At the Port (Episode
48)
by Eleonor
Terry is on the deck of the Mauritania, ready to enter his cabin, when the early
morning breeze carries a beloved voice calling his name. Startled, he looks back
towards the ever receding port.
T: (surprised) Oh, I just thought I heard
her voice calling me! (He bows his head, resigned) It’s probably because we met
on this ship…
He enters his cabin but can’t get that cry out of his head
so a minute later he gets up and runs to the very back of the ship and stands
there along with other passengers watching England’s shore diminish slowly as
the ship heads steadily to America.
A red spot at the edge of the pier
catches his attention.
T: (Surprised) It cannot be!
He looks
around frantically and sees a guy watching some seagulls through his binoculars.
Without asking for permission Terry grabs the binoculars still strapped around
the man’s neck and looks through them. The man complains while he tries to pull
his binoculars back and straighten his neck, but Terry pays no attention to
him.
Man 1: (Exasperated) I was watching those seagulls, you
know!
T: (angrily, still looking through the binoculars) I am watching
the love of my life, do you mind shutting up?
Pure, overwhelming joy to
see her and crashing sadness to be so far away from her grip him all at once.
T: (aloud but without realizing it) Candy…! You came to the port… you
came to say goodbye…! (Smiles sadly, still watching her through the binoculars).
My love… I would give anything to be there… to hold you…!
Man 2: Good God
man, you don’t mean to say you left the love of your life back in that port, do
you?
T: (surprised, turns to his right to see a bearded old man, staring
at him sideways, but does not say anything)
M2: I did that once and lived
to regret it! Never saw her again since! How do you hope to spend the rest of
your life without her? Do you have any idea what’s out there? You might never
see her again (Terry’s eyes open wide in horror), or you might remain alone for
the rest of your life (Terry shivers with fear) or even worse… you might be
snatched by a chipie (Terry is now completely creeped out)
T:
(frightened) A Chipie? What the hell is one of them?
M2: Believe me,
young man, you do not want to ever meet one of those let alone be snatched by
one!!!
T: (really frightened) Oh my god!
He looks around him
frantically not knowing what to do. He looks through the binoculars again at the
ever diminishing Candy then it comes to him and without lingering to think he
looks over the railing at the water beneath. No good. Too high! He pulls the
binoculars off M1’s still protesting head and starts running towards the stairs
to the lower decks. Once he reaches the lower above sea-level deck he runs to
the side of the ship and ignoring the curious onlookers, plunges into the sea!
T: (in shock) Damn this is cold! (He starts swimming towards the port
paying no attention to the frightened cries of the passengers that had seen him
jump.)
Sailor: (from the ship) MAN OVERBOARD!
T: (in pain, as
something heavy hits him on the head) Aaaouch!!! What the bloody hell…? (He
turns around to see a life jacked floating next to him).
S: (yells) Hold
on to it, we’ll pull you up!
T: (yelling exasperated while rubbing his
head) You idiots, I am not trying to drown, I am trying to get back to the
shore!
Terry, swears badly when he sees a couple of sailors lowering a
small boat to the sea. He turns around and starts swimming harder towards the
port. He stops again as another idea hits him – quite remarkable if you think
how cold every part of his body is, including his brain.
T: (starts
pretending to be drowning, dramatically). Hurry, HURRY!
They start
rowing faster towards him till they finally catch up with him and help him onto
the boat. He wraps himself with the blanket they hand him then suddenly grabs
one of the spare oars and with a couple of quick hits he throws the men in the
sea. Then before they have time to react he sits down and starts rowing fast
away from them and towards the shore.
T: (yells, waving one hand at them)
Thank you, mateys!!! I will get back much faster now!
Terry notices that
quite a crowd has made it to the back of the ship watching his rescue with
interest, while the ship seems to have stopped. He grabs the megaphone in the
boat and addresses to the crowd.
T: (talking loudly through the
megaphone) Ladies and Gentlemen, I am not trying to drown myself. I made a
terrible mistake and left England, leaving the love of my life behind! She is
back there at that port and I am going back to her! I LOVE HER! I can’t go
through life without her!
T: (in liberating screaming) WOOOOHOOOO!
A big cheer goes up in the air from the crowd and Terry, sure that his
stage career just started, gets up and takes a deep theatrical bow at them. He
lingers just long enough to see the two sailors being pulled back on the ship
safely, then starts rowing towards the port with vigor.
Several minutes
of intense rowing later, however, he is as miserable as he can be. He is
sweating despite his still wet clothes clinging on him in the morning chill, he
is out of breath (I will… never… smoke… a single… cigarette… again – EVER…!) and
his arms feel like they are about to detach from his shoulders! He does not
stop, however, for more than a few seconds at a time, just to look through the
binoculars to check whether Candy is still at the edge of the pier, before he
starts rowing again.
T: (doubtfully) (to himself) What if… it’s not
Candy… that red dot… you saw from the… ship?
T: (determined) (to himself)
It does NOT matter, I am NOT leaving without her!!!
He stops to check
again on Candy and he is happy to realize he has covered half the distant to the
shore…
T: (scornfully) (to himself) Idiot… what on earth possessed you to
leave without her…now shut up and row!
A few minutes later and while he
is not sure how much more rowing he can manage before he collapses, he stops
again to check on Candy. He is really near the shore now and he can see her
clearly. She wipes her eyes (Oh my God, she is crying!) then gets up, waves at
him (he waves back smiling) then he watches her astonished, as she turns around
and starts walking down the pier towards the port.
T: (yelling) Hey…!
STOP! Did you not just see me? You waved at me! (He turns around and sees that
the ship is no longer visible. So it was the ship she was waving at!)
T:
(astounded) So she is leaving?! You are having a giggle…! She is leaving now I
am almost there… ?!?!
Panicking he looks around him – is he going to get
there sooner if he swims the distant? No, his arms are almost dead he will go
straight to the bottom!
T: (after some more quick thinking, he yells
through the megaphone again) DON’T YOU DARE TAKE ANOTHER STEP, FRECKLES!!!
Still looking through the binoculars he sees her stopping and looking
back and out towards the sea. He laughs as he imagines her perplexed face. She
walks back to the edge of the pier. He waves at her.
T: (yelling through
the megaphone) WAIT RIGHT THERE!
C:
TEEEEEEEEEEEERRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Her cry is
music to his ears and sitting down and gritting his teeth, he starts rowing
again but it’s all he can do not to groan with pain with every stroke.
T: (out of breath) Man… the irony if… I reach the… shore… just in time…
to die… from exhaustion… in her arms…! (thinks about that for a seconds and
smiles) Nah… it will… be… worth it…!
He turns to look at her again. She
is waving at him madly, crying out his name…. which of course has attracted
another little crowd around her.
T: (rolling his eyes) Great! Another
show today!
He starts rowing again but he only manages a few strokes this
time before he gives up completely exhausted. He looks towards her and almost
starts crying from relief when he sees that she had jumped into a boat herself
and someone is rowing her out to him.
C: (yells, through her hands) Hold
on, Terry…! We are coming to get you!
T: (after a deep sigh of relief)
Oh, thank God for that! No more rowing!
A couple of minutes later they
reach him. She jumps onto his boat and he is waiting smiling to take her into
his arms… to hold her and finally feel at home… to be comforted after the ordeal
he had been through… Aaahhh! It will be bliss!
He opens his arms to
receive her but… he sits back on his bench stunned and rubbing his chin which
had just received a blow from her tiny fist!
C: (shaking with anger) HOW
DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU LEAVE WITHOUT ME?
T: (angry) So that is the ‘thank
you’ I get for rowing my arms off to come back to you?
C: Serves you
right leaving me in that hellhole - and making me think you left me - and you
did it for me - and you will be praying for my happiness, my foot - how did you
ever think I will ever be happy without you – and I love you you presumptuous
punk - why did you leave without me eh why - if I was not so happy you came back
I’d beat you up good… (she finally stops to take a breath, glares at him for a
few more seconds then finally falls into his arms, crying)
T: (after
groaning in pain) I love you too, Freckles…
They hold each other for a
few minutes.
T: (relieved) I couldn’t do it, Freckles… I could not leave
without you…. I thought I could but… I can’t…. I just heard you calling me and
lost my head… And that old man scared the daylights out of me… life without you
would be a nightmare… what if a chipie snatched me…
C: (looking up at
him, perplexed) A chipie? What the hell is one of them?
Terry:
(scratching his head) You know…? I don’t know! But it sounds really scary,
doesn’t it! Well (he shrugs then regrets doing it as it hurt) we are together
now so thankfully we won’t ever find out!!! (He hugs her tight, despite the
pain.) I will never leave you again my Lady Freckles…!
Candy: (serious,
pointing a finger in frond of his face) You bet your cute butt, you won’t!!!
T: (whistles) So little Miss Prude has checked out my butt!
C:
(mumbles while blushing scarlet) Dunnowhatyoutalkinabout…
Terry laughs
then leans over and kisses her passionately. They are very near the shore now
and the crowd Candy’s cries had gathered earlier breaks into applause, whistling
and cries of joy!
Terry and Candy break apart giggling then turn to look
at the cheering crowd. They both take theatrical bows at them which causes even
more cheering, then they jump onto the pier. People congratulate them all around
and wish them happiness. Amidst such joy and merriment, Terry grabs Candy and
kisses her once again, which of course causes the crowd to applaud and cheer
louder…
Narration guy/lady: The first rays of the sun appeared at
that moment to completely dispel the remaining mist of the grey morning… to turn
the day into the most beautiful one for Terry and Candy’s lives so far…and to
guide them into a bright future together…
Terry and Candy lived happily
ever after and never found out what a chipie
was…