Ignition

The black ink of darkness surrounded me as I made my way forward. Seeing nothing, I steadied myself with my left hand on a wooden rail. My clothes were sticky with humidity, and the air was heavy with the strong smell of sea salt. I was alone. Not a sound. Not even the wind called to me.
Then out of nowhere there came a “Boom!” It was the sound of a hundred hammers hitting metal all at once. Then came the shriek of hysterical men. The screaming was so loud I had to cover my ears.
My brother Andrew yelled, “Lower the sail, or we will all die!” I couldn’t see anything in front of me. Flashes of white light from lightning came so close to us that we had to cover our eyes from the searing-white light. Then rumbled the thunderous boom. It was so loud that it left a ringing in my ears. Then it started again—white flashes blinding us, followed by ear-shattering booms.
Huge waves crashed over the sides of our small boat, smashing into us and tossing everyone around. I strained to count our crew of five. It was hard to see in the near darkness between the crashing waves and flashing lightning. We were rocking back and forth like a small leaf caught in the wind. No, not five of us on board. Only four! Whom had we lost?
Then I heard it in the distance. A pleading voice yelled my name, a desperate and guttural scream filled with fear and panic. And I could almost hear the coughing and choking in her screams as water filled her lungs.
“Shi’mon! Shi’mon! Help me! Shi’mon!” And then nothing. Just blackness filled with roaring thunder, blinding flashes of white light, and cold waves battering us.

I bolted up, screaming. Sweat covered my body. My hands were shaking.
Silence. No wind, no waves, no thunder or lightning. Only silence. I looked over, and my brother Andrew was staring back at me with concerned eyes. The rest of the crew went about their business as if they hadn’t heard my screaming or witness my thrashing about like a mad man with seizures. Would my nightmares never go away? I was alive and yet not alive. I was lost in the lonely wilderness of life.

This is my story. I am Shi’mon Bar-Jonah (Son of Jonah), a simple fisherman who lost everything and then found eternal life.