Sea Birds: When Sea Birds Fly to Land

By TOM STRATTON

We never know how events affect our lives. In Sea Birds, events that seem to be totally unrelated gradually draw several lives together in the tropical paradise of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Sea Birds describes in a series of stories how the personal relationships of the people involved develop. Even in paradise, there is crime, greed, love, hate, and passion leading to an ultimate new beginning

Anjanette was abandoned as a child of mixed heritage. She now, as an adult, operates the Arawak Eco-Camp with the goal of preserving the Caribbean land where it is located and providing educational opportunities for those interested in learning about the Virgin Islands land and the sea around them. Unfortunately, her land is a magnet for people more interested in exploiting the islands than in preserving them. Sea Birds describes the struggles of Anjanette and her friends to save the Eco-Camp from development as a resort hotel and casino. During this time, she learns much about her family, her husband, and her friends, culminating with an unexpected ending.

Comments from readers:

I completed the book with tears of happiness streaming down my face. A frequent visitor to the Virgin Islands.

I could vividly paint the characters as I went along. A serious book collector.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 30, 2005
• ISBN: 9781465325150

TOM STRATTON

Tom Stratton is a professional salesman with a hobby of genealogy and family history. The stories learned over years of traveling mixed with the study of family ties are reflected in his book.

Book preview

Chapter 1

ALEX

The large school of minnows below Alex drifted slowly with the motion of the waves in the warm Caribbean water. The dark mass of fish moved as if it was one big entity although made up of hundreds of small fish, each fish swimming in formation as if it were a member of a precision drill team. The school parted to allow Alex to swim through it, completely surrounded by fish on all sides. As he reached the edge of the school, he saw the barracuda emerging from underneath the mass of fish. For a moment they stared at each other, the barracuda’s unblinking large eyes looking straight up at Alex. The long underslung jaw gave the barracuda a permanent sneer as if disdainful of any human who dared to enter the domain of his reef. A remora attached to his side just below his right eye added a sinister effect. The barracuda was four to five feet long thought Alex. He knew that the water magnified everything, still, it was big enough to seriously injure an unwary swimmer. Then it was gone.

Alex raised his head out of the water to see that he was about sixty yards off of the beach and just west of the small reef. The cruise ship passengers were just starting to spread out along the beach. The Ocean Mermaid had anchored this morning and was bringing her passengers by tender to the island. Most would spend the day shopping in the small town of St. Olaf, but some would bring their little plastic bags of beach towels and rental snorkeling equipment to the beach.

The Ocean Mermaid carried 2,000 passengers. If only ten percent came to the beach, there would be 200 more people sitting on the sand, swimming in the bay, scattering their trash and leaving sunscreen oil in the water. Most of them bore the pale white of city people who spend their days indoors in air conditioned offices and homes. Few were good swimmers or made any effort to develop stamina through exercise and Alex knew that the two lifeguards would be busy today. As he watched, a man who appeared to be in his sixties fell in the soft surf and panicked as he struggled to regain his footing. One of the lifeguards went quickly to the man’s side and helped him make his way to the beach.

Unknowingly, the snorkelers did a lot of damage. There was some evidence that the sunscreen oil from the snorkelers stayed in the water and did not dissipate.

When the oil was drawn into the gills of fish, it created a film on the breathing surfaces that made it difficult for the fish to get oxygen. Many of the snorkelers became fatigued and stood on the underwater outcroppings of coral, damaging the fragile creatures that made up the coral structure and eventually killing them. So, the coral and fish were being slowly destroyed by the people who had come such a long way for a brief glimpse of the beauty of nature on a Caribbean reef. Alex knew that the numbers of fish had declined since his first visit to Arawak. The coral had lost much of the colors that he had seen on previous visits and was now white and dead in many places.

After adjusting his snorkel and clearing the salt water out of his mask, he put his face back into the water and let the currents move his body, giving a small kick with his fins from time to time whenever he saw something interesting. The heat of the sun massaged his back and he felt the tension of meeting the barracuda slipping away. In fact, the tensions of the past two years were finally starting to let his mind relax even as his body was relaxing. Life on the reef was not much different than life on shore Alex thought. There were big fish and little fish, predators and prey. There was an ebb and flow of the tides. There was life and death.

Even as Alex drifted in the gentle waves, he thought back to the day that he and Lisa were married. The day had been almost perfect, not a cloud in the sky, the early October temperature had just a hint of the cold which would come in the next few months. As Alex neared the church, a flock of Canada geese flew noisily above the car, announcing their presence to the humans below. In the car with him were James his brother, the best man, and two friends from college who had agreed to stand with him today. James was saying, I sure don’t know how Lisa ever agreed to marry an ugly guy like you. And, you don’t have any money. She could have had a much better life with me. Too bad.

Alex was also wondering why he had been lucky enough to meet, and soon to marry, Lisa, but he would never admit his doubts and certainly not admit them to his brother.

Hey, did you see the movie where the bride ran away from the altar just before she said ‘I do’ and she ran off with the groom’s brother? needled James, It could happen to you. I’m ready!

Luckily they pulled up to the church before Alex had to answer his brother’s teasing comments. The four men went quickly into the church. Alex and James were directed to the small room near the altar to wait for the ceremony to begin. James sat quietly while Alex paced nervously. Finally, the minister called them to come out and they made their way to stand to one side of the altar. They tried to appear dignified as the rest of the bridal party entered in a stately fashion, exactly as they had been instructed to do by the wedding coordinator.

Alex’s mouth widened from a narrow slit of nervousness to a broad uncontrollable smile as he watched Lisa come out of the back of the church and walk, slowly and gracefully, toward him. The bright white of the wedding dress made her black hair look even darker. The dress was surprisingly low cut in the front, exposing the tops of her sun-tanned breasts. The train at the back of the dress slowed her pace even more so that everyone in the church had a long opportunity to enjoy the beauty of the woman who was about to be his wife.

They approached the altar together and stood in front of the minister. Alex said his vows first, repeating the words after the minister, looking deep into Lisa’s eyes as he did so. Then came Lisa, repeating her vows in a clear strong voice, so that even her deaf aunt in the tenth row remarked later about how well Lisa had said the words. Each promised to love, honor, and cherish the other, until death do us part. Alex wondered in his mind about how many couples say these words every day, yet the divorce rate keeps climbing and climbing. Surely the love that he and Lisa shared would last forever.

There was a moment of shuffling off to one side and then the soloist came forward and sang the song that Lisa had selected as representative of their love. Alex felt a little guilty that he could not remember the name of the song. When the girl finished, Alex and Lisa each took a candle lit earlier by their parents and together they lit a lone candle in the middle of the altar signifying that from the two unions of their parents, Lisa and Alex were now one union.

They returned to face the minister again and he began a soliloquy on the wonders of marriage. Alex began to get impatient as the minister talked on, shifting his weight from side to side. Lisa sensed his feelings and squeezed his hand as if to say that it would not be long now. Finally, the minister said and I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.

The kiss was not long enough to suit Alex, but he decided that they would have the rest of their lives to make up for the short kiss. They turned as the music started to play and walked swiftly up the aisle to the rear of the church.

The rest of the evening flew before Alex like a big swirl. There was a long round of pictures. First the wedding party. Then there were pictures with Lisa’s family, followed by pictures with Alex’s family. When the photographer said that he had enough, the whole group got into cars and headed off to the reception.

At six AM, the next morning, after only three hours sleep, Alex and Lisa left for the airport. They had been too tired to even consummate their marriage, and they were eager to get away. Lisa wanted to go to a tropical island in the Caribbean as the perfect place for a honeymoon. The travel agent had suggested Arawak Island, one of the US Virgin Islands.

Lisa died eleven months ago, three years after they had honeymooned on this same island. She loved the life of the Caribbean, the warmth of the people, the beauty of the green hills and the blue waters. They had sat on the beach for hours and watched the frigate birds soar, with their long forked tails and their inflated red chests. They hiked in the hills and swam in the waters. When night came, the sound of the coqui frogs had lulled them to sleep. They had talked of having children and of the joy of bringing the children to Arawak when they could return as a family.

It had been Lisa who taught Alex how to use the snorkel, how to blow the water out of the tube so that he could breathe freely, how to clear the water out of his mask so that he could see, and how to use the swim fins. It was Lisa who convinced him that they should learn how to use scuba gear in order to venture further into the four fifths of the earth covered by water. Alex was always amazed by what a tiny portion of the ocean could be seen by a human. He had stood on mountaintops and seen for miles and miles, but below the sea, you were considered very fortunate to see only as far as a hundred feet.

Today the visibility was extremely good, the weather was warm, the sky was clear. It was a perfect day in paradise. Just like the day Lisa died. The drunk driver who hit her car didn’t kill her, but maybe it would have been better if he had killed her. After the accident, the resulting pain became unbearable and she had become more and more depressed. She became unable to work and by mutual agreement she left her job as a marketing director. Without the job, she seemed to get even more depressed as she stayed home all day. They stopped talking about having a family. The doctors and nurses did all they could to ease her suffering, but for everything they did, there was always a round of paperwork with the insurance companies. Alex saw their savings disappear to pay the bills not covered by the insurance. Finally, she ended it. The police said that his shotgun had fallen out of the closet and discharged by accident, but Alex knew differently.

Alex suddenly became aware of the woman swimming next him. She had appeared as stealthily as the barracuda. One minute he was alone, the next minute, she was there. It was Anjanette, the director of the Arawak Eco-Camp. She was pointing at the pile of shells stacked outside a small crevice in the reef, a sure sign of an octopus. But, no matter how hard Alex looked, he could not make out the shape of the octopus. It was too well disguised. Anjanette did a surface dive and went down to the spot where the shells lay. Taking her dive knife, she poked gently around the crevice until an arm appeared out of the coral as if to chase the offending knife away. Finally the octopus jumped away leaving only a cloud of stirred up sand.

They continued swimming side by side, moving farther from the beach and the intruding cruise line passengers. As they went into deeper water, there were more fish, but the visibility and colors faded with every increase in depth.

Almost everyone in the eastern hemisphere was a descendent of people who came to the America’s to find a better life, but Anjanette’s ancestors were forcibly brought from Africa to the Virgin Islands as slave labor. After the slave revolution, most stayed on the islands and built a new life as free men and women. Anjanette was very dark skinned, partly by hereditary and partly from long hours in the sea studying the life of the surrounding reefs. Her only hint of some European blood was in her clear blue eyes. She had a swimmer’s body, strong but not muscular.

The Arawak Eco-Camp was Anjanette’s creation. It was important that the people on the island learn about the ecology of the land that their ancestors had earned through adversity and hard physical labor. Already the developers were trying to buy large tracts of land for big hotels, which would bring large numbers of people eventually ruining the land and the seas around the island from overuse and pollution. Anjanette was driven to study and document as many of the natural features of the island as possible, before the impending disaster took them away. And, she prayed that her work might in some way slow down or even stop the rush to develop.

The same travel agent who had planned his honeymoon, suggested to Alex that the Eco-Camp could be a place of healing for him, where he could relax and let the Caribbean sun remove some of the grief that was incapacitating him. At the same time he would be working on a worthy cause, which might help bring back his feelings of self worth. Alex signed up for a month long stay which was now half over. He had been drawn to the black woman, who swam easily beside him, from the first day. She smiled often, and when she did, she smiled from the inside. Here was a woman whose ancestors had suffered immeasurably, she herself was watching the impending destruction of her island home, but in spite of all this, she had an inner happiness that most people can only hope to achieve.

The white man and black woman swam slowly to the beach, stood up, and gathering their gear, they went quickly to an old, rusted jeep with a faded Eco-Camp sign on the door. The Caribbean humidity and salt air was not kind to metal and the jeep showed the effects of the climate. Like most vehicles in the Virgin Islands, the steering wheel was on the left, just as in the States, but they drove on the left side of the road. Alex, sitting in the passenger’s seat watched the occasional vehicle pass as they met on the narrow, winding, hillside roads. They climbed over Drake’s Hill, named after Sir Francis Drake, and dropped down through the town, climbing over two more hills before reaching the Eco-Camp. Anjanette handled the hairpin curves as if she were a Grand Prix racecar driver, seldom slowing down, except when there was a cow or goat in the road.

As they came down the hill toward the Eco-Camp, Alex could see the entire layout of the buildings. The Camp had been built on the ruins of an old sugar plantation and still used some of the old rock foundations. There was a dining hall that also served as a main building with a small office, some storage rooms, a kitchen, and a gift shop. Farther on down the road were the cabins that at one time were used to house the slaves and servants. The cabins were long gone, but now Caribbean style cottages, Danish in design, had been constructed on the old foundations. Each cabin had two units, each unit with a bedroom, a small sitting area and a modern bath. Each building was painted a pastel color with a dark blue tile roof. At the end of the road was a dock with an old wooden sailboat tied up to it. In the distance, Alex could see the gentle curve of the white sand beach at Love Bay, with dense green vegetation behind the beach and turquoise water in front of it.

Tonight Anjanette planned to patrol the beach watching for nesting turtles, so that the nests could be marked and the eggs protected and Alex had agreed to go with her. For now, they would go back to camp and Alex would rest for the long night. Anjanette had to deal with all of the minor problems that require the attention of an administrator and had no time to rest. She would catch up on her sleep tomorrow night, maybe.

In the kitchen, Mollie the cook, was preparing dinner. The Eco-Camp could handle up to twenty-eight guests, but there were not that many tonight. Dinners were served family style and some of the best times in each guest’s experience were the conversations when dinner was over and everyone sat back from the table and discussed the day’s events and they planned for the next day.

Mollie looked like a cook, short and fat, but she was not pretty or jolly. She claimed that she had been a beauty at one time, but that she had been kicked in the face by a horse as a young woman. In fact, if you stared at her closely, you could see the appearance of a horseshoe impressed into her face. No one knew if her story was true. At some point she had married a man named Stuart, a merchant marine seaman. Stuart moved her to Arawak Island, then took off to sea, returning four or five times a year for short visits. What Mollie did not know was that Stuart also had wives in Baltimore, Sierra Leone, and Caracas.

When they sat down to dinner, Anjanette sat at the head of the table, Alex sat at the other end. To Anjanette’s