The Astral Whale (Dreams Series)

They say dreams depict and help us take a glimpse of what's going to happen in the future. Some say it's how our consciousness speaks to us about evaluating ourselves in the form of us playing scenarios in our dreams. Sometimes it can be scary, romantic, thrilling, and even inspiring. Still, for me, it's always about that Astral Whale that's floating into the majestic sky with a lot of beautiful colors illuminating in the cosmos below the grassy field where I stood. I could never decipher which is which to the point that it makes me curious why that specific scenario would often play in my dreams.

Just a few months after it started occurring, something strange happened. I stared at the majestic sky sprinkled with stars and space painted with the ocean's color with the touch of ruby and fuchsias. Oh, you could never endure the beauty of the skies that lay before my eyes as I sat here in the grass with the plains of the landscape trailing endlessly. Just before I could lay my head onto the grassy field, a song of the whale caught my attention. Its tail was becoming visible through the cosmic clouds that embodied the skies, waving back and forth as if it's swimming through the atmosphere with its body hidden beneath the clouds. I stood up to take a closer look, and I squinted my eyes to focus on the sparks illuminating from its tail. It was bleeding, bleeding cosmic dust as if its tail is slowly decaying among the stars. My eyes glued to the gigantic creature. As soon as there was an opening where the thick cosmic clouds break, I could see the eyes of the creature gazing towards me as if we made a connection through it. Still, before I could stretch my hand up high to signal it to come towards me, I woke up to a distant voice becoming louder and louder.

"Austin! Wake up! It's time for breakfast!" My mother's voice from downstairs tells me that it's already morning and it's a weekend. I might catch my father from down the harbor, so I rushed into my clothes and immediately went downstairs to get a fill. "Slept well lately, Austin?" She asked. I just nodded in agreement, but I'm dumbfounded about the things they are now. I think I could only think straight if I face the ocean recollecting my thoughts. After chatting with her and making my stomach satisfied, I rode my bicycle. I went straight to the harbor, hoping that I could still catch my dad before he departs to the seas. The view of the seas greeted me with the usual seagulls flying over the waves and the boats departing from the port just a few miles away from the harbor. It gave me a sense of feeling that something special is going to happen today. It wasn't the usual gloomy days that I would often experience. Still, whatever, I pedal hastily to arrive at the harbor.

When I got there, I wasn't surprised that Dad already left. I wished that I could catch him just for once before he departs again. Since that day, dad won't come home. Maybe he and mom got into a fight, and I don't know anymore. Getting all sentimental with my thoughts, I traversed to the nearby beach where I sat down at a large broken trunk that gave a good view of the sea. Coming to think of it, loving the sea so much simultaneously, hating it might contribute to the Astral Whale that's been swimming in my dreams. Yet, I can't just seem to figure why it is slowly disappearing. My thoughts are all jumbled like a couple of headsets getting all tangled in your pocket. Moments later, contemplating it while looking at the still sea, a humpback whale caught my attention as it surfaced from a distance. My eyes widen by coincidence, my attention diverted to the sound of clapping by a person, which is just distance between us two. It was an older man, roughly in his 60's cheering the whale. I clapped in unison, getting his attention.

"Do you know Benny?" He shouts, putting both of his hands sideways beside his mouth to amplify his voice.

"Who?" I asked, trying to clarify the name.

"I said, do you know Benny?"

"Benny? Who's benny?"

The older man pointed at the whale who's been surfacing, making splashes at sea. "That's Benny," He replied.

"Oh," I laughed, "I didn't know Benny was a whale."

"Isn't he wonderful?" The older man rhetorically asked, grinning at the sight of the whale.

He then slowly approached me and asked if he can sit in the tree trunk. "Benny comes over to this side of the beach only on special occasions." He stated, "that's why I got excited and went to see him, but I never really thought that there was also somebody witnessing his appearance."

"I see." I acknowledged while astonished by the sight of him being mesmerized by the humpback whale.

"What brings you here, by the way? Are you a son of a sailor?" As the humpback whale made noises until it subsided when it dove deep again into the waters, the older man asked.

"I am Admiral Newman's son," I responded.

"Oh, Admiral Newman. A pretty fine sailor, if you ask, he helped much of the community when the storm hit this fishing town. Your father's a generous man."

"I went out here to see him off, every weekend, I would go to the harbor hoping that I would catch him when he departs or arrives, but all I see are ships heading out and coming in without a sign of him. It's been months since it's been that way."

"They say the troubled would come to ask help from the sea, and I suppose Benny heard that call as well." The older man grinned with enthusiasm

I was reluctant at first to say that I've been dreaming about weird and puzzling dreams, but I have a good feeling that I can trust this older man. "I've been dreaming of Whales lately," I stated, anticipating that he would laugh at it, but he didn't.

He nodded, putting his index finger and thumb on his chin figuring something out while looking at the ocean.

"Whales, huh," He yelled out after a moment of silence. He let out a deep sigh and told me, "Listen, kid, meet me here next weekend," He stood up on his feet, "let's talk about it, but for now, I have other stuff to do. It was a pleasure meeting you." The older man then went on his way while I sat there, determined to figure out about the Astral Whale, and maybe that would be the key to finding my father.

-          To be continued