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I dialed the
number for the tenth time, feeling the fear take hold of my
body. Each time I called, I was transferred to my
husband's voice mail. Frustrated, I tried my brother's
phone, but got no response. By this time, my sister-in-law,
Sandy, and I were extremely worried. Mark and Tom assured
us that they'd call as soon as they passed Catalina. Dean,
the boat's owner, and Tony, had accompanied them on the
trip. Since all four had cell phones, surely one of them
would've phoned, I thought. I appreciated their excitement
about catching lobster on this overnight adventure, but now
things were beginning to look fishy to us. We could only
pray.
Trapping
lobster was best done between midnight and dawn. The crew
dropped their nets as they trawled for hours, taking turns
catching catnaps in-between hauling up the heavy mesh. They
were working and laughing when, suddenly, all the boat
lights went out. The brand new battery failed. Eerily,
every cell phone on board went dead simultaneously. Dean
checked the boat's back up battery, but surprisingly, found
it lifeless, as well. ???What happened???? Tony asked. Dean
shrugged his shoulders in bewilderment. It didn't make any
sense. Each participated in troubleshooting the problem, but
to no avail. The bait began to spoil in the built-in live
bait tank, as they sat anchored in the middle of the dark
ocean. Unable to call for help, they could only hope that a
passing vessel might see them and offer assistance.
Our
fisherman had been gone for over twenty-four hours, and we
hadn't heard a word from them. I could've kicked myself for
assuming they'd call us. I should've written down Dean's
phone number, I thought, but then remembered someone who
might be able to help. By late afternoon I was a nervous
wreck, but some relief came as Jeff rattled off Dean's home
number.
When Dean's
wife answered the phone, I held my breath after inquiring
about our wandering wayfarers. ???Oh, yeah, they just got
back,??? she casually responded. My eyes widened as I gave
Sandy a ???thumbs up.??? We both seemed to exhale
simultaneously. ???That's great, Kathy, may I speak to
Mark???? My tired husband no sooner held the phone to his
ear, than I began a tirade of scolding for his negligence.
???We were so worried, Mark! How could you forget to phone
home???? I chided. He explained that all of the phones went
dead, as did the boat batteries. Apparently, his bag had
also fallen into some water on board, completely saturating
his cell phone.
As I was
digesting this information, Mark rambled on about ???Jake this
and Jake that.??? ???Who the heck is Jake???? I questioned.
???Oh, Jake's our 5 pound anniversary dinner, honey,??? Mark
proudly announced. ???Well, get him and his buddies home,
will ya? We've been so anxious,??? I responded.
Our weary
husbands walked through the door to welcoming hugs, and
their story unfolded once again. It seemed obvious that
something strange had happened out on that ocean.
Fortunately, a ship had come to their rescue, after seeing
the feeble flicker of their flashlights. Triple A was
contacted to jump the boat's dead battery. Once the engine
was started, the stranded crew headed home. We all
contemplated the weirdness of our fishermen's tale,
concluding that the boys must have been victims of a
???Catalina Triangle.??? What else could it have been? While we
enjoyed ???Jake??? as our supper guest that night, we continued
to mull over the day's events.
While
watching TV the following evening, we were startled by a
loud ???POP,??? that shook the house. Thinking it came from
outside, Mark went to investigate. I noticed smoke coming
from the kitchen, as a putrid odor filled the air. Fearing
that we had a fire, I yelled for Mark to come inside. When
we opened the oven door, a look of guilt covered my
husband's face. There on the walls of my oven were the
remains of his cell phone battery! ???Oh, I forgot I put it
in there,??? Mark sheepishly explained. ???Really? WHY did you
put your battery in my oven?!??? I retorted, fuming now
myself.
Apparently,
he'd heard that a short warming in the oven might bring a
damaged battery back to life. However, Mark clicked broil
instead of bake, then FORGOT all about it. I had never
heard of such a thing in my life, and I would have thought
this was another fisherman's tale if I hadn't been there
myself.
Assuming that the baked battery was the
end of the saga, I was stunned when I heard what happened
the following week.
While Dean's boat was parked in the
driveway of his home, he decided to troubleshoot the battery
problem again. He flipped the switch from the old to the
new, just as he had done at sea. Immediately, the gas tank
caught on fire and the back of the boat exploded!
Firefighters responded quickly and after assessing the
situation, declared that Dean was fortunate that the fuel
tank was nearly full. Evidently, he and half his
neighborhood would have been obliterated had more fumes been
present.
After Dean relayed the information to
Mark, there was silence between them as they both thought
back to the night of the fishing trip. Not only were they
smoking cigarettes, utilizing a camp stove and flicking the
battery switches back and forth; but also the fuel tank was
2/3 empty! Fumes were abundant. By all reasoning, that
vessel should have blown up completely, fishermen and all,
that night. The sparks alone, from jumping the dead
battery, should have ignited the copious vapors.
Needless to say, we were awestruck over
the obvious fact that angels boarded Dean's boat that night.
God's mercy was with them, and the prayers for our husbands??™
safety had been answered. Consequently, my husband, who
seldom embraces such thinking - sighed in agreement.
Bottom line - we marry for better or
worse, and surely don't intend to jump ship over fish tales
or cell phones. After all, Mark did get my oven working,
replaced his phone battery, and we enjoyed an amazing
lobster dinner. However, the greatest outcome was Mark's
fresh awareness of God's presence, and that a battery of
Angels, or at least one, not only walks beside him, but
clearly doesn't mind fishing.
Ginger Boda ?© 2004??“
Rhymerbabe@aol.com
http://www.daily-blessings.com/bless392.htm/What Counts
Ginger
is an award winning author for Starfish, and contributor to
various online publications, such as Heartwarmers,
Moments_Of_Reflection, Write2theheart, Insight of the day,
2theheart, Storytime_Tapestry, HeartTouchers and Emerging
Courageous. One of her stories is featured in
Chicken Soup For The Bride's Soul, which was
released in January 2004. Ginger weaves faith, tradition and
humor into her stories and poetry, as she strives to lift
the spirit and cheer the heart. She has penned her thoughts
since childhood, writing mostly for her loved ones, until
last year when she began to share her works with the public.
She is eternally grateful for all the encouragement and
friendship she has encountered on her journey. Ginger
resides in Southern California with her husband, Mark and
three grown children, Jason 25, Danny 22, and Alisha 20.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May you be blessed today
Bob Johnston
Editor / Publisher
To read archived stories, click on this link:
http://archives.zinester.com/9516/2004
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