Free Desperado Dale (Scenic Route to Paradise) by Andrea Aarons Page A

of an independent mound of sunny water passing the silent, still black
shadow of death and then, between the walls of the tsunami!
    Mouth gaping, Merry watched as the bisected wave
allowed them through. She shifted her gaze for a mere moment to see Junior’s
expression. Hands gripping tight the handrail before him, Junior had his head
thrown back and was singing like a drunken sailor... a holy sailor filled with
the new wine. She almost wanted to wake up so she could tell Junior of what she
had seen of him in her dream but she resisted.
    Looking to Mac, his hand on her arm and a
smiling song coming from his lips, Merry then turned again to the valley they
were traversing. It was like Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea with the waters held up
on either side of the escaping group. Not remembering that the words were found
in the Book of Micah chapter six, Merry thought of God’s reminder to His people
of old:
    I brought you up from the land of Egypt, I
redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and
Miriam .
    After Israel was delivered, the King of Egypt and his army
were destroyed by the imploding waters. A thought erupted in her mind and she
turned quickly toward the rear of the sloop. Zeff and Tino were hugging one
another like frightened and naughty brothers who had been caught stealing
cookies. Beyond the stern, the ocean churned purple and frothed and boiled.
Everything was in motion again! The sky, a backdrop of pale blue with
red-orange fireballs cascading from the flitting ships made a surreal scene. As
Merry watched mesmerized by the violent picture off the stern, an ominous group
of aircraft broke away from the high and heated battle. As one, a dozen or more
dropped down heading for the breach in the tsunami wall even as a distinctively
different squadron pressed in behind them in chase. The approaching aircraft
were much larger than she had originally supposed. As they swooped lower, Merry
had the impression that the Serendipity was their targeted goal. A spasm
of apprehension knotted in her stomach.
    It’s only a dream! She reminded herself
but the fear remained. The foremost flying objects looked a lot like
pterodactyls as Merry remembered from illustrative books and movies. The
aircraft following seemed to herd the mechanical pre-historic look-a-likes into
the watery chasm formed by the unzipped tsunami. There were two more waves
coming behind the first colossal one and these were halved as well. The sloop had
ridden through all three without trouble. However, as the enormous strange
crafts came tearing through the valley opening in the great waves aiming for
the Serendipity , the heaped up sea walls collapsed swallowing the entire
airborne troop within a half a mile from where Merry and Mac stood.
    The singing trio went silent at this fantastic
deliverance.
    All was startlingly quiet except the slosh of
water against the boat and the muffled rumble of the motor.
    And then, Junior’s solemn voice, “...The sea
returned to normal beneath the morning light. They tried to flee, but the Lord
drowned them in the sea. The water covered the path and the chariots and
horsemen. And of all the army of Pharaoh that chased after Israel through the sea, not
one remained alive. God’s people were delivered and the waters had been walled
up on either side of them.”
    The sailboat rocked wildly from side to side but
the scene behind them was changed. All was calm. There were no pursuing
aircraft. The mountaintops that had been protruding from the receding waters
were nowhere to be seen. The water was not purple and frothy but a grey-green
with a mild swell and white caps, here and there. There were no tsunamis racing
for the North African shore. No aircraft in formation...
    A myriad of gulls and a lone albatross circled
less than a mile behind them.
    Merry had been holding her breath as she gripped
Mac’s upper arm. Her head began to swim. With Mac’s strong hand