Encantado

            The sensation of slightly rising and falling engulfed her, not unpleasant, just different. It was an undulating wave, like a melody of a lullaby coaxing her away from awareness. But something was trying to drag her back, a restlessness in her mind attempting to rouse her. The persistant unease crumbled the façade of tranquility, causing Vida to slowly open her eyes. Blue obscured her vision. Blinking, she tried to focus but reflections of light rippled around her. It is only when she brought her hands to her face, did she realize that she was submerged in a vast body of water. Panic punched her in the gut.

          She desperately swam toward the light that beckoned from above, it seems so distant, but she wouldn’t give up. Just a few more feet and she’d be there, she rose swiftly. With a mighty surge she propelled herself to the surface, but instead of breaking out of the water, she hit a barrier. Frantically she tried to get to the air above, but to no avail. An invisible obstacle blocked her way. She could see the cliffs in the distance and the people on the bank of the river, but she couldn’t rise above the surface of the water.

           It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t drowning. She was breathing the water the same as she had breathed oxygen. Or maybe she wasn’t breathing at all, maybe she was dead. She looked at herself, she looked the same. Her long blond hair was floating around her, she had on her purple tank top and denim shorts, her shoes were gone, but she still could see her toe ring twinkling in the water. What had happened? How had she ended up in the water?  She floated next to the surface running her hands above, searching for any chink or rift that she could use to rise above. Frustrated when she found nothing, she began to pound on the barrier. It was like pounding on air, it had no substance, no visibility, nothing was physically there, but for some reason she couldn’t reach the surface. 

        “I must be dead.” She sighed, letting the motion of the water carry her.

        “Papa! What will happen to him? He needs me, he gets so busy he forgets to take care of himself.” She cried out.

         Tears rolled down her face as she contemplated her situation. If I died, why am I not in heaven and why am I here? She tried to remember what she had been doing last night. She remembered having dinner with their host, They had arrived in Chaves, six days ago. It was her first missions trip to Brazil, and she was so excited. They were going to take a cruise up the Amazon River to Manaus, at the end of the week. Then canoe to Codajas, from there they would travel overland to the village of Muitos Sapos in the rain forest. Her father planned on setting up a school there.

          A dolphin swam up to Vida distracting her from her thoughts, it was a beautiful creature. It was pink with dark misty eyes. She remembered her host mentioning these dolphins, the lived in the Amazon River, they were called Botos. Well, now she knew where she was, but still not why? The dolphin swam up and rubbed against her. As it went by she stroked it’s skin. It felt warm to the touch and strangely soft to like silk.  Vida swam to the bottom of the river and sat herself on a rock, she tried to recall again the events of the night before.  After dinner she had told her father she was going out for a stroll, her father had kissed her forehead and she had walked down the river, like she had done every night since they had arrived.

        She had been sitting in the sand when a native woman came up to her, waving her arms and speaking rapidly in portuguese.

      “Senorita, voce deve sair daqui, por favor!

      “Me desculpe, eu nao entendo, muito pouco portugues.” Vida told her she didn’t understand and only knew a little Portuguese.       

     “Encantado! Encantado! Sair agora.” The woman urgently told her then ran back toward the town. 

      Vida stared after the woman in confusion the only thing she understood was sair agora, but why would she tell her to leave now?  Spooked by the woman, she decided to go back to the villa.  She stood up to leave and noticed a man standing in the river, she started to turn away but he was mesmerizing.  He was tall with broad shoulders, his black hair complimented his coppery skin tone. Majestically the left the water, and strode directly to her. His eyes captured hers, holding her hostage and she was unable to look away. 

     “Come with me” he said in a strange language she didn’t know but understood perfectly.

      “Senorita!” Vida heard someone shout. She wanted to turn but a lovely tune filled her mind.  

      That was the last thing she remembered. It was disturbing that she couldn’t recall anymore, sighing she buried her face in her hands and cried. The dolphin swam up to her again tapping her with it’s nose, she looked up into it’s eyes and saw intelligence and compassion. She wrapped her arms around it and laid her head against it’s side and continued to cry, after a while she felt a hand stroking her head.

       Startled she shoved herself away from the dolphin. But the dolphin was gone. Instead the beautiful man from the river was now floating in front of her. She stared at him in confusion, he was hummimg a soft melody that was strangely calming.

        “Are you dead too?” she asked him quietly.

        “We are not dead, Amada,” he said sounding amused.

         “I’m not a mermaid! so, of course I’m dead and Don’t call me sweetheart.”

           “No, you are not a mermaid, thank goodness. You would be stuck with a scaly tail then, and as you can see I have No tail.” He grinned as she looked at his body.

            His incredibly gorgeous, nude.. body.

          “Oh dear, Your naked! Please put your clothes on!” Vida squealed closing her eyes, as crimson flooded her cheeks.

           Chuckling the man told her she could open her eyes now. She peaked at him cautiously and saw that he had a white clothe wrapped around his hips.  Where had that come from? 

          “Umm, okay, we aren’t dead and were not mermaids, then what is going on. Why am I stuck underwater and able to breath?” Vida asked wondering why she was so calm too, she should be freaking out.

 Or maybe she was dreaming, that is the most logical explanation.

           “No you are not dreaming either, meu pequeno golfinho.”he affectionately told her.

          “How did you know what I was thinking and what did you call me?”

          “That is what happens when we find our soul, and I called you my little dolphin, it is a term of affection among my people.”

           “Your people? Who are your people?” Nothing was making sense to Vida.

           “I will answer all your questions, but right now we need to leave here,” he said as he took hold of her hand.

         “I’m not going any where with you, I don’t know you, I don’t even know your name. My Father will be frantic if he can’t find me, he needs me.” Vida tried to pull away from the man.

          “My name is Joao, and I have spent to much time away from Encante as it is.” Vida kept trying to get away until the music filled her mind. “When I change Vida, you will crawl unto my back and hold unto my dorsal fin, until I tell you to let go.” Saying that he turned into the beautiful pink dolphin. Vida obediently climbed unto his back and he took off gliding thru the water at an incredible speed. 

          Bewilderment churned through Vida’s mind, she wanted to leap off and return home but she wasn’t capable. It had to be the music, the lost time, the calming effect, obeying his command, she’d heard him humming the strange melody each time. And what was he, a person or a dolphin? The lack of fear bothered her, was he causing that, too? Should she be terrified? She didn’t think so, Joao hadn’t hurt her, he’d called her his soul, she even felt an unexplainable bond with him.

            But that didn’t erase the sadness and despair she felt from being torn from her father, she was all he had. Her mother had died a few years ago from cancer and her Father was just starting to rebuild his life.  Now he had lost her too. She didn’t try to stop to tears from flowing as exhaustion rocked to sleep.

             She came to when Joao called her name, he was back in human form again floating beside her. They were in the center of the river probably about 50 feet deep. On one side the water was a dark shade but clear, with very little sediment floating in it, it was warm and slow moving. The other was a golden shade it was moving fast and it was difficult to see through because of the sand swirling within it. It was like an invisable wall dividing the two sides.

           “This is what the land people call the meetings of waters, the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes, come together flowing side by side without merging.” Joao told her, despite everything she was intrigued.

            This was near Manaus, she was suppose to pass here later this week with her father. Thinking of him brought sorrow to her heart.

          “We will be home soon and I will explain everything too you.” Joao could sense her sorrow, he had heard her thoughts on the trip here but was unable to speak to her in his dolphin form.

           He had hoped she would let go of her old life, when she realized she couldn’t go back. She was his soul. He’d known that the first time he’d seen her at the river. He’d seen her kindness as she’d helped the women of the village wash clothes. He’d watched her play with the children from beneath the waves. Her laughter was infectious and he’d heard it even underwater. He knew that she was to be his, so when she’d come to the river that night he’d taken her. He hadn’t thought about her family or her wants, his people always took what they wanted. That was their way of life, the same as it had been for centuries. But, for the first time in his life, he was considering someone else’s feelings. He didn’t like it, but he was incapable of tuning her pain out.

        “Please let me go.” Vida pleaded, she needed to return to her father.

         “You will be happy with me in Encante, we live in the river that flows beneath the Amazon, our cities are bright and beautiful, the water is crystal clear and the creatures that live with us are magical, just like I am and you will be. When we join, my powers will be your powers,” Joao tried to reassure her believing she would desire the wonders he offered her.

         “I don’t even know what you are? Are you even human?” she cried in despair.

         “I am Encantado, I am like a human, as you can see, and I can be Boto too.” Joao whispered. 

         “I am not one of you yet? Then how do I breath underwater? Why can I not surface? Can I return to the land, then?” Vida was excited at the prospect of returning to her Father. Sadness filled Joao, Vida was no closer to accepting him now, than when he’d taken her.

         “You breath under water because of my powers, when we join you will be able to breath both air and water for you will become Encantado. It is my powers that keep you underwater, I don’t want to loose you, Amada.”

          “I told you before I’m not your sweeth…..” Vida’s words were cut off when an anaconda wrapped itself around her body, Joao grabbed it’s head and tried to make it release her. But his strenghth in this form wasn’t enough so he transformed into the Boto, with his strong jaws he squeezed the snakes neck, it released Vida and went after around Joao, the snake was very strong, it was able to shake Joao off and sink it’s teeth into him, wrapping it’s coils around Joao’s fins it tightened it’s coils.

          He’s going to die Vida frantically thought, she searched her surroundings for anything that she could use to save him. She spied a piece of metal on the bed of the river. She retrieved it and swam toward the giant snake and Joao. They were thrashing so violently that Vida was having difficulty getting close. Suddenly she saw three other Botos swim into view, they attacked the snake, but it refused to let go of Joao. She saw her chance , the snake had it’s back to her and was biting at the other botos, she swam rapidly up behind it and shoved the steel bar right into the top of it’s head. The snake jerked spastically as it died. It’s coils loosened and Joao fell from it’s grip and slowly sunk to the bottom of the river.

        “Joao don’t die, please don’t die.” Vida cried.

        “We need to get him to Encante, we have a healer there.” A handsome older man told her, he had been one of the botos trying to save Joao.

        Both the other Encantodo shapeshifted to there human form and the three carried Joao; who was still a boto, down into the depths of the river. Vida followed quietly behind. They came to a large boulder in the bottom of the river, it was hundreds of feet beneath the surface. Two of the Encantados took Joao and disappeared beneath the rock, then the older one took her hand and drew her down through the passage. They came out of the passageway into a beautiful underwater city, bioluminescence lit the city, the structures looked as if they were made of pearls and crystals. Colorful creatures of every kind swam peacefully together. She saw many Encantado; male, female, young and older, it was astonishing.

           She saw the two with Joao swim into a house and followed them. And old woman quickly came to his side, she whispered something over him and he changed back to his human form. He looked so pale, and the anaconda bite encircled his whole side. Tears rolled down her face, it seemed like all she did anymore was cry. Cry for her father, cry for the life that had been stolen, and cry for this Boto/ Encantado/Man, who had invaded her heart. Vida stayed by his side, while the old woman worked her magic. The bite wound was the least of his injuries, the snake had crushed his ribs during the fight, but the old woman, Siri, told her that he would recover.

           During the night she dreamed of her father, he was lost crying her name. 

         “Father I am here, I am here. I love you and I want to come to you but I can’t” she cried, her tears bled into the water around her. Joao watched her as she fitfully slept and listened to her dream, the pain he shared in her dream was worse than what he had just been though.

         The healer walked into the room and gave him a sorrowful look. Agony ripped through his soul, but he knew what he had to do.

                         *   *    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *

           It had been five years since she had woke up on the banks of the Amazon river, some villagers had found her and took her to Manaus, where they contacted her father. His relief was evident, but the questions never stopped. The authorities wanted to know how she ended up 900 miles from Chaves, who had abducted her and why was she found lying partially in the river, a week after she had disappeared. She told them she couldn’t remember, she had no memories of that time. Her father knew she was lying, but didn’t push her.  

          They went to Muitos Sapos as planned. Her father built the school of his dreams and met a Yanomami woman, they fell in love, married and had a son just three months ago. So knowing her father was happy and wouldn’t be alone, she decided to leave, she told him she was returning to the states. He wished her well hoping the sorrow she carried inside would ease with the change.

          Now she was back on the banks of the Amazon river, she had never forgotten Joao. These last five years she had mourned him, she’d heard all of myths of the Encantado, many of them more fairytale than fact.  And now her soul had brought her back to this shore, where he had left her so long ago. She wanted one last glimpse of Joao. So this night of the full moon she put all her hopes and dreams into its hands.

        “I love you Joao, and I have never and will never forget you.” She whispered as she tossed an orchid into the flowing river.

       “So Amada, does this mean you are ready to come home with me?” Joao stood up in the river, his white shirt billowing in the breeze. Vida threw herself into his arms kissing him passionately.

                   “You are now mine forever, mue pequeno golfinho.” He kissed her  

           again as they sunk together under the surface of the Amazon River.