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"Man Overboard!" The suddenly shouted words awoke the survivors of cataclysmic destruction. They had been drifting for days, searching for a new place to settle. A quiet voice warned them, in their haunted dreams, of impending danger. Many felt the dream spoke of that danger. But it was from within their own ranks, not an external enemy. It was a voice they had come to hate and fear. Cried the hated voice, "Man overboard! Man overboard!" Mike ordered a stop in the small boat and a search was made for those overboard. Their returning boat was empty. Mike's cry came again, "Man overboard!" but this time it was in the voice of the man overboard. Their searched the waters nearby, but no-one was in sight. It was a quiet boat with a quiet voice. The alert died down. They resumed their search. Another boat came straggling into view. Speculations about the disappearance were tossed at one another. One of the men stated it seemed strange that with all the desperate, life and death screams in the night, they had not heard that mournful cry before. "Man overboard!" It was with that cry that the man from the small boat reacted. As his boat carried him into the sea, he made that unheard call for help. As he disappeared under the waters, his words made their way to the ears of Mike and his crew.
No longer was there silence. It was as if he had placed a curse on the sea. The terrible screams began. Man overboard! Man overboard! Man overboard! was heard all around. There was no one to be seen. It became a thought that seemed to take over the sea. The men in the boats would be returned to the water one by one. Their boat soon became home for a group of terrified men. Each listened for the dreaded words in the voice. Each man wondered who it would be that next would know fear that tested their every nerve. When the call came again, the men all knew one day soon they would be the one. "Man overboard!" Mike was the one. As he asked a question that would have a lasting effect on their world, "Where does this boat go?" there came a disappearance. Those that paid no mind to his question were victims of that curse.
It seemed to Mike that he could hear his own words echo in his mind. Although the words had been spoken two months before, they now seemed to ring out as he was picked off the sea. "Man Overboard!" Those words were the first call of the ship that carried Mike away into obscurity. Over the weeks they came to know, in their own way, the man that had been lost. Not a single man mourned when he was returned to them. They knew that someday it would be the man that had cried the warning that would be lost. They also knew it was only a matter of time before they would not be able to hear the words at all.
The first week was the worst. There were certainly better spots on board the vessel to spend the time. Mike was offered what he could find. Although he drew his body closer to the crew, they all kept their distance. He made his home at the bow of the vessel. In the stillness of the night he could disappear from himself as he looked for answers in the darkness. A quiet voice that carried in the wind pleaded, "Man overboard!" Mike could see his own body from afar. He could see a tiny figure, man overboard, tossing back and forth in the water. Only the moonlight seemed to show him his true form. As he slept, it seemed to glow brighter in the darkness. The others could still see nothing. They did not respond to the call for help.
In the weeks that followed, Mike became alone again. For the first time in his life he learned silence. His alone time with the wind and the sea filled him with dryness, toted to the point of starvation. Man overboard? stared into vision, louder and heavier as the ship moved on. It was as if a dream was commanding him, repeating over and over again to keep watching. There he was again in the sea. His voice, in the depths of the sea, sobbed uncontrollably. They had found him clothes and food, but Mike refused their aid. He cried incessantly, but no one could hear him. Man overboard! This time it was Mike in the water. He cried and yelled into the night, but the only response he could get was, "Man overboard!"
As Mike's gaze fruitlessly searched the deep into the darkness, his eyes settled on the cat that calmed his soul. He drifted on the water near the cat, grasped onto it, and felt comfort in the creature's presence. No thoughts came to his mind. The silent night created a soothing, peaceful feeling. The ocean became his home. He began to appreciate the beauty in his surroundings. Here he found, as never before, traces of life. His hunger was his desire. Man overboard? appeared in the blackness, crying for him. He would find no solace in this world. It was a voice in the night that his ears could not hear and his eyes could not see. Yet he could feel the words and see the words when he gave to their call.