He felt a deep headache before turning the lights on in his eyes. The legs were much heavier than usual. Attempting to move the arms onto his head took much more energy than he had assumed. It was the exact full-size moon on top, surrounded by several weak stars looking at him when he slowly moved his eyelashes apart. He could feel the moving water beneath, but much wetter compared to his highly paid bed in the small room of the giant cruise:

 

- Here you are, said an unknown voice. I started to think that you will never open your eyes. Thank god that you are still alive.

 

After a long pause, he could hardly respond:

 

- What happened to me? Where am I? Who are you?

 

- You do not remember me? I helped you with your luggage. You had given me 100 bucks as a tip. Bro, I could hardly pull you onto the Jolly boat.

 

- What happened to the cruise? I do not remember anything.

 

- It sank, man. That giant cruise sank in less than an hour. I was on the deck when it hit the rocks. I was thrown into the sea. Sometime after trying to stay on the surface, I saw this small Jolly boat swimming towards me. I had just lifted my body onto it when I saw you with your yellow life jacket floating on the water, dead. I used my arms and hands as spades to reach and board you.

 

- You saved my life, boy.

 

- Not yet. We are on a small boat in the middle of nowhere in this ocean with not a single sign of life. But yes, we are still able to breathe.

​

He could hardly bend his legs and put his back on the edge of the boat. It was black. All black. The sea was black. The sky was black. It was only the moon that was putting some light on them. He could hardly recognise the face of the boy.

 

- There should be some other boats as well. Where are all those people?

 

- It happened so quickly that almost all of the boats sank with the cruise. Some people were crying and screaming. We were thrown so far apart that there was no way to help anyone. I could only reach and get you. The waves drove us so fast that after a while I could not even hear any of them. There are only two of us. Only two of us.

They didn't say a word for the next a long time. He remembered the famous movie Titanic. He had watched it several times. The scene where the band on the cruise was still singing while the big ship was sinking was still being played in his brain.

 

- One of the richest men in the world was on the cruise as well. We had hardly made our agenda available for his trip.” This was a monologue rather than a dialogue request. However, the boy started to respond:

 

- This is the sea, man. The sea behaves the same for the rich and the poor. It does not ask how much money you have. If you underestimate its power, it makes you remember harshly.

He did not have any intention to stop talking:

 

- Look at both of us. You are rich. You graduated from Harvard, as far as I remember from the badge you had on one of your luggage. I bet you own a fortune. On the other hand, I could hardly get a high school degree. I am among the few people in my family who are not in jail. My only dream is to earn some money for my dear wife and one-year-old daughter Michelle, which is less than what you pay for dinner, and to save our living for winter. But now we are completely equal. Equally hopeless, equally seeking a miracle, and equally hungry. Your fortune is worth nothing on this sea.

He would even think that the boy was enjoying the current situation when he noticed the thin smile on the boy’s face. He raised his left wrist into the air. Showed his electronic watch to the boy and, with a calm but loud voice, gave his directions:

 

- Clara, send my GPS data to the rescue team and transmit my mayday request immediately.

The watch responded in seconds:

 

- Your GPS data is transmitted to the rescue team. Expected time from the nearest rescue center is twenty-two minutes.

The boy was watching everything with terrified eyes. In thirty-five minutes, the helicopter flying above them rescued the two guys with a bed-sized basket, released with the help of metallic ropes. Both of them were looking at the Jolly boat still swimming on the dark sea alone.

 

The following summer the same time, he had come to the marina with his family to get onto their 129-foot catamaran, which was one of the top ten biggest catamarans in the world:

 

- Boy, how are you? He asked.

 

- Very well, sir.

 

- How are your dear wife and Michelle?

 

- They are all fine, sir. Thank you.

 

The boy helped with the luggage. In thirty-five minutes, they were on the sea sailing to the beautiful bays of the Mediterranean Sea. Everything was blue. The sea was blue. The sky was blue.