Lost

We each woke up in this boat.  There were six of us.  We didn’t know how we got here, and that terrified us.  Our surrounding only deepened our terror.  Where were we?  Why were we here?

We were afloat in some water.  I tasted it; it was salty, so we were adrift in the ocean somewhere.  But the water was still, waveless, like glass.  And we were enveloped by a thick fog.  We assumed it was day, but could not determine where the sun was in  the sky.

Our boat had a few provisions.  There was about two liters of water and a couple packages of nutrition bars for each of us.  We saw that there was a small gas motor and a 5 gallon can of fuel, and a pair of oars.  Whoever put us in the boat also dressed us in warm coats.

As we talked among ourselves, we found that we were from all parts of the country, so there was no clue from our origins as to whether we were afloat in the Atlantic or the Pacific.

We listened carefully for any sound that could tell us where land might be, but heard nothing.  We were lost, completely lost.

We decided to wait until the fog cleared.  Waiting was pretty hard to do, because we all wanted to get out of this boat and onto land again.  But we waited because we didn’t want to waste our fuel going the wrong direction.

After a few hours we heard a sound, a voice calling out into the fog, “Anyone there?”

We got excited thinking we were rescued and called back that we were here.  But our hopes dropped when another boat just like ours rowed out of the fog toward us.  There were six others in that boat too.  They threw a rope to us and we tied the two boats together.

We exchanged introductions and assessments of our situation.  I think we were all cheered a little now that there were more of us, and we talked for a while.  We wondered if there were more boats out here in the fog and started calling out into the blank grey.

In a few minutes we heard and then saw a third boat appear in the fog.  In this one stood a man that definitely looked like the leader of his boat.  He waved at us and seemed to be ready to take command of all three boats.

“Hey!” he shouted, “Follow us, I know the way into shore!”

We got excited about this and began to ready the oars, when one of us asked, “How do you know which way the shore is?”

“It’s not that far,” the guy in the third boat called back pointing out past his bow, “that way!  Follow us!”

Others in his boat waved to us to follow too.

We looked at each other.  The man who questioned the directions, shook his head.

“How can that guy know the direction?  Look, the fog is only thicker, there is no wind, no birds, no indication of land at all yet.  What if he’s taking us away from land?  We have provisions and fuel for two, maybe three days.  We have to get this right.  I want to know how he knows!”

And he stood up and called back at the third boat’s ‘captain.’

“Hey!  How do you know the way back to land?”

The ‘captain’ raised his hands to his mouth and shouted back, “I’m a sailor.  I know.”

Our skeptic yelled back, “Good, but how do you know?”

“Trust me!”

“OK!  But how do you know?”

The ‘captain’ pointed again over his bow, “This is the way!  Trust me!  I’ll get us all home!”

Our companions in the second boat untied the ropes holding us together saying we could do whatever we wanted, but they were going to follow the captain’s boat.  They pushed away and began rowing after the third boat.

We deliberated and our skeptic said that he didn’t really trust the ‘captain,’ but agreed to go along with the majority who voted to follow and stay with the other boats.  We did not want to be out here in the fog alone.

I could see hope in my companion’s faces as I took the first turn rowing after the other two boats.  It felt good to be doing something.  It felt good to be moving.