The Eternal Voyage

A vessel sets off from the Cape of Despair. A brown girl of ten is the tiniest shipment. They’re fed up with the indigenous misery. They sold everything, enchanted by the traffickers’ fake promises. Their migratory dreams leap like the kangaroos. But Australia is beyond the likely maelstroms and cyclones. They conquer hunger with the dry fruits and resist the chill with their will. Diesel and their energy run out. They’re fast asleep beneath the blanket of fatigue. Soon they vanish within a gigantic turbulent wave. They find another version of the world, where there are neither borders nor flags. They wander in the blue woods with peeping blackbucks. Red-striped snakes float in the fragrance of the night blooms. Ecstasy is ejaculated. None of them feel any sense of loss. Food is no longer a haunting thought. They enjoy true charms in pure freedom. Life is beautiful beyond the mystery of death. First published in The Literary Hatchet