Simon to Silas
by F_R_Eaky
Simon approached the edge of the sand and sank to his knees. His eyes burned hot as he stared straight out into the horizon, since he was fighting every urge he had to cry. We humans go through two rituals involving the ranks of Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. The first set is called high school and the second set is called college.
All during high school, Simon was a small boy, so small that one barely noticed him: five feet – four inches tall, so skinny that if he turned sideways one swore he really disappeared (really, with his shirt off, which never happened, one could see and count his ribs!), a mop of messy, mousey-brown hair that was dull and flat, big globulous mud-brown eyes that didn’t seem to have any sparkle to them unless you viewed them through Simon’s glasses. Even a smile through this tiny, thin lips didn’t make them glow with happiness.
And then came college… Simon had waited and waited for his growth spurt to come. Even if he didn’t get taller, he hoped he would fill out somewhat, but that didn’t happen. It didn’t happen during high school and it didn’t happen the summer after. Now he was doomed to repeat the trials and tribulations of being a freshman in college as a small, skinny, geek – worse yet, all the average males having had their growth spurts into tall, or if not tall at least filled-out grown men, he was basically even smaller comparatively to his co-students than his Freshman year in high school.
Of course the new school year started off badly. He thought accepting a scholarship away from home would leave his troubles behind, instead he ran into a brand new set: bullies that knew how to torment him without leaving evidence or witnesses to see; star athletes and their professors who immediately hounded him into tutoring sessions recognizing him while learning, but ignoring him outside of study times; stores that carried nothing his size, except in the boys department; and off campus jerks like the ones he just ran into that pushed him around, tore his shirt, and tried to steal money from him before decking him across the face.
Simon was suddenly snapped to from his thoughts by the sensation of lapping water at his knees; the tide was coming in on him.
“What’s wrong, buddy?”
Simon jerked around and looked up to see a really good looking man standing beside him. The man was average height, maybe a little tall, decent athletic build with some great definition, sandy brown hair, great smile, and spoke with a hint of a drawl. He was wearing a pair of floral board shorts, with a short board hanging behind his back and a skate board in his hand. Simon was sure he had seen him somewhere before but just couldn’t quite place the gentleman in his mind.
“If ya need a good place to be alone and think about things, there’s a nice lil cove just further down the beach”, the man said. “When I first got here, wasn’t sure what my next job was gonna be, nor when I got offers which one I should take. I found that cove one night, and it was so beautiful, so perfect, it was just the calmest place in the world, so natural… I was able to think things through. Changed my life.”
Simon looked down the stretch of beach, “I don’t have a board.”
Just then a man came running up, dropping a board behind Simon. “Here’s the board you ordered Mr. Mc…”
“Shhht!” Said the tall good looking man and shoo-ed the man away, after signing something. “Ahaaaa…. As it happens I have an extra. You can use it if ya like. Don’ worry about returnin’ it; I’ve got plenty.”
The man turned and headed up the beach a bit before diving into the sea to surf. Simon reached behind him, grabbed the board, barely able to lift it, and walked down the beach a ways till he came to the cove. The mainland came out and actually surrounded a small part of the sea in a circular formation but rose up with many outcroppings of rock that kept it hidden from most people’s view either from land or from sea. It formed a private pool of sorts and Simon stared into it like it was a vast mirror.
Deciding there wasn’t much else to do and the swim might calm him down, give him a chance to think, Simon took off his shirt, pants, shoes, and socks, placed them on a rock and rode the board into the middle of the pool. He straddled it like he was riding a horse for a few moments, then leaned back, lied down and looked up at the sky as it started to turn dark becoming dusk. Suddenly he noticed the sky become a brighter purple, then pinker than it was before, getting lighter.
“Wait a minute…” He thought. “It’s becoming night!” Sitting upright, Simon soon noticed that that water around him was beginning to bubble and was a swirl of colors and lights. More and more bubbles came up as if this portion of the sea was suddenly carbonated water. Then he heard a pop, followed by another, and still more, then two pops at the same time followed by a gurgle. Soon the water around him churned like a hot tub at full blast, and flashed all sorts of colors at the same time like iridescent paper. But the turbulence became too much, and the young man was thrown off the board and plunged underwater. He swam around for several minutes, struggling to get above the surface and get his breath again.
He swam round and round trying to get himself up and up but the bubbles and the current kept pushing him down down down. Simon was beginning to panic, and searched for the edge of the pool so he could attempt to climb and crawl up if not swim out. Round and round he searched, his lungs getting tighter and tighter, burning more and more. Flailing his arms he desperately strained to swim to the top, but his twig of arm and small hands cut through like thin knives or razor blades, with no effect, no resistance. If he had big hands at least he’d have something more oar like to propel him through the water.
Then that moment occurred. There was no way of getting to top and breaking above the water. There was no more time for the air that was left in his lungs. The was no more strength or energy to hold that breath, to keep his mouth shut or push air to keep his nostrils clear. Simon’s mouth was now going to open involuntarily, allowing the last bit of breath to form a bubble and escape to the top while his body shook in spasm, attempted to get one more flow of oxygen and instead suck down water and cause him to drown to death.
Yet as he gave up, his mouth opening, releasing the last bit of air in his lungs, he thought he saw something. Maybe it was someone? He wasn’t sure. He was losing consciousness and the air created a temporary curtain of bubbles travelling across his line of vision. He closed his eyes, and suddenly there was the sensation of him… … … being kissed?
Simon opened his eyes and saw a pair of brown eyes, but instead of being dark and nearly black like his, they sparkled and flashed with golden highlights, warmth, and happiness. He suddenly felt air return to his lungs and his breathing started coming back to a normal pattern and a normal pace, yet he was still under water.
The face moved back from him, and Simon could see it was a man, a very large man. The face was very square, hard, yet strikingly handsome like a model. It had a well proportioned nose all though it had a wide, thick bridge, and good sized nostrils. The eyes were slightly almond shaped and framed by a huge mane of thick ebony hair that would hang to the middle of the man’s back if they were on land, but now it floated in curls around his head.
This head was attached to a long yet incredibly thick neck, which was well rooted and supported by massively wide and broad delts, shoulders, and back, in front of which hung two incredibly thick, titanic plates of muscle that was the man’s chest. From the sides hung an arm, each one as thick with muscle, and sinew, and cords, and popping with veins, the upper part looking damn near thicker, bigger round than the man’s head, and the lower parts as thick as his neck. All of him glowed with a natural kind of tan, a beautiful golden-olive kind of look as though he were Polynesian, or Hawaiian?
Simon stared at this man and wondered how someone this size, both in build and in height could manage to keep himself a float, or swim and move so well in the sea. The man moved in several times to kiss Simon, somehow allowing Simon to breathe. Yet each time Simon allowed his senses to use his entire body to touch, feel, as the man embraced him. His entire body was feeling the strength, the granite hardness, the bulging contours and shapes of gargantuan muscles as well as the pulse and warmth of that strength, vitality, and life coursing through this man. He realized that the man kissing him, holding him was hugely out of proportion to him and not just because Simon was only five feet four inches tall. Easily this man had to be around eight feet tall, when standing upright on land.
Although he should be drowning, the amount of time now spent below water, although he couldn’t accept or truly comprehend this man’s size, Simon didn’t panic, he felt at ease, he felt good, he felt…aroused, and his tiny lil prick made a little tent in his underwear. He hoped the gentleman wouldn’t notice. Simon decided to continue he survey of the man, looking past the guy’s barreling chest, to see his the wing like lats tapering into the side obliques which moved and bunched with a cobblestone of huge defined frontal abs. This was covered in the middle with a slight trail of hair that led down, down, down… … … to a dolphin tail!?!
Simon blinked his eyes, the information being sent to his brain was too much, scientifically impossible, sexually arousing, utterly confusing. “This is it…” he thought. “I’m not actually breathing, I’ve already begun to drown and it’s just the euphoria of the chemicals being released in my brain making me think I’m able to breathe, and being saved by the god, Pele.”
Suddenly Simon could hear laughter and he opened his eyes to see the man smiling brightly at him.
“First of all little one, it’s the god-dess Pele, a she. Second she’s the goddess of fire and lightning and volcanoes, so this sea cove all this water wouldn’t really suit her. Third, I’m not a god, although I’m about to bestow some gifts upon you which may make me appear to be a god in your eyes. However, I’m not one; I’m just myself, and I am Ikaika-kohala, but you can just call me Ikaika, or Kai for short.”
Simon looked to Ikaika to speak to him, but discovered he didn’t feel it necessary to move his mouth, just to nod towards the mysterious man.
“That’s such a beautiful name…. I wish I had one like that.”
The gentleman laughed again and spoke once more, “You are Simon. In our language your name would be, “Kimona.” But that won’t matter soon, as you will be addressed by a different name, although I will call you, “M?hoe-Mahi” or more personally “Ipo.”
“You know who I am?”
“Yes, Ido.”
“But why? How? Why are you saving me, or giving me gifts?”
“I saw you you’re first day here at the beach, and I saw you used this place to reconnect to your inner self, to calm your mind and cool your head. You come back to nature to refresh yourself. You understand it’s importance and you do what you can when you can to help it.”
“I’ve not done much of anything.”
“No…you have. In your short time here you have helped many animals escape the unintentional traps of mankind’s trash, helping that bird caught in a six pack ring the other day. Both before you came here to study and now, you recycle everything you can, you try to use things to their fullest potential and fix them if possible instead of just throwing things away and replacing them every minute. You try not to waste energy but conserve it, and you try to make as little impact as you can on the earth and it’s resources doing things as naturally as possible. You even plan on make your rising paper, master’s paper, and doctorate all on things to help the earth if you can do so.”
“How do you know so much about what I’ve done before at home?”
“I talked with the fish. They went and talked with the fish of the river in the middle of America, who went and talked with the fish of the stream near your house, who talked with the animals along its banks. Nature is connected beyond the circle of life, it gossips just as much as man kind!”
“But why save me?”
“Because, Kimona of your actions. You try to save things, to help save the earth. You help save animals when in trouble, and you treat them like they were your equals. You don’t turn in revenge or hatred on those who tease, belittle, or pick on you. Although you are weak in body, you are strong in mind and very strong in spirit…and as I have watched you, I have become connected to you.”
“Connected to me?”
“Yes, but I can’t explain that now…must wait for the proper time. First you must be prepared, and you must accept the gift I’m about to give you. Will you trust me enough, Kimona, to bestow a gift upon you?”
“Yes…”
And with that, the gentleman, merman, whatever he was, pulled out something that looked like a pen and drew out a symbol in the center of Simon’s concaved chest. It was iridescent like the water was earlier, but primarily seemed to be of bright sky blue ink. Kai moved in, embraced Simon once more, kissing him deeply. During the kiss, Simon felt a deep surge build up within him, gathering at the very spot where the tattoo was drawn on his chest. It built up and up and up, and Simon felt like his chest was expanding, swelling ready to burst, and then the moment ended as Kai broke off the kiss.
“This is a special tattoo, Kimona. Only you can see it. Just when you need it, it will help you out, but be careful not to abuse it’s power, for just as it can bestow great gifts it can extract horrible punishment. But I believe in you, and know you will do right by it. Don’t worry, and don’t be afraid, as many changes will come. You will not be able to explain it, so just do like the fish of the sea and surfers of the waves and ‘go with the flow!’”
And with that, Kai placed his hands under Simon’s arm pits, and rockets up to the top of the sea. The pair of them soared into the air, and Kai let go of Simon, causing him to fall and land on his half board that the hunky man on the beach gave him earlier. Kai turned his torso and extended his arms like a diver midway down and Olympic level dive, sailing over Simon and his board, plunging into the sea. With that the sea became calm, took on the inky blackness of the night and Simon was lying there wondering if this wasn’t all a dream.
To be continued?