I was wheels up an hour after I had landed. ‘That should get me to Cairns about three in the afternoon,’ I thought. As I leveled off at 7,500 feet I checked the Garmin screen and put the nose on course for Cairns. That’s when I realized that I was losing three time zones between Bali and Cairns. Shit. That meant it would be 6 p.m. local time when I was wheels down. Shit, shit, shit. A day lost completely.
The Gulf of Carpentaria is a big chunk of water between the west of Australia and the Cape York Peninsula which stretches north towards New Guinea. Because of my dark mood caused by the loss of three hours and the lack of scenery, the flight turned into one big bore. Okay, I sulked my way across the Gulf complaining about the evil ways of the Gods and how they arranged the time zones.
That's the purpose of the Gods for most people isn't it? To take the responsibility off our hands? It's God's fault. God did it. Insha'Allah. It all amounts to the same thing: I don't have to be responsible for my mistakes.
The airport at Cairns is just north of the city between hills on both sides. Peeling off to either side wouldn’t be a wonderful idea. It is a long wide runway, designed for commercial jets, so I had no problem landing. After I taxied to the GA area and stopped, a fuel truck met me. The fellow in the truck topped up the tanks, and I had him add several quarts of oil as well. I also arranged for the oxygen system to be topped up; you never knew when you might need it.
As the fellow was topping up the gas, I asked him for recommendations for hotels and dive companies. He made several recommendations, which I wrote down. I went into the terminal and phoned the first hotel on his list and arranged a room. A quick taxi ride and I was luxuriating in a hot shower, washing away 1,900 miles of dirt and sweat. Tired from the long day, I had a quick dinner and hit the sack, not even exploring the nightlife of Cairns, if there was one.
I rolled out of the sack at first light, had breakfast, and headed for the docks. Great Barrier Reef dive tours were popular. I found one that rented the whole package for a one day price. The tour left in an hour. I handed over the trusty Visa card and I had a place on the boat. I spent most of the time getting fitted and checked out, PADI card etc. People showed up now and again, mostly couples or families. There was one American family, Dad, Mom, and daughter, cute but too young for me, at least when she was on a short leash from mommy. Most of the people weren’t dive qualified and would just be snorkeling. The last thing was a signed hold harmless form. Attached was a sheet with little color photos of the dangerous fish. I wasn’t too worried until I started reading: Sea Snakes, Stone Fish, Cone Shells, Lion Fish, Manta Rays, and Blue-Ringed Octopus with a poison which would kill in minutes and no known antidote. Jesus! I spent a few minutes soberly studying those photos.
It was an hour to the reef and I had a chance to talk with most of the passengers, vacationers all. I became a bit of a celebrity when they found out I was on the around the world flight in a Corsair. Even the captain was interested. As we neared the reef, I got into the dive gear. By the time we anchored I was ready and was first over the side.
It was an incredible world I entered. Since the reef was a protected environment, the fish had never learned a fear of human divers. I was able to swim right up to fish that only moved away at the last second. I made sure to keep the boat in sight above me as I moved deeper along the reef face. I had been down about a half hour but was back close to the surface getting ready to come up when I saw something below. I stopped to get a better view. I was against the face of the coral wall blending in.
Moving slowly below me was a Great White. He was circling and slowly coming up. I looked up and saw some of the swimmers out over the ocean. The shark saw them too and I knew that this was exactly what Great Whites looked for: seals swimming on the surface. The fact that these were people, not seals, would be learned a little too late when the shark made his run for the surface. Great White’s don’t much like people meat often spitting them out after he’s taken his bite. Unfortunately, that bite often takes off an arm or a leg. A big boy like this could bite a human in half before he knew it was rotten people flesh, not tasty seal and spit it out. Keeping close to the wall I hurried back up. I hadn’t been down long or too deep so I could come straight up. As I surfaced I saw the girl, Karen I remembered, out away from the reef, her face down in the water.
“KAREN!” I yelled. Her head came up. “Get back here, NOW!”
“What?”
“Shark. Get back here now.” She took a moment to process the words, then she started to panic. Her movements became awkward as she tried to hurry. “Relax,” I shouted. But she couldn’t. I cursed and started swimming out. I touched her shoulder which calmed her a bit and we swam back, quickly to the reef. Over the reef in shallow water I relaxed. I helped her to the boat. One of the crew men looked at me puzzled. “There’s a Great White hunting right off the reef,” I told him as I helped Karen on board. He looked out at the water. “He was a hundred feet down and coming up slowly,” I said.
“Bloody hell,” he said as he ran forward. He sounded the ship’s horn, then got on the loudspeaker. “Everyone please return to the boat, immediately. Return to the boat immediately.”
Karen looked at the crew man then at me, “Was he going to eat me?”
“No, whites like nice fat seals.” I said. "You're too skinny." Most of the people weren’t far from the boat and were quickly back on board. The captain, having learned what was up, was hurrying folks up. There was one lone fellow who plainly didn’t want to return and tried ignoring the crew. As the last of the others clambered aboard, we saw a grey shadow just off the reef, then a giant fin broke the surface. Every head turned that way.
“He’s a sixteen footer,” one of the crew gasped. I heard several other gasps.
Karen looked out at the great grey beast then at me, “Oh my God.” She looked close to panic.
I smiled and laughed, “I told you, you’re too skinny. They like ‘em fat. He wouldn’t have eaten you.”
I saw various emotions flit across her face before she realized I was teasing her. Then she slapped my shoulder as the joy of life filled her. “You.”
“Stay still you bloody fool,” yelled the Captain as the idiot, having seen the fin break the surface and realizing his predicament, decided he had better swim back to the boat. He was in shallow water at the moment and probably safe. Swimming would have taken him to deeper water and maybe attracted the attention of the shark. “Don’t move,” the captain repeated over the bullhorn. Under his breath I heard him say, “Bloody fool. I hope the white gets you. Improve the bloody human race.” The fellow looked where the shark had surfaced and back at the boat. “Don’t move!” The captain had the boat moving towards the man and the idiot finally realized his best course was to stay where he was. The captain had to stop about ten feet away from the shallow reef. The man swam like he was in the Olympics to the back of the boat and was quickly hauled aboard.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” the captain said. “I realized you’ve had a bit of a fright. But, there aren’t many Great Whites out here this time of year. We could move to another part of the reef and continue our dives.” He looked around but the fun had gone out of it for most of the folks. I was the only one who nodded. But I wasn’t all that unhappy when the captain announced we were heading back. I could hear the sighs of relief. "Well, at least you'll have a story to tell the folks back home," the Captain said over the speaker.
On the way back I got quite a few thanks from the passengers. The Captain, who had to be of split feelings, also thanked me promising a free dive the next day if I wanted it. I demurred, knowing I’d be on my way the next day.
Karen and her parents came up to me. “Karen says she was right above the shark when you warned her back,” the older woman said. Her husband was holding her shoulder.
“Well, yes, but he was down low,” I said.
“I read National Geographic. That’s how they hunt isn’t it? They come in low and charge up,” she said quietly. I held her eye and nodded. No point in lying. “Thank you,” she said. She and her husband exchanged a look.
“So are you staying in Cairns?” he asked. I nodded. “We would be pleased if you’d join us for dinner.” I started to say no, but he cut me off with a smile and, “Please. We really would like you to join us.”
I noted the sincerity in his voice. “I’d be pleased.”
“I’m Alex and my wife is Helen, and I guess you know Karen,” he said.
“Pleased to meet all of you.” I shook hands with all three. The conversation quickly changed to talking about home. Alex worked in the consulate in Sydney. They were vacationing together, but it sounded as if Helen was not usually part of the family. I didn’t probe. As we talked I noticed the looks Karen was giving me. I couldn’t read them, but there was intensity behind them. I kept getting distracted by her eyes, beautiful big brown eyes full of life, and wondering.
After getting cleaned up at my hotel, and a nap, I met them for dinner at their hotel, right across the street. Alex had scouted out a nice restaurant not far from the hotel. We walked in the cooling breeze blowing in from the Ocean. Cairns weather is usually tropical, but winter brings dryer cooler weather. Now that I was south of the equator it was winter. Karen kept catching my eye as the four of us walked along. Her blond hair seemed to shine like silk as the lights caught it; her lips seemed to be made for kissing. Her eyes were full of life when I’d catch her looking at me, but then she’d glance away. I began to wonder if she was teasing me on purpose.
The restaurant was pretty typical for an upscale place with lots of surf and turf items. Of course, I don’t normally see kangaroo on the menu, that was different. At first Karen didn’t say much. I figured her for a typical teenager, miserable at being forced to be with her parents. But as conversation with her folks lagged, she began speaking more and more. In one lull she caught me off guard.
“I just keep thinking, what if he hadn’t killed me. What if he just took a leg off, like that girl in Hawaii?”
I nearly choked. “What?”
“That girl in Hawaii, the surfer,” she amplified.
“Actually she lost part of her arm,” I said without really thinking. I saw her parents blanch, their skin becoming the color of the tablecloth.
“But this one was so big he could have taken off a leg easily,” she said.
I looked at her folks before answering. “I suppose. But he wasn’t that close…”
Her mother joined in, “I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I think we’d really like to know.” She looked at Karen then finished, “How close was it?”
I took a breath. “Okay, truthfully, it’s hard to know. That one was hunting. I was worried enough to come up as fast as I could to get people out.” I looked at them again, just to be sure. “Yeah, I think there was a good chance he would have taken a run at somebody if no one saw him down there. Maybe he’d have noticed we weren’t seals before he hit and maybe not.”
There was a silence, then Helen said, “Thank you. We’ll never know, but thank you.”
Karen’s eyes were looking off into the distance.
Dinner was quiet for a while. Then Helen and Alex asked about what I did and soon the conversation was going again. We quickly were laughing and having a fun time.
As we wound down, Alex and Helen excused themselves. Karen asked to stay for a while. “All right, but only for a while,” her mother said.
“I know,” she said. “You guys go on.” Then to me, “It’s like a honeymoon. A real bonk fest.” I spit out the water I was sipping as Helen and Alex turned red. I grabbed a napkin and started wiping up the water.
“Karen…” Helen admonished her.
“I didn’t know he was going to spit out his water,” she said.
“That’s not the point,” her mother scolded her.
“Please,” I said. “My fault.” I stood and grabbed Alex’s hand. “You guy’s go off and…” I caught myself just in time and I turned red.
“Oh Lord,” Helen said before she started laughing. “There’s no saving this now. I’m going to sleep. Sleep,” she repeated looking at Karen. “Good night.”
“Goodnight,” I answered, as with a last admonishing stare, Helen and Alex headed off.
I looked at Karen. “Well, it’s true,” she said.
“All I can say is, I wonder how you are going to feel when your kids do this to you sometime. What goes around comes around,” I said laughing.
We walked the short distance back to the hotel, talking about the dive trip and what we saw before the interruption. The hotel overlooks Trinity Bay and there was a warm breeze. “Would you like to go for a walk?” I asked Karen.
“Sure.” I held the door for her and was rewarded with a warm smile. Outside, the breeze felt wonderful, full of the sweet scent of tropical flowers, as we walked along looking out over the lights of boats in the bay. Karen kind of bumped into me as I was looking over the bay and I felt her hand in mine, her fingers intertwining with mine. I was surprised, to say the least. “Karen?”
“It’s a romantic night isn’t it,” she asked leaning into my arm, her breasts pressed against me.
“It’s getting quite warm, surely,” I answered, which caused her to giggle.
“I’m not a little girl,” she said holding my eye, a bit of a challenge in her look.
What to do? I had no idea of her age, being terrible at guessing girl’s ages. I had seen her in a bikini and she was no little girl. I hesitated, despite her obvious offer, to consider, do I want to? And should I? She was offering me the hero’s thank you, which women have rewarded men with since time immemorial. I looked closely at this young woman. I shouldn’t have. She was at her peak of attractiveness: young, desirable, fresh. She was leaning into me and her low-cut dress hung free showing me the rise of her breasts under, free of any bra. That was enough. I leaned down and planted my lips on hers. She pressed back. I took her into my arms, pulling her against my chest. Her arms went round my neck, pressing her breasts firmly against my chest.
As I pulled back from the kiss, Karen’s face was highlighted by the moonlight. Her eyes were closed and a smile played on her lips. When she blinked her eyes open, I asked, “Would you like to come to my room?”
Without hesitation she answered, “Yes.”
I realized she had been maneuvering towards this. Well, she said she’s not a little girl. I took her hand and led her back into the hotel and to my room. Inside, I slid open the glass door to my balcony overlooking the bay. Immediately, the warm breeze blew into the room, filling it with the smells of the night, a slight salty tang from the bay overlaid with the scent of flowers. Karen followed me onto the balcony, and leaned against it, her back towards the bay. “Romantic night, isn’t it?”
“Yes, and I get to spend it with a beautiful woman,” I said.
“Kiss me.”
I leaned forward and our lips met again, picking up from where they left off earlier. Her lips were warm and soft and molded to mine as I pulled her against me. Her arms wrapped around my neck as mine enfolded her. Soon, our tongues were dancing together as our hips ground against each other. I broke the kiss and pulled her inside my room. She fell onto the bed, her face glowing in the moonlight pouring through the open door. I climbed onto the bed with her; her face had a secret smile, daring me. I took the dare and leaned down, our lips meeting again. My chest brushed softly over hers. I felt her nipples harden through the sheer material of her summer dress. My lips parted drawing hers open as our tongues touched, then entwined. Our kisses grew more passionate, demanding and sexual. The air itself seemed heavy with desire.
I broke away. Her eyes opened, filled with need. They looked up at me. “Let’s get undressed,” I said quietly. Karen moaned and nodded. I started pulling off my shirt. With a shrug, her dress was off her shoulders and she wiggled out of it. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her sandals followed with a flick of her feet. I unbuttoned and pushed my pants off as she smiled at me and sexily lowered her funny panties.
She saw me looking at them. “Like them?”
“They’re unusual,” I said.
They hung on one foot, which she lifted in the air and paused, those little things waving from her ankle. I lay back, my hard cock pointing at her as she flicked her foot and her panties flew off the bed. “They’re gone now.” We shared a smile and then rolled together, joined again at the lips. But this time, there were no clothes separating our hot bodies as skin pressed against slick sweaty skin, her nipples drilled into my chest as my cock drilled into her belly. She rolled her hips around, pressing her pussy against the girth of my cock. I felt her heated pussy spread open around my cock. I was soon wet with her excitement. On one roll of her hips, I rolled the opposite way and my cock slid down between her labia and seated itself at her entrance. She stopped, opened her eyes, and looked at me. She bit her lower lip, then pushed against me. My cock started to sink into her. As I felt myself sinking into her hot pussy, I pushed as well and my cock lanced into her hot tight tunnel.
“Ohh,” Karen moaned. I drew back and pushed again, this time sinking all the way into her, my hips pressing against hers, as my body ground against her clitoris. She let out a sigh as our bodies ground against each other.
We were lying side by side. I wanted better leverage, so I rolled with her until I was atop her, my cock buried to the hilt. I was filling her as a woman is supposed to be filled and taken by a man. Our bodies came together and found the rhythm of passion taking us higher until the wet, warm fluid of my love filled her. Her own climax crested as she shuddered under me. I slowed as she came back to earth, finally stopping, our breathing in unison, slowed. We collapsed onto the bed, under the open window with the sweet smells of the evening air, holding each other, loving...
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Copyright Rod O'Steele © 2008