The Secret Life of Words Page #4

l wasn,t going anywhere near that water.

lt terrified me.

l couldn,t even go down to the water,s edge.

l couldn't even put my toe in,

because l was convinced ...

that these monsters were there,

waiting for me.

l was just busy building sand castles.

So, one day ...

my dad decides to rent a paddle-boat, and ...

he got really angry, because

l wasn,t going to go on the paddle-boat,

because l was very busy with my sand castes.

He got furious and

he scooped me up and forced me on it.

And then he started to peddle furiously.

With this kind of uncontrollable rage.

l was trembling, l was sobbing,

and he was saying,

''Spent 5 bucks on this. We're gonna have

a good time if it's the last thing we do!''

Before you know it,

we were pretty far away from the shore.

He stops pedaling, and ...

he stands up and he says something like ...

l,ve no idea what he said.

Picks me up ...

and he throws me in the water.

l start sinking to the bottom.

l keep going deeper,

and deeper, and deeper down.

And there, l swear, Cora.

There's this big,

black, gelatinous ... something.

lt had these big bulging eyes, and ...

tentacles.

And it saw me.

And it started coming after me.

And that was the last thing l remember.

l woke up in a hospital bed ...

You know what?

My father ...

When he ... when he threw me in the water.

He didn't know how to swim either.

Dr. Sulitzer?

Yes ...

Well, we don't have that much to do, so ...

No, it's fine. lt's okay. Just waiting.

Hanna, the nurse here,

she wants to have a word with you.

Okay.

Hello.

Yes, no ... He's stable but he's ...

The problem is,

he isn't getting any better, so ...

He still is running a high fever.

lt comes in waves, morning, mid-afternoon.

l think he should be taken off the oil rig.

No, immediately.

The day after tomorrow?

You'll speak to ...

Okay. Good bye.

l think Sulitzer is looking for another job.

Aren't you?

The company can move me to another rig.

Maybe in ...

Chile, or Cuba.

Who knows?

Meanwhile, l stay here.

As long as they want.

l get edgy on dry land. l get ...

Dizzy.

- The accident?

How did it happen?

- You really want to know that?

They were drilling in ground that's like ...

Cheese with holes ... Swiss cheese.

There are pockets of gas, down there.

And we hit one.

lt's not the first time it's happened.

Could it have been avoided?

- No. No.

Yes, maybe, if we'd

stopped drilling a long time ago. But ...

What happened to the man who died,

was no accident.

That man wanted to kill himself.

He threw himself into the flames.

Sorry.

So ... and ...

Josef, he tried to save him, but ...

lt all happened so quickly.

We all saw how he threw himself into the ...

into the blaze.

We haven't told the company everything.

We let them believe it was an accident.

That man left a wife and 2 kids.

So, what's the point in telling the truth?

Let them believe it was an accident.

That means some money for his family.

And ...

Deep down ...

everything is an accident.

He never speaks about him.

- Doesn't he?

Well ...

Hanna?

- Yes.

What?

- Nothing.

Yes?

Nothin'.

- What?

No, nothin'.

Oh, come on.

Nothing.

- Simon?

What?

Nothing.

No, what?

What?

Hanna?

Hanna?

- Yes.

Look at this!

Remember that you're not 15 years old.

Bodalo.

- What?

What do you think l just said?

ldiot? D*ckhead? A little of both?

More or less, yes.

Which language?

- What difference does it make?

Here we go. Aren't you getting tired of

playing the mystery woman act with me?

Do you want more soup?

Come on, l've told you my little miseries.

Tell me something.

No, l'm full up on soup.

Did you like ''Letters of a Portuguese Nun''?

l thought you didn't like books,

just chicken and rice.

l used to read.

Yeah, well.

l don't remember it all that well.

Read it ages ago.

lt's a short book.

l only read short books.

Don't have patience for long ones.

Gave that book as a present to someone, once.

A woman.

l know l shouldn't have, but l did.

- Why?

Because it was another man's wife.

A man who loved her,

and whom she loved.

And who even l loved.

There's certain things one should never do.

Like what?

One should never ...

give a book as a present to someone

who spends too much time alone.

One should never fall in love

with one's best friend's wife.

Above all,

one should never tell one's best friend.

lt's terrible to tempt compassion.

lt's the last thing l want to arouse in you.

Cora?

- Yes.

How does one live with what has happened?

The consequences.

How does one live with the dead?

l don't know.

You'll have to go on, l suppose.

Everyone keeps on living for the future,

some how.

Or not.

There are those who don't make it through.

A helicopter is coming to fetch you.

Tomorrow, or the day after.

Are you coming with me? Are you?

You gonna hold my hand?

Help me look at myself again?

l've lost at love before

Got mad and c losed the door

But you said try just once more

l chose you for the one

Now we're having so much fun

you treated me so kind

l'm about to lose my mind

you make me so very happy

l'm so g lad you came into my life

The others were untrue

But when it came to lovin'you

l'd spend my who le life with you

Cause you came and you took contro l

you touched my very sou l

you a/ways showed me that

Loving you is where it's at

you make me so very happy

l'm so g lad you came into my life

Don't you like the show?

l've seen it before.

Who do you work for, Martin?

The company.

And the company pays you

to check on the mussels?

The company pays me to measure

the wave impact strength, l told you.

The mussels are my business.

Sometimes l forget that we're out at sea.

- No, we aren't in limbo.

We're up to our necks in water.

Do you know what the problem is?

The people think it's the oil.

But it's not true.

lt's the water that we bring out with it.

For millions of years it rubbed shoulders

with the oil, stuck at the bottom of the sea.

You see, when we crack the water from the oil

and return it to the sea, it's shitty water.

lt corrupts everything it touches. You know

what's happened to the fish that live here?

Contact with this water

has altered their hormones.

lt's delayed spawning. Colder currents

sweep the eggs away before they can hatch.

They're shutting down, anyway.

- Not if l can help it.

What will you do?

This could be used for lots of things.

Use the drilling motors to purge the water.

lt's possible to cleanse the water.

What will happen

if nobody takes any notice of you?

Well, l'll keep on measuring waves.

Collecting mussels.

And l'll keep thinking

that something can be done.

l envy you, Martin.

Really, l ... l didn't know

there were still people like you about.

l wish you luck.

How did you pass the night?

- The night?

l don't know.

Lousy, l guess.

What time is it?

- 12. Are you hungry?

No.

When l was studying in Dubrovnik,

l always dreaded

when we had to clean the patients.

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