The acephalous sailor
Text by Lorenzo Recio
The water in the engine room had reached an unpleasant level. The belly of the boat was filling up with sea creatures, algae and sharks.
The sharks, lurking in the corner, watched us hungrily. A young white shark caught Maurice in its jaws. Busy as I was unlocking the pistons, I couldn't bid him a final farewell.
Then it was Driss's turn, that tender young man. Water invaded the agonizing machine, pouring out smoke, flames and sparks. Driss's light, beautiful voice produced a little "quack-quack" of pain, as a hammerhead shark ate him.
There were quite a few of them watching me now, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The reddish water, the oil and the petroleum, mixed with blood, bathed me up to my shoulders, and I felt good, as if in a warm placenta... It wouldn't be long before I was devoured.
A blue shark bit my toe and I toppled over into the machines. Suddenly, a piston started up again, cutting me cleanly across the neck and detaching my head from my body. As my head rolled between the pistons, my body collapsed and, floating through the rip in the side of the boat, extracted itself from the ailing vessel.
Ocean currents pulled me away from the freighter. My boat, "LE VALDIVIA", off the coast of Sumatra, was sinking in electric waters, carrying in its belly... my head!
