrected.
"Yes, he came to you and warned you that there would be a great flood and all mankind would perish. You were instructed to build a boat," Nicky continued.
"A huge boat," Tommy interjected with his arms outstretched for emphasis on just how big.
"Yes it was quite large," Utnapishtim agreed with a smile.
"You collected two, male and female, of all the animals and brought them onboard with your family," Nicky says.
"We didn't get all of the animals," Utnapishtim explained.
"Were the unicorns hiding?" Tommy asked genuinely concerned.
"Unicorns?" Utnapishtim said not recognizing the name.
"You know the horse with one pointed horn coming out of his forehead," Tommy explained.
"I've never seen this unicorn you speak of, or I surely would have gotten some," the old man told him.
"It rained for 40 days and 40 nights," Nicky said which prompted both men to raise their heads.
"Forty?" the old man said, "Never would we have lasted so long. It was six days and nights of rain."
"I must have misunderstood," Nicky said then shot me a quick glance. "You sent birds out to see if there was land."
"Yes, doves, then swallows, then ravens were sent forth. The raven did not return," Utnapishtim told us.
"So it wasn't the dove that returned with a twig?" Tommy asked.
"No, it was the raven," the old man said.
"Once you left the boat, you made a sacrificed to god… I mean the gods," Nicky finally said.
"You understand what happened," Utnapishtim now said looking at Nicky. "I believed that you had listened to the stories.
"How did you become immortal," Gilgamesh now asked the old man.
"Well," Utnapishtim says standing and walking around the room, "Enlil was the one who brought forth the flood. He was the one who said mankind was too loud. He was outraged when he found out that Enki had made it such that we, man, would survive. I feared that he would strike down those of us who remained. The other gods were mad at him, which wasn't the first time. He had previously been banned from the heaven of the gods and forced to Kigal. I do not believe he wished to go back to the underworld. He took my wife and I back into the boat. There he placed a blessing on us. Once this was done, we were brought here, never again to be among people."
His wife entered into the room now and I could tell from the look on her face that she would agree with her husband that immortality had not been a blessing.
"We have come this far for nothing," Gilgamesh said lowering his head. "There is no way for me to ensure that Enkidu's story will go on that people will never forget what we accomplished, together."
"Return to your city, great King," Utnapishtim said softly to the king. "I will send with you the last surviving spring of a plant. It will not give you immortality, but it will help you restore your youth, the youth you have lost since your friend's death. It will then be up to you to carry on the memory of Enkidu."
With that Gilgamesh raised his head, "Mighty Utnapishtim, I will ensure that it is done."
Gilgamesh then went outside with the old man and started walking through the woods.
"Come children," his wife said to us now. It was the first time she had spoken since we arrived. "You shall eat and bathe. It will be a long journey back home."
The way she said back home, made me wonder if she knew more than she let on.