Oceanic Descent (Chapter Six)
David stretched then yawned widely as he woke up the next morning. He’d had a wonderful dream of floating peacefully in space. David looked around at the unfamiliar small bedroom. Suddenly the memories of Mike’s attack last night rushed over him.
Scrambling out of bed, David anxiously looked for Yamaya. The smell of frying eggs and tea drew him to a tiny galley kitchen. Yamaya turned as she heard him enter.
“How are you feeling this morning David?”
“Um… w-what happened? I-I was taking a b-bath…?” His fingers plucked nervously at the grey sweat pants he was wearing.
“I’m not surprised you don’t remember, you were very shaken and tired last night. You fell asleep in the bath and I woke you and helped you to bed.”
Flushing deeply, David looked down silently.
“David, have some breakfast. Please sit down.” Yamaya filled two plates with eggs and toast and poured a glass of milk for David, and a cup of black tea for herself. Setting everything on the table, she curled her hands around her mug, inhaling the fragrance.
“David, last night I called your mother and told her you were safe and with me. She and your grandmother are coming over soon to talk about what happened.”
Blanching, David’s fork dropped from nerveless fingers with a loud clang. “Sorry! Um… I-I can’t… um…” His words trailed off.
Lupe reached across the table firmly grasping his hands. “David! Calm down. It will be fine. Lupe and Marita love you and will want to help you, just as I do. You don’t have to face all of this alone! Something bad must have happened last night, please let us help.”
David pulled his hands from Yamaya’s grasp uncomfortably. He drank his milk and then went to sit on the living room couch with his back towards Yamaya. Tucking his knees securely under his chin, he gazed out of a large sunny window into the swaying branches of an oak tree.
Behind him, Yamaya sighed as she sipped her tea.
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Marita got into the car next to a nervous Lupe. Her daughter’s fingers were white, pressing hard against the steering wheel.
Marita spoke to Lupe in their native Spanish. “I know that you have your own beliefs now Lupe, and I know that you think I am sometimes a superstitious old woman, But, I want you to keep calm and have an open mind, for David’s sake. He needs his mother’s love and guidance now.”
Lupe looked sharply at her mother. “What do you know? What are you not telling me, Mama?”
“Let us all find out what is going on together. I will not say what my suspicions are yet. I only remind you to be David’s mother first and Jeff’s wife second right now.” Marita tried to keep her dislike of Jeff out of her voice. She folded her hands together and remained silent for the rest of the drive. So did Lupe.
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Yamaya opened the door for David’s mother and grandmother, and offered them seats in the living room. Lupe sat down next to David, reaching over to hug him. David stiffened in her arms, but after a long moment, softened, and laid his head on Lupe’s shoulder. Lupe turned troubled eyes towards Yamaya.
Yamaya spoke directly to David. “David, do you want to tell us what happened last night?” His head turned side-to-side minutely as he avoided meeting anyone’s gaze.
“All right, I think we should share information. Marita, you observed something interesting about David when he was in the hospital. This led to contacting me. Could you tell Lupe and David what you saw?”
Marita said, “As I was watching over my grandson before he awoke, I saw him shining in the darkness. Just a tiny glow, like that of the tiny night-tide creatures.” She went on, “And then, David sang… it was of such beauty… he sang of the sea.”
Marita turned to Lupe, “Do you remember when I told you the grandmother’s tales about Mami Wata and her children, the Sea People? I know you thought those were just old tales, and so did I. But when David sang I wondered if Mami Wata, who is also Mary, saved him in the water because he is one of her sea children.”
David looked at his grandmother, confusion plain on his face. Marita spoke directly to David. “My precious grandson, There were many wise women in our family, stretching far back. Back to Africa, back to the Aztec, back to the Brujas, women that the Spanish called witches. But they were powerful wise-women, not bad witches.
We women accepted Mary, the Queen of Heaven and the Sea, and her Beloved Son, Jesus, knowing that the Mother has a thousand names, and Mary is one of them.” Marita moved to the couch to sit on David’s other side.
She continued. “But women who spoke of this were often laughed at or even killed. Even in my great-grandmother’s time an inquisitor from Mexico City killed a bruja from my village. So we only told the old stories, from mother to daughter, quietly.”
When David shone, I called a very wise bruja back home. She contacted other wise-ones, and eventually Yamaya came to us.
Both David and Lupe seemed stunned and speechless. Yamaya said, “I think we could use a break and a snack. I will be right back. As she left the living room, the silence behind her remained unbroken.
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Yamaya returned to the living room, placing a tray with juice, tea, and a plate of cookies on the coffee table. She sat in an armchair where she could face David, Lupe, and Marita directly.
“David, I started to tell you some of what I know about your changes. Can I tell Lupe, Marita and you the rest? After that we should talk about last night if you feel up to it.”
David seemed relieved over the prospect of a reprieve. He nodded to Yamaya, “okay.”
“Lupe, I ask you to keep this secret, especially for David’s well-being.” Lupe gave a short nod. “I explained to David that I am part of a large group of diverse people all researching the reality behind the legends of sea-folk from around the world. We have found evidence of these beliefs all the way back to the Neolithic peoples, in almost every part of the world, particularly in island and coastal communities.”
By analyzing DNA samples from people who show unusual aquatic adaptations, we have become quite sure that these “sea-folk” were real. Two genetic researchers contacted me because when I was twelve, I survived an hour and twelve minutes trapped under ice in a river with no damage. Since then I have been fascinated by this species that we call homo sapiens tethyia. Tethys, by the was, was an ancient Greek primordial spirit of water.”
Pausing to pour herself another cup of tea, Yamaya tried to lighten the conversation. “I even changed my name when I learned all of this! Of course it helped that I hated my birth name.”
David looked up in interest. “W-what was your n-name?”
“Gwen.”
“Gwen is a n-nice name, Yamaya,” said David.
“Well, our last name was Mendelsson.” She paused. “And my first name was Gwendolyn. So… Gwendolyn Mendelsson. Really rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?” As everyone tried to stifle their snickers, Yamaya began laughing aloud. “No wonder Yamaya Kinor sounded so good to me!”
Feeling the tension drop in the group, Yamaya went on. “Last night, David fell asleep taking a bath. I knocked but heard no answer. When I went in to see if he needed help…” David looked completely mortified, hiding his face behind his forearm. “I am sorry David, but I was as careful of your privacy as possible. David, you were lying on the bottom of the tub, completely submerged. You were perfectly comfortable and breathing… breathing through external gills. External gills are used my some animals that breathe in both water and air. Just like you can.”
Marita crossed herself quickly, and Lupe was completely silent, her face closed her face closed and expressionless.
David looked completely shocked. “What! I-I don’t have g-gills! I’m not a F-FISH!” his voice rising with an edge of hysteria. “P-prove it!”
Lupe put her arm around David’s shoulder protectively and looked coldly at Yamaya. “Yes, Ms Kinor, please show us proof. This sounds like a fairy tale to me.” She tightened her arm around David. David shifted uneasily.
“I think we can prove this quite easily, but first there is just a bit more I need to explain.”
“Long ago, 55 million years ago, the worst global warming event in Earth's history occurred. The Earth’s temperature rose at least 6 degrees centigrade. The ice caps melted, the sea rose, the arctic became semi-tropical and many species became extinct, while others, including most mammal groups arose.”
“One of the groups of primates survived by living near the ocean and spending much of their day in the water. Gradually, they lost their fur, grew noses to keep water out of their lungs, developed an insulating fat layer, and most importantly, learned to stand on two legs not four. They were adapting to life in the water, as other animals also did, the seals, whales, otters, and hippos, to name a few that still exist today.”
Picking up a large cowrie shell that was sitting on the end table next to her chair, she went on, “Much later, as the Earth cooled down, they emerged from the water as hominids. One very successful group, homo erectus, was tall, strong, and used tools and fire. But they seemed to go mysteriously go extinct, while a brother group went on to becomehomo sapiens, land-folk who could go into the water. But now we know, homo erectus did not go extinct, they went further into the sea, they became homo tethyia, sea-people who could go onto land.”
“For most of history, the groups lived side by side harmoniously, only meeting each other occasionally at the shores. Sometime land and sea people even interbred. But eventually, sea-people and their descendants were persecuted by the land folk. By the two to three thousand years ago, the persecution had taken on a life of it’s own, targeting women, heretics, and pagans. No one even remembered that the “enemy” had originally been the sea-people.”
Yamaya sighed, and shifted to get more comfortable in the armchair, her finger's gliding over the smooth shell. “Many people have some homo tethyia ancestry. That is how I survived underwater as a child. But we have not found anyone, other then David, able to make the full change to being able to live underwater. David, you are unique and miraculous. There are only legends to guide us, but I think this will be a magical process of discovery for you.”
“For proof, all David needs to do is submerge himself in water. The passage to his lungs will close and his gills will emerge from very thin slits that will open on his neck.”
David stood up. Surprised the three women looked up at him. He raised his chin firmly and said, as steadily as he could manage, “Um… I think I can… I can do it. Breath underwater. Ah, I-I want to try.”
“Right now.”
TBC…
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Bibliography & Grace Notes!
To learn about the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, read:
PETM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene-Eocene_Thermal_Maximum
To learn about homo erectus and their history (as far as we know it) read:
Homo Erectus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homo_erectus
To read about the “Aquatic Ape Theory” here are two good links:
Aquatic Ape Hypothesis (AAH)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquatic_ape
Elaine Morgan, author of “The Aquatic Ape” (formerly, “The Descent of Women”)
http://www.elainemorgan.me.uk/reviews.htm
Who is Mami Wata?
Mami Wata
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mami_Wata
Where did Yamaya find her new name?
Yemaja
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemaja
Undine, Drowning In The River Danube, By Arthur Rackham
*I own none of stuff above either.
* Comment are love!