10 years ago...
Old Arthur Curry was a lonely man, living in his lonely lighthouse, atop the hill on the lonely island. One day, after a fierce hurricane, old Arthur was walking the beach to see what might have washed up on shore when he stumbled upon an unconscious child, dressed in rags. The child was no more than 10 years old...
Arthur brought the unusual (& abnormally heavy) child into the lighthouse to nurse him back to health. With the bridge to town washed away & the ferry capsized Arthur had no other options. His small boat would not fare well against the still churning tide. When the child regained consciousness he was frightened... for the boy was unable to speak English, & for that the old man was no comfort. The child was fair skinned with short blonde hair & bright blue eyes, much like Susan’s.
For days Arthur worked with the boy, teaching him how to speak English. The boy was a very quick learner picking up on the language fast, though he spoke with a very heavy accent that Arthur could not place. Similar to a Mediterranean accent, but with hints of Spanish to it. From the boys broken English he learned that the boy did not remember who he was or where he came from. Arthur asked the boy if he could call him Arthur until they found his real name & the boy agreed. After three weeks passed, the two became friends and Arthur began to think of little Arty as a gift from God. Not once did a missing child report come out for little Arty. Little Arty asked Arthur if he could live there in the lighthouse with him so he could stay close to the sea.
The lighthouse was no longer lonely.
The first year went by quickly as Arthur taught little Arty how to run the lighthouse on the hill. In no time at all, the boy had mastered the language. He read all the books in Arthur's vast library, but seemed to enjoy maritime books the most. Anything to do with the sea. The boy went swimming daily, once at dawn & again at night. With no birth or medical records, Arthur kept the boy at home, teaching him everything he knew about the history of the world, math & his personal specialty, sailing.
Arthur was happier than he ever thought he could be. He had found the son he thought he would never have. And little Arty found pleasure in the simple life he had been adopted into. For five years the two became inseparable... although Arty felt strangely drawn to the sea.
Then came the storm...
A hurricane so fierce that it destroyed not only the lighthouse, but most of the town on the other side of the bridge as well. Arthur & son were buried alive.
Weeks passed before rescue workers were able to dig Arty & the body of Arthur Curry from the rubble.
The boy was taken into state custody and subsequently shipped to an orphanage. . He learned quickly that the kindness of the old lighthouse keeper was a rare trait. For months Arthur lived amongst the other children as an outsider. The children were extremely cruel, as kids usually are... especially three that were approximately the same age. The boys David, Stephen & their leader, an African American boy named Perry, were never physically abusive to Arthur, but were prone to cruel pranks & verbal insults.
Many children were filtered out to adoptive & foster homes, but no one seemed to want a 15 year old teenager. Especially one without birth records, or a memory, for that matter.
The nightmares began shortly after arriving at the orphanage. Unexplainable nightmares of another time, another place... almost otherworldly. A feeling of comfortable pressure accompanied by faces, familiar, yet unknown. Explosions, shouting, death, chains... sunlight. Smells & sounds as well as visions... the acrid smell of burning flesh, the sounds of a woman screaming. Nightmares of being buried alive with the decomposing body of his surrogate father. He would wake up screaming every night, sometimes multiple times in a night. The night terrors egged on the orphanage bullies until one day when Arthur had enough..
During lunch one spring afternoon Arthur, now 17, sat under a tree in the courtyard, reading. When the attendance bell rang, Arthur gathered himself up and began walking towards the entrance of the orphanage. As he climbed the steps to the front entrance, Perry stepped in front of him taunting him. Arthur attempted to ignore him and walk past, but Perry persisted and stepped back in front of him. As Perry began insulting him, David crouched down behind Arthur. Perry shoved Arthur, knocking him over David & down the steps. The kids broke into hysterical laughter attracting the attention of others. Arthur had enough.
He flew at the three boys in a fury none expected. No matter how hard they struggled to escape Arthur's wrath he would find a way to pull them back. The contest was brief, but effective. The three boys lay on the ground in a heap of broken bones, cuts & bruises. Arthur ran from the orphanage, using muscles he didn't know he had, he leapt over the perimeter fence.
Arthur walked Eastward towards the only home he knew. Stealing what he needed to survive.
After four weeks of walking, Arthur stood before the ruins of the lonely lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic. Immediately, Arthur dropped his stolen belongings and dove from the cliff into the water below. The cool water embracing him like an old lost friend. He was home again.
Arthur made shelter using the remains of the old lighthouse, yet spent the majority of his time in the water. At first his daily swims were lonely, until one morning he caught sight of a school of small fish. The fish came towards him, encircled him, swimming erratically, then just as quickly as they appeared they were gone. The next morning the same school of fish appeared, but with others in their wake. The same thing happened the following morning, but with a pod of Dolphins... then Sea Turtles... then a blue whale appeared farther out. All seemed to come out just to look at Arthur.
One morning, Arthur dove in hoping to see what new life might be there to visit him today, just to find the sea empty. Nothing was there... apparently the sea life had it's fill of him & had moved on. Until, out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a small minnow. As it swam towards him a voice in his head suddenly sounded...
**Danger.**
Suddenly, Arthur was grabbed by the tentacle of an Octopus that began to drag him deeper into the ocean. It held him deeper than he had ever swam before, but as panic began to strike, another creature came into focus... a large tiger shark. The tiger shark attempted to latch onto his free leg, but it's tooth could not break his skin. He began thinking to himself
Help, someone help, and found himself surrounded by a pod of Dolphins. The Dolphins attacked the Octopus & shark with furious abandon. Finally freed of the Octopus grip, Arthur began swimming up. Until he reached the sea floor... he had been swimming the wrong direction. He stopped struggling and accepted that death had finally come for him. Arthur exhaled, and drew in a breath as a voice spoke in his head and water filled his lungs.
**Do not be afraid little Orin...** as one of the Dolphins nudged him gently, **Breathe deep & welcome home.**
As Arthur stood there, motionless on the ocean floor, the sea life began to return... all gathering to catch a glimpse of the boys rebirth. Little voices in his head seemed to come from every angle as the creatures fluttered around him. The voices were not in English... in fact they weren't necessarily any particular language. It was more a feeling he got from the life that surrounded him. All welcoming him home. All welcoming Orin home. Orin, their king. The water filling his lungs & the pressure holding him in a warm embrace, memories began to return.
At first, just faces. Clearly, the faces from his nightmares... followed by a name. A name he hated. The name of a brother.
Orm.To be continued...
