I refuse (in memoriam at sea)

“I have a wonderful surprise for you” came his father’s melodic voice.

The 19 year old Suleman thought to himself: ’oh, no, here we go again, giving me stuff I don’t want. I hope he just quits already. I wanna do something fun on my own.

He raised his head from his 14S iphone and said in compliance “Sure, Dad. What is it?”

“I got us tickets to see the Titanic under the ocean” and there was obvious glee in his emphasis in the word under.

The boy objected “This is such a bad omen, Dad. Why would I want see that?”

“Well because it’s once in a lifetime opportunity. Think about all the pictures we’ll take, and what stories we’ll have to tell everyone when we come back.”

“I don’t know, Dad. I’d rather stay here and do some fun things with my friends. I don’t want to see the Titanic.”

“But Suleman, you have to widen your horizons a bit. Life isn’t all video games, and WhatsApp chat. There’s a world out there to explore and I’d like you to see more of it”

“Oh, and you think seeing the Titanic under the ocean is the first thing I should do?”

“Well, it’s a start.” Then he said. “You know one day you’ll back at it, after I’m gone, and say what a trip I had with my father.”

“Alright, Dad.” Giving in. “if it makes you happy.”

Suleman and his father got on their flight to join the elite group destined to get on the Titan submersible in its maiden voyage under the ocean. Its first tourist site is the shipwreck of the sunken Titanic. As Suleman got on the port of St. John’s in Newfoundland, he met three other people, including the captain.

They stayed in a lounge waiting to be boarded. A man wearing blue maritime uniform walked in and greeted them. He talked to them and said “I should let you know gentlemen” then looking at Suleman “and our youngest member yet, that the vessel that you are about to board is completely safe. Now, just to let you know, just as you get on an airplane and get affected by the difference in pressure, it is the same when you are under the ocean. The difference being we only have water around us. There isn’t any air. I don’t have to explain to some of our more experienced gentlemen here. However, just be careful of the changes in your body, and know that it is normal to experience some reactions that happened due to the underwater pressure. With that said, I welcome you gentlemen to the Titan’s maiden voyage. It is expected that we leave at around 1:00 pm and return by 4:00 pm.”

Suleman, his father and the three others walked to the Titan that looked like a blue pill, with one window at the nose. Suleman bent his head as he walked into the submersible followed by his father and the other three. As they sat the two of them in one row, and the other three in the opposite raw, the saw that there were glass windows that were sealed shut.

Suleman’s father tapped him on his knee and said “Isn’t this exciting? Make sure that you take lots of pictures.”

“Ok. Dad” said Suleman as he thought ’it’s not that exciting.”

Then they heard a zooming sound as Titan started to move into the ocean. They heard the captain say “gentlemen, before we start diving, we’ll open the windows for a short while, so you can take pictures of the open sea. I’ll let you know when we dive.”

The submersible floated like a cork on the ocean’s surface. The windows slid open and there appeared sights of marine life. As they went further into the ocean the captain announced that they were about to encounter a whale and maneuvers need to be made to avoid any bombardments. From a distance, they could see the group of whales and their water fountains coming up. They all took pictures. Then the captain announced that they had reached the point of the dive. The windows slide closed. Everyone smiled as the Titan went down.

The dive started and they went further down and further down. The surroundings kept getting darker as the ocean engulfed the Titan. It was Titan to Titan. Somewhere, Suleman felt that he began to choke. He looked at his father and saw that his father’s face began to change. He reached out to him but they couldn’t touch. Somewhere, in the depth of the ocean, everything became nothing.

A few hours later, search and rescue was on the way to find them, but find them they couldn’t. A world made of things that make things became a world in which a thing, in seconds, was nothing.

As the search and rescue team were on their helicopter heading back, after affirming the trip of no return, one of them asked “How much did they pay for that?”. The other replied “A lot. More than you and I make.” He looked at the deep blue ocean and said “I’d say they paid a lot more than that.”