She believed in herself. Her faith, transcendent to those of commoners. Determined to accomplish the impossible. It was all or nothing.
Isabel grew up on the eastern coast of Cuba, fascinated by the expanse of the ocean. She was content with her life but had a restless desire to travel out into the unknown. Growing up in Cuba, Isabel could barely read through her tattered textbook let alone absorb its precious information. Her mother always encouraged her to push through these ‘minute’ impediments. She would always say, “ Mi querido nino, if you work hard the fruit you will receive will taste better.” Isabel's mother grew up in the humble backgrounds of a cuban village thirty kilometers south of El Salvador. Education not being the primary concern of the Cubans, she was not taught the intricacies of grammar.
Eons past as Isabel grew up to finally save up enough money to hail a boat ride to the United States. She strode out of her house one final time to the beach, reminiscing about the times when ama used to hang clothes out onto the clothes line and talked to her about things. Things that seemed so trivial in those moments but felt like a part of her life now. She smiled as she remembered that one time her favorite patterned blanket flew up into the wind, off the clothesline onto her face. Isabel fell flat onto the sand, her mother rushed to her aid. She started laughing as she picked up the blanket and wiped the sand off Isabel's arms. If only her ama could see her little nino and how far she had pushed through. Wiping her face, Isabel walked off.
The motor sputtered to life, as the boat gathered speed, the smell of the briny air brought back the sense of adventure she harbored as a child. The seas were calm today, the winds gentle it made the boat sway from side to side. The periodic motion incremented her fatigue, she drifted into the land of dreams. A sudden jolt woke her, the crashing waves made the boat sway heavily now, these waves were not calm. Isabel rubbed her eyes to notice that the boat was empty. A wave of panic swept over her, but she reminded herself to stay calm. She was glad to see that the emergency rations had not been depleted. She reorganized all her supplies, to her surprise she found something that she had only seen a few times before. A cell phone. The phone buzzed to life, her hands reacted almost tossing the phone into the depths of the ocean. She had seen one of the gringos use it to magically talk to someone many many kilometers away, she pressed a button and slowly took the phone and held it beside her ear, trembling, she said, “Hello?”. A woman with a strong Spanish accent replied, “How are you, mija?”. Isabel instantly recognized the voice, it was ama! Isabel's joy knew no bounds, she was ecstatic. Just then, a thought crossed her mind. She had not seen ama since the past 3 years. The other villagers had gathered around Isabel's colorful hogar and delivered the sad news. She shuddered at the thought. “Mija, I know you are in danger, that is why I have called you. While you were traveling to the United States, the other immigrants thought that boat was going to capsize, so they abandoned the boat. The boat went along with the currents and now you are here.” Isabel recognized amas English. “Mija I am here to help you; you are lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Remember your tenth birthday when I bring you the watch as a gift? Use the watch to check time and at three minutes after ten in the morning two days from today a cargo ship will be traveling from this route. Use your flare gun to signal to them.” Amas voice started to crack, all Isabel could hear was, “I w‐ll al‐ays b‐ with y‐u, Mija.” Isabel wiped tears off her face. All she could do now was trust her mothers voice and look at the watch on her wrist. Two days later, Isabel was on the last of her wits, she could barely lift her arm, her supplies were almost depleted. However, her mothers voice kept her faith ignited. She patiently waited till 10:03 a.m. to fire her shot and exactly on time, she took out the flare gun and fired at the sky, the flare made a bright flash, she hoped that any nearby ships over the horizon would notice her. They did, the captain of the MSC Diana noticed the distress call and had immediately set course. Isabel sat in her boat, not knowing what was to come Isabel did not have any hopes left. She passed out. Isabel woke up on a bed, she saw the ship nurse talking to the captain about her health. The captain dismissed the nurse. She left the room, closing the door behind her. "I believe that you could not see us, when we began the course for your boat. How did you know when to fire the flare?" the captain asked. Isabel, taking a deep breath, replied, "Faith Captain, it was faith."
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