Sky message

On the lee side of Stocking Island, Jill had spread out her blanket carefully on the beach. Her book, a cold bag with a bottle of chilled white wine and ice, and not a soul to bother her. It's why she came to the Bahamas and flew further south than Nassau. Beauty and peace. Not like South Beach in Miami.

Mario sat in his boat bobbing along slowly while he put a ballyhoo on the hook. He was after one more mahi mahi today and along this ledge on the ocean side of Stocking Island would be a great place to drop a line, sit back in the fighting chair and wait.

Jill got situated on the blanket with everything in reach and just closed her eyes to enjoy the warm sun on her skin with a light breeze to keep her comfortable.

Mario set his line and plopped into the chair. He slouched down so he could rest his head. There were big billowy clouds toward the west. No threat of rain from the looks of it. But there was a cloud that looked like perfectly shaped F standing alone. The tip of his pole bent slightly, catching his eye. Just the movement of the boat. Back to the F. An i then and n and a d in cursive. Find. Followed by an m and an e. "Find me," said Mario aloud. "Find me?" Then the line starting running and he jumped up.

Jill gazed up at the clouds. The last time her and her brother, Frank, played the cloud game was almost five years ago. She frowned at the thought of the years quickly passing and then saw a perfectly formed F cloud. "Hey Frank. I see an F," she said as though her brother was lying next to her. And then an 'i n d' followed along as though written by a hand reaching from space with a cloud pen. Then 'me' followed. "Find me? Find who? What?"

Mario pulled in the last of his catch limit, tidied the boat and headed back to Elizabeth harbor. "I should have taken a picture," he said chastising himself and smacking the steering wheel. "Find me? Find who?"

Jill sat up and watched the words dissipate with the upper level winds. "How bizarre," she said and turned over to read her book.

Mario saw a small dinghy drifting toward the middle of the harbor. Probably a tourist or one of the cruisers out near Flip Flop beach from the direction of the tide. He grabbed the dinghy's line and tied it behind his boat. He turned toward the beach to check and see if anyone was on the beach waving him down. There was only a bikini clad woman lying alone on the beach.

Jill heard the annoying sound of a boat coming near the beach. Probably a bunch of young kids to shatter her peace. She rolled over and sat up to see a guy pointing at her and then his boat. He walked to the back of the boat and pointed at the dinghy. And then she noticed her dinghy had drifted off the beach. She eagerly nodded her head. He stuck up finger and went back to the helm of his boat.

Mario anchored his boat, hopped in the dinghy and took it to shore.

"I guess I was supposed to find you," said Mario to the womanstanding at the water's edge. He stuck out this hand "My name is Mario and I got a message."

"My name is Jill and I saw that message too," she said as she took his hand in hers "Thank you for returning my dinghy, Mario."

"My pleasure. Would you like to have fresh mahi for dinner?"

"I would love to."