Richard Parker, a ship!"I had the pleasure of shouting that once. I was overwhelmedwith happiness. All hurt and frustration fell away and Ipositively blazed with joy.
"We've made it! We're saved! Do you understand,Richard Parker? WE'RE SAVED! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"I tried to control my excitement. What if the ship passed toofar away to see us? Should I launch a rocket flare? Nonsense!
"It's coming right towards us, Richard Parker! Oh, I thankyou, Lord Ganesha! Blessed be you in all your manifestations,Allah-Brahman!"It couldn't miss us. Can there be any happiness greater thanthe happiness of salvation? The answer – believe me – is No.
I got to my feet, the first time in a long time I had madesuch an effort.
"Can you believe it, Richard Parker? People, food, a bed. Lifeis ours once again. Oh, what bliss!"The ship came closer still. It looked like an oil tanker. Theshape of its bow was becoming distinct. Salvation wore a robeof black metal with white trim.
"And what if…?"I did not dare say the words. But might there not be achance that Father and Mother and Ravi were still alive? TheTsimtsum had had a number of lifeboats. Perhaps they hadreached Canada weeks ago and were anxiously waiting fornews from me. Perhaps I was the only person from the wreckunaccounted for.
"My God, oil tankers are big!"It was a mountain creeping up on us.
"Perhaps they're already in Winnipeg. I wonder what ourhouse looks like. Do you suppose, Richard Parker, thatCanadian houses have inner courtyards in the traditional Tamilstyle? Probably not. I suppose they would fill up with snow inwinter. Pity. There's no peace like the peace of an innercourtyard on a sunny day. I wonder what spices grow inManitoba?"The ship was very close. The crew better be stopping shortor turning sharply soon.
"Yes, what spices…? Oh my God!"I realized with horror that the tanker was not simply comingour way – it was in fact bearing down on us. The bow was avast wall of metal that was getting wider every second. A hugewave girdling it was advancing towards us relentlessly. RichardParker finally sensed the looming juggernaut. He turned andwent "Woof! Woof!" but not doglike – it was tiger-like:
powerful, scary and utterly suited to the situation.
"Richard Parker, it's going to run us over! What are wegoing to do? Quick, quick, a flare! No! Must row. Oar inoarlock… there! HUMPF! HUMPF! HUMPF! HUMPF!
HUMPF! HUM–"The bow wave pushed us up. Richard Parker crouched, andthe hairs on him stood up. The lifeboat slid off the bow waveand missed the tanker by less than two feet.
The ship slid by for what seemed like a mile, a mile of high,black canyon wall, a mile of castle fortification with not a singlesentinel to notice us languishing in the moat. I fired off arocket flare, but I aimed it poorly. Instead of surging over thebulwarks and exploding in the captain's face, it ricocheted offthe ship's side and went straight into the Pacific, where it diedwith a hiss. I blew on my whistle with all my might. I shoutedat the top of my lungs. All to no avail.
Its engines rumbling loudly and its propellers choppingexplosively underwater, the ship churned past us and left usbouncing and bobbing in its frothy wake. After so many weeksof natural sounds, these mechanical noises were strange andawesome and stunned me into silence.
In less than twenty minutes a ship of three hundredthousand tons became a speck on the horizon. When I turnedaway, Richard Parker was still looking in its direction. After afew seconds he turned away too and our gazes briefly met.
My eyes expressed longing, hurt, anguish, loneliness. All he wasaware of was that something stressful and momentous hadhappened, something beyond the outer limits of hisunderstanding. He did not see that it was salvation barelymissed. He only saw that the alpha here, this odd,unpredictable tiger, had been very excited. He settled down toanother nap. His sole comment on the event was a crankymeow.
"I love you!" The words burst out pure and unfettered,infinite. The feeling flooded my chest. "Truly I do. I love you,Richard Parker. If I didn't have you now, I don't know what Iwould do. I don't think I would make it. No, I wouldn't. Iwould die of hopelessness. Don't give up, Richard Parker, don'tgive up. I'll get you to land, I promise, I promise