Thersia...che

"Thersia...che"

Thresia heard the voice of Peter while she was preparing breakfast, "Thersia...che".

"Come inside Peter. Have breakfast."

Peter walked into the the small home near the beach. An old lady came out from the kitchen with a glass of tea. 

"Who are you?" Peter asked.

"She is here to help me with my delivery" Thresia' s voice from kitchen.

"Is it already 9 months?"

"Yes, my baby is coming soon" a voice from bedroom. It was Peter's best friend Aloysius, they were childhood playmates now they go fishing together. It's a daily routine, Peter comes to Aloysius' home early morning everyday and they sail from the spot near his home, except Sunday.

"What's your name lady?"

"Narayani"

"Well take good care of my sister "

"Sure, I will"

After breakfast they left for fishing.

" Your brother seems to love you a lot, he calls your name very affectionately"

"Yeah he will die for me. He is going to be the God father of our child."

A Kerala fishing boat.

Aloysius was known for his talent in fishing, where as Peter not so well. The people of this small village, Sakthikulangara near the town of Quilon which is altogether dependent on fishing. They go fishing in wooden boats which can carry 5 to 10 fishermen and their fishing net at a time. While they were sailing close to noon Aloysius sensed rain, and he predicted it will rain by evening. He was always accurate in weather. The Arabian sea is calm and quiet now, endless view of blue everywhere.

"brother can we sail across that boat over there?" Peter asked Aloysius.

"why?"

"I need a match box"

"Nobody have a light box?"

Everyone on-board said no. When they reached near John's boat, Peter's eyes lit up seeing that they had some Palm wine aboard, created from the sap of Coconut Palm. The milky white beverage was the most common in that area.

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"Join us Peter" John offered.

"Why not, Aloysius leave me with them. I want to fish with them today"

"You want to drink with them today, Son of a...." , he paused.

Aloysius has certain rules, ethics that he believes - all fishermen should follow, the first of which he says it's is no alcohol while fishing. He says its a disrespect to mother sea. He drinks, but only after his work. Some of the crew also wanted to join in, but they kept the desire to themselves. If they tell him they wanted to join Peter and John, Aloysius won't bring them next time. Since his boat gets more fish and more money they wont dare to ask. Peter jumped to John's boat and they went separate ways.

Its evening and raining heavily. Aloysius foresaw the rain and reached shore early and headed on to sell the fish.

"Oh God, let it not be a thunderstorm at sea, bring back my husband and brother safely"

Thresia prayed to their patron The blessed John D' Britto to bring back everyone at sea safely ashore. She is crying .

Narayani "don't cry my child, God will bring them safe."

"Peter is missing, at noon he switched to a boat of his friend. I heard the boat sank during the thunderstorm at sea. Only two survivors. Pray hard to our savior to bring him back alive."

And he rushed out. Aloysius went back to the roaring sea on a small boat alone. He know how to pierce through the giant waves. One among John's crew who managed to escape the storm gave some information about their last location. Aloysius thought he shouldn't have let him go. The sea is violent, and it's dark he called out "Peteerr". After a long time of searching, he saw the stars, the sea is finally calm. "Oh, the blessed John D' Britto, help me to find Peter, I am offering a pilgrimage to Oriyur and the red sand dune, I will light a hundred candles for you!".

The sorrowful night and a day passed, Aloysius and the entire village is on the quest to find the body of Peter. Only Peter's body is yet to be found. If they cant find the body, the villagers wont eat sharks for some months,  they assume sharks eat the body. The family still hopes he will come, and they delayed the Requiem mass.
  

Aloysius came to check on Thersia. "I am spending the night with the search team, Narayani make her eat something" Silence was the only response he got, he left.

After several hours, around midnight Narayani asked Thresia, "My child, at least drink this glass of milk, consider your baby" .

She drank half of the glass and grabbed her rosary. On her knees she started reciting the rosary to Mother Mary, crying. She was praying for the soul of her beloved brother. She heard a voice,

"Thersia...che"

She turned her face to Narayani and realized its not her imagination. They heard the voice again.

"Thersia...che".

Narayani is now shivering. The door is knocked along with the voice again, "Thersia...che"

They both embraced each other in fear.

After five minutes they heard the voice of a crowd from the beach. They opened the door,and head out to the crowd. The corpse of Thresia's beloved brother has been washed on to the shore near her home.

*Inspired from a true story.

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