.... Expecting a pair of lifeless blue eyes to stare back at him , Aiyratna could only make out the faint outline and the leathery skin of what could only be ..Turtles.
Turtles!!!
"What in the name of ....!! What are they doing below ..!?? Eating the barnacles..The undergrowth of any sea craft...? nibbling at the rotting wood? What the hell are turtles doing under my boat...."
Seized with the sudden panic that gnawing at their only platform of survival...Aiyratna laid on his stomach and started flaying the waters . The swirls were already grwing in the monsoon storm that had taken the raft apart at its seams ,,and Aiyratna's hands could only work up a tiny confusion to add to the already enraged waters..! And made no substantial difference to the two turtles clinging on to the bottom of the raft...
With his strength failing and the raft randomly twitching and turning in the growing swell ... he gave up any struggle whatsoever...! he motioned to danu to keep his end of the boat up anbd stable and drink in as much as the fresh water this storm could blow their way....
The raft was now a driftwood as night took over day and the storm grew angrier ..darker. Aiyratna was slowly losing consiousnness again ..and his struggle to keeb himself and the now down Dhanu was ebbing his will and power...
He took off his girdle and made a crude rope out of it..Tying his left ankle to Danu's right he made sure the knot was strong enough to hold....With one last push he rolled over on his back and tied his hand to the centre strake of his raft...Thats it !
Again that sweet comforting blackness took him over ..as he drifted into sleep . The raft was now a bed ..The hand of his mother pushing his cradle..swinging to his favorite lullaby..the stars were bright suns in the sky..glittering ..smiling ...The pungent smell of the crab curry and white rice..boiling on the fire....!!!
" uhhh.."
Aiyratna woke up next day morning .. Sat up in the raft and looked around. the sea had calmed and it had been a serene morning...the raft had held on although he had to pull back Danu from almost toppling over. His "rope " had held...!
And maybe hopefully those wicked turtles had left his raft bottom alone. He again peered into the sea...!
The sea had cleared and instead of the murky blue the waters were crystall greaan and he could see a few feet down. What he saw again put the shiver into his bones..the two turles were still there ...as if attatched to the raft bottom...!
" These are not finished with us , i suppose...! I have never heard of turtles eating rottin wood.."
His thoughts were interrupted by a big push that almost threw him off. And it was then that it struck him..actually the floating streams of red algae were cutting them through...very unusual...
" They were moving at an angle to the sea stream.. Which they should not..unless...
Unless they were being pushed by these two fellows..."
"to where and what for?" and most importantly "why?"
He and Danu were too drained out and tired to even think of a reason. Aiyratna said a silent prayer and looked at the raft bottom....
The two turtles were huge Leatherbacks ..and their rough hide bore a number of scratches and tears which could only have been made by Trawling nets and rough spears that the tribals aroud galle use to spear fish...
Aiyratna could only guess their age from their size..around forty..quite young for a turtle. One was a female..possibly the male's mate..! and he could make out that these turtles took turns in pushing the raft..!One would bite on to the girder on the lowerside while the other would let go...Swimming alonside till the other grew tired...!
As the sun went up in tha sky and the heat rose...Aiyratna called Danu weakly ..untied the rope and tried to sit up.....! they had not eaten for three days and although water had satiated their thirst...food was sumthing they desperately needed...! Aiyratna remembered a faint evening where he had heard tales of seafarers eating algae to survive ...
And although there wer4e streams of red algae floating in the stream...he wondered if he sould eat them..
He opened his "rope" spread it around ..made it into a net and swung it gently in front of the raft.... a pinch of red algae and floating dirt caught in his net...as he scooped it out..he realised that he would have to do this atleast fifty times to get sumthing as much as a mouth full..and he had to feed Danu also....
Suddenly he felt a stop in the pushing of the raft...He looked down and saw that the turtles had left .. the raft was swinging back into the sea stream..!
And that was bad news...!!!
To be continued
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