Miguel

“So she’s finally come back?” Miguel said to his cousin.

Daniel had tracked him down in Marsh Harbor and asked if he knew Jayme Haller.  There were only two Miguel’s in the area that were certified Dive Masters, it was a fifty-fifty chance his mother’s brothers second wife’s nephew was who he was looking for.

“You do know her then?” Daniel repeated the question.

“Yeah, I sure do.”  Miguel thought back five years to the incident that nearly cost him his career – and his life.

He had been guiding a group of experienced divers for almost two weeks when one of them was attacked by a rogue blue shark.  Donald Haller had died from the attack, and his widow disappeared.

Miguel blamed himself for taking them to the remote region to dive his favorite place, Horseshoe Wall; a place known for sharks, usually passive angel sharks.  The weather was perfect.  The day was perfect.  The group was leaving the next day and was excited about the final dive.  He should have done a pre-dive; maybe he would have seen that blue shark lurking around.

The long high-speed boat ride back to the mainland was too long.  Donald had bled out before they even docked.  Miguel blamed himself for not trying more to save Donald.  It was all that blood.  Miguel had frozen.

After the group had removed their gear from his boat, he drove it out into the clear water and washed it by hand. Bucket after bucket after bucket of salt water still didn’t get the red stains out.  And bottle after bottle of island rum couldn’t get the red stains out of his head.

Two months later, Miguel almost drowned when he did the unthinkable: he went diving drunk.  Fate was not going to let him go that easily though.  His boat captain had seen him in distress and saved him and then got their small group back on the boat and back to land.

Two months after Miguel dried out, he tried to find the young widow to make amends.  She was gone – and now she was back.  Maybe it was time for both of them to put their ghosts to rest.