Ester steps out of the car anyway and makes her way towards the boat without a word. Elijah and Ester had argued long over her joining them on the boat but Ester had seemed to have all the logic on her side, and of course, she claimed if Daniel were to receive another vision, she had already proven to be the only one even slightly adept at seeing to his well being. She had been fishing with Thurgood dozens of times when she was a child, she'd argued, and had never drowned or been herself eaten by a shark. Her mother had heard the arguments and made them quiet down, but she had refused to weigh in her opinion, having decided to “stay out of all of this foolishness.”
Elijah had started to protest at Phyllis’s repeated use of the word “foolishness” for what he considered was as a mission from the Lord, but, having his hands full with Ester, he quickly abandoned the effort.
Daniel had offered his aid to both parties, supporting Elijah’s claim, though fairly weakly, that the Lord had not called upon Ester to be part of this, as well as Ester’s more rational reasons for her to accompany them. After nearly twenty minutes, it was ultimately Ester’s stubbornness that won out. She simply refused to stay put.
Daniel smiles to himself as he and Elijah follow Ester to the boat. It's worn little trawler with a tiny wheelhouse and only enough room in the back to accommodate perhaps half a dozen people if the room weren’t needed for all of the fishing gear, of which there is much. Thurgood is already at the helm when they board and he is a hefty, gruff, old man with a beard like a wire brush falling out around his collar. Elijah and Ester greet him warmly and introduce him to Daniel by his name and by Ezekial, respectively. Thurgood glances at each of them as they use different names but fixes his eyes on Daniel's before speaking. “So this here is the son of bitch wants to waste my gas traipsin’ ’round the water, is it?”
“Um,” starts Daniel uncomfortably, “I do not mean to inconvenience you in any way, it is just-”
Thurgood interrupts Daniel by giving him a heavy slap on the back, “I’m just yankin’ yo chain there, white boy. If Elijah says ya alright, then I says ya alright.”
“Thank you very much for your… kindness and generosity,” says Daniel, shaking Thurgood’s hand.
While Elijah and his daughter look on Thurgood spreads out tattered maps atop the fish box and asks Daniel where he'd like to go, curious as he only sees a blank stare in return.
Pausing before diving into the maps, casting them about and hoping that it is not so obvious how adrift he is, he tries his best to give Thurgood a direction and location based on the positioning of the few landmarks he remembers from his vision. All the while though he knows, as do they that there is no clear destination for them and they should probably set off from the dock without much preamble.
Elijah stays uncharacteristically silent as the maps are examined, his face reading a strange mixture of angry determination and anxious excitement and with a start Daniel realizes that perhaps Elijah has more invested in him than Daniel does in himself. All of Elijah’s hope and faith for God to make the world a better for him and his family, for his people, is wrapped up in Daniel and whatever these visions of his are urging him to do, wherever they're urging him to go.
Thurgood finally gives up and puts the maps away and begins to ready the boat to depart, leaving Daniel staring a little forlornly at the cabinet where he tosses the ragged, roughly folded papers.
“So, Daniel,” says Ester in a manner that, looking up, Daniel can tell is meant to break the silence between her father and his guest, “you didn’t finish telling me ’bout that bear soldier y’all had over there during the war.”
Daniel tries to hide his smile as he looks to her, “Yah, the bear-”
Break
“Ezekial,” shouts Mordechai, his voice piercing the howl of the wind around them. Daniel is prone on the ground, the sand cutting into his hands like razors as he pushes himself up. The tall, bear-man looms over him like the shadow of Death, “Ezekial, you must stop this. Turn back now.”
Daniel waves his hand at the bear, casting his arm as if to brush him away. “Stop, leave me in peace!”
“The final chance. Do not do as they ask.” There is static in the creatures voice. It’s cruder, harsher than the times before. “Do not do it. It has end badly. Seven five years from this time-”
Daniel shoves the creature away from him as it approaches, eagerness in its steps, “Stop this now!” Mordechai stumbles back a bit, the box dropping from his hands. Daniel notices it looks different, as if it has been crudely repaired after being broken or damaged. “Leave me alone,” shouts Daniel, “I don’t want this anymore, I don’t want any of this anymore!”
Shatter
Daniel turns around to see the women he knows he’s grown to love. “. . . Ester?”
“Yes honey, it's me,” she says impatiently, but with a smile, “You alright?”
She’s older, maybe in her late forties or early fifties but he still sees the pretty young girl that she was. Her hair is half grayed and her face is lined from years of smiles and laughter, but it's serious as she sees his confusion.
“What,” murmurs Daniel, “what’s happening? Where am I?”
“Where you think you at, old man,” she says playfully, “you ain’t up and losing your mind on me again are you?”
Daniel can see that her smile doesn't extend to her eyes and Daniel looks at his hands, barely recognizing them, “We… we were on the boat.”
Now Ester’s face changes completely and the jovial facade falls away. “Daniel, honey,” she says, quickly walking over grasping him in her arms. She puts her hands on both sides of his face and holds it still, directly in front of hers, “Look at me, okay, this is important. Tell me, who are you?”
“What?” starts Daniel, confused, “I, I am Daniel Christiansen.”
“Not your name, honey. Your name ain’t who you are. Daniel or Ezekial, it don’t make a difference, okay.” Tears run silently down her face as she looks to his eyes, willing him to understand. “Your life belongs to you. Your choice belongs to you, you hear me?”
“I don’t understand. . .”
“Sweetie, you ain't never gone understand, and niether will I, but as long as you know who you are, deep down, your life is still yours and can't nobody take that away from you.” She leans in to give Daniel a kiss. “I love you.”
Break
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