Dreamland

On Porpoise

I'm young again in dreamland tonight, maybe early 20's. I'm down at the docks looking to get a job as a deckhand. The only one hiring is the captain of an old repair boat. "I need a second mechanic, You know anything about engines?" the old man asks.

"I learned about cars from my uncle, worked at his garage for a couple years," I tell him.

He tosses me a greasy piece of metal: "What's this?" he asks.

"Looks like a float valve from an old Ford carburetor. Musta been sitting on a bench somewhere for a while, wouldn't have grease like that on it if it just come outta the engine."

"Minimum wage and free grub suit you?" he asks.

"Sounds fine to me," I reply.

"OK, you're hired."

So I grab my duffel and get on board. Cap'n Billy shows me my bunk and I stow my gear. Then I get a chance to meet the rest of the crew...

Catalina is the cook and radio operator.. a tough looking Latina, kinda reminds me of Ana Lucia on "Lost". After we're introduced, she looks me over like I'm a piece of meat in the grocery store, trying to decide if I'm worth buying...

Jerry is the other mechanic, a forty-something redneck from central Florida. He catches me checking out Catalina out as she's walking away. "I bet that's some damn good eatin'..." I say.

"I wouldn't mess with her if I was you. The last guy who did, things didn't work out and she made his life a livin' hell... He had to quit the boat."

"I'd be willin' to take my chances," I tell him... " I bet she's a real tiger in bed..."

A call comes in, turns out it's Catalina's cousin Enrique, engine's out on his fishing boat; he's a ways outside the harbor.

Jerry's on the radio to ask what's wrong .He figures out it's probably a bad coil, and tells him we'll get one out to him as soon as we can.

As we're motoring out, the radio warns of a big storm moving in fast. The captain pulls back on the throttle, says he can't risk going any further, the surf might smash this old tub up on the rocks.

Enrique's on the radio, saying if he doesn't get power on his boat it's gonna get busted up the reef.

The captain says "Well, one of you can ride the Shelly the Porpoise out to get the part to him."

You see, the boat has this pet dolphin; we give her leftover grub and the fish we cach on our down time, and she follows the boat. I'd heard how the mechanic who just quit had fitted Shelly with a harness so he could ride her like a horse around the harbor in the down times...

Jerry says "I ain't gonna try that, I can barely swim!"

I say "OK, I'll do it," and I put the coil and some tools in a waterproof bag and stuff them into my backpack.

The captain asks "You sure you can handle her?"

I say "I spent so much time in the water when I was a kid my Momma thought I was part fish!" as I jump into the water...

Shelly swims up to me and I fit the harness on her, no problem. I hold on tight and she swims as fast as she can, directly to Enrique's stranded boat... It's almost as if she can read my mind.

I get the boat running and we manage to pilot it safely back into the harbor.

Later on that night, back on board our boat, Catalina thanks me for saving her cousin. "You were so brave to do this, and so smart to know how to fix the boat," she says.

"Oh, it's no big deal," I say.

"you come back to my bunk with me? I have something else maybe you can fix..." she says, seductively.

I take her up on her offer... and it's even better than I imagined...