Here is the English version of the final chapter of Robert’s novel:
Return
Huntington Beach, Today
It is not dark anymore but light, and Götz swims towards the light. As he is swimming, a monster wave takes him and throws him hard on the sand. For a moment, everything is dark again, and Geoff – he is Geoff again and no longer Götz – is gasping for air.
Many people are standing around Geoff. They are looking at him but doing nothing.
<<Get back! Give him air!>>, yells the voice of a life guard.
Oh no! thinks Geoff. I don’t want to go to the hospital again. Everything is okay. Please, dear God, everything has to be okay.
The lifeguard doesn’t let Geoff stand up. After a short while, the EMTs come. After checking him, they say that everything is fine. However, he should go to the hospital or call 911 immediately if he gets a headache or feels numbness.
Thank God! Geoff thinks and says: <<OK>>.
Stacy has also come. She is very happy that nothing bad happened. Geoff, Staci, and Miguel go back to their things. Miguel doesn’t stop talking about everything. He maintains that one moment Geoff was gone and then he was back again.
Geoff looks at Staci and says: <<Have I told you that I love you? And your brother is crazy!>> Staci smiles and kisses Geoff on the cheek.
When they get back to their spot on the beach, Geoff puts his hand in the pocket of his board shorts. (He is no longer wearing long pants; they were swept away by the wave.) He takes a necklace from the pocket and puts it around his neck. A small relic hangs from the chain. It’s a relic of St Vincent.
Staci asks: << Is that new? I have never seen that necklace before.>>
Geoff says: <<Oh this, it’s just something I picked up somewhere. It’s old. >>
Staci doesn’t say anything, but she looks at Geoff and thinks long and hard about Miguel’s and Geoff’s words.
©2012 Robert Harrell