06
I walked resolutely to my bedroom and fell asleep peacefully and without obstruction. My mind was empty apart from rolling images of ocean waves, the water crashing against my outward feet stretched over a raft. I slept for hours that way and woke up unsure of the time. If I had to guess I’d say 3 o’clock in the afternoon, based on the sun’s position in the sky. I made some more tea, sat in the lazy chair in the front room and scribed a quick note.
Aunt Josephine,I’m sorry but it’s time for me to go home.
Thank you for everything,
Sultan.
That note would be my final mark on the world. I placed it under my teacup, rose to my feet, looked around the room at the place I was leaving behind, and walked outside, shutting the door behind me and telling myself don’t look back. I headed to my local Walmart with an empty, over-sized duffel bag. When I got there I went to the “Outdoors” section and promptly bought every single lifejacket in the store’s inventory, a total of 58. It wasn’t enough, but it’d have to do. I picked up a few more supplies, loaded everything into the duffel bag and headed outside. The bag was heavy but I had unnatural strength in the moment. I was headed for the train station. Once there, I sat at an empty bench on the train’s platform with steady focus on my return. In my peripheral vision, I noticed a lady two benches to my right stand up and walk back into the station. She returned minutes later and sat at the same bench she had before except this time a security officer approached behind her. Passing her, he walked up to me and promptly stated, “Excuse me sir, today we are running some random security checks at select stations. Mind if I look in your bag?”
Visions of whales spraying fountains into the air, showering me with seawater clouded my attention to the man. I heard noise but didn’t hear what he’d said. I was in somewhat of a fugue state, and my daydreams were lucid. The security officer reached his hand out and pushed lightly on my shoulder before asking a variation of the same question.
“Sir, we have some random security checks today and you’ve been selected, may I please examine the contents of your bag?”
“Oh, uh sure,” I reacted with private irritation.
The man proceeded to unzip my bag and show surprise at the hordes of lifejackets inside.
“Sir, what is your intent with these lifejackets?”
“Going to the ocean,” I said truthfully. My mind was still buzzing with the voyage I was soon to embark upon. The sun above me stroked the skin of my face and washed my hair with its golden rays of light. I looked up at the sky and felt obstructed by the man’s presence blocking out the light.
“Okay, well, uh, have a good day, sir.”
At this point, the man tipped his hat, walked back towards the station, nodded something unclear to the lady two benches down (approval?) (duty?) (greeting?), took a cellphone out of his pocket and lifted it to his ear.