Part One
“See here, I caught this sucker over the weekend!”
Looking over, two seats over from where she sat, old man Vicky was flipping through polaroids, showing them to a few of his buddies gathered around him. As soon as she saw one of the images, she looked away, turning in her seat and tried to block out what they were discussing now.
“First thing I did was, I grabbed some pliers and yanked out some of those ugly teeth.”
MattiLynn moved to this sea town three years ago. She had spent every Summer here until she was about 17 years old, and those missed years broke her heart. She had always had such a deep connection to the seas. The same connection her aunt had, which is why they spent so much time together, they both understood.
When her aunt passed away three years ago, MattiLynn was shocked but not when she was told her aunt left her island home to her in her will. As soon as everything was signed and legal, there was no hesitation, MattiLynn packed her things and moved.
Gulping down the last of her drink, she paid her bill and left the bar. She always treated herself to a few drinks on Fridays, since those were the days she mailed out her pages to her agent.
The bar was also close to the pier so she could drop off her package, go to the grocery store, have her few drinks then head right to the docks. The only way to get to her home was by boat, a nice boat waited for her, too. Also left to her from her aunt.
Heading down the wooden staircase, she first stopped at the dockhouse, where Mr. and Mrs. Treidem worked, they ran the docks and were wonderful people. MattiLynn has known them since she was a baby. Stopping there first, Mr. Treidem was behind the counter today, sound asleep with his head heavily in his palm, he didn’t wake up at the jingle of the bell above the door so, tiptoeing to the desk, she patted his shoulder gently.
“AH-shit!” he shouted, still half asleep. When he saw who was waking him, he began to laugh.
“Oh Matti, I’m sorry,” he continued to chuckle, and so was she.
“That’s ok, Mike, I just wanted to drop these off,” producing a tupperware from her shoulder bag.
Rubbing his hands together, “Ooo, what do ya have for the old man today, my dear?!”
MattiLynn opened the container, revealing peanut butter square cookies.
“My favorite!” he came around the counter and pulled her into a tight embrace, then kissed her on her forehead. Even at 77 years old, he still stood tall at 6’4 and was strong as an ox.
They left the dockhouse together, arm in arm, and small-talked all the way to her boat. He helped her untie and gave her another kiss goodbye.
‘“You better share those with Loey this time,” she scolded Mike.
He winked down at her, “no promises”. The last time she dropped off her baked goods to Mike, they never seemed to make it home to be shared with his wife, Loey.
Pushing with his boot, he set her boat out, she revved up the engine and sped off, making sure to splash him a little, she laughed hard as she heard him yell “Little shit!” in the distance.
** *** **
It took her about 20 minutes until she neared her island, and by “her island” that’s exactly what she meant. Her aunt’s husband’s father had bought this land and built his home on it years ago. It had it’s own little cove where he had built the boathouse, along with a beautiful dock that he built into the seawall. Connected to that dock he built steps into the ground that went all the way up to the cabin. Cabins, actually. There were 3 cabins on the island.
The biggest being the main cabin, which had 3 levels to it. The top level being a huge, loft-like bedroom, the second level was a living room and a study/library, and the third level was the kitchen, pantry, and dining area.
There was another two level cabin, that was a “second home” of sorts. It had a a bedroom, again on the top floor, and the kitchen and living room where on the main level, Matti had turned this cabin into her “work”. The bedroom was turned into her office, this is where she kept all her books, her desk, her typewriter and computer. Everything she needed to produce her articles for the magazine she worked for and for the novels she wrote. The livingroom had a tv and there was a big, comfy couch and the small kitchen she kept stocked with essentials for “work time”.
The last cabin was the technical one, it was part work shed and where the generator and everything else was that kept the island running.
Smiling, as she always did, she pulled up to her island, she always liked to circle it once and when she did, her two dogs would come running and bark happily at her and would race to the dock so they could jump into the boat. They always demanded to be taken for a tour of the island.
George, her Tibetan Mastiff, did a record jump from the dock to her boat tonight and so quickly that he landed in the boat before she could even move from her seat and he jumped on her, over the back of her seat, his huge paws thumped over her shoulders and his big head right on top of hers, he was now ready. She had to pull up right to the dock for Molly though, Molly was her rescue mix-breed who was a princess on all accounts.
Now that Molly and George were happily aboard, they set off , George moved to the side of the boat, biting at the water as it splashed up, Molly sitting up on the passenger seat, smiling at everything.
The three of them pulled into the boathouse together, they both stayed in the boat while MattiLynn tied up the boat and unloaded her groceries onto the dock. George and Molly stayed in the boat, even after MattiLynn was out with her arms loaded up with her things and she stood by the open door.
“Well, c’mon,” motioning out the door.
Nothing.
“It’s dinner time.”
WHOOSH!! They both were out of the boat and running up the hill to the cabin in a second.
They were both barking and bouncing around by the time she got up to her house, “Ya know, I could have moved a lot faster if you two helped with the groceries.” Molly just continued to bark at the door while George slobbered and bounded around Matti.
“Ok, ok” the door opened, Matti stood back and the two spoiled furballs raced into the house.
Once inside, the first thing she did after setting the grocery bags on the counter, was feed the beasts. Since that was the only way to put the groceries away in peace.
She didn’t get much at the store so it was quick to put away, the only thing that remained out was what she got at the butcher shop.
“Be right back guys,” the dogs didn’t care.
Going up the 3 floors to her bedroom, she went into her bathroom and changed into her bathing suit, that was just dried from having gone for a swim that morning.
Next, she braided her long, red hair back in a French braid. Back in her bedroom, she grabbed her long cardigan, her top piece wetsuit, her steel mesh gloves, her portable speakers then headed back downstairs where George and Molly were just slobbering down the last remains of their dinner. Slipping into her flipflops, she added that remaining grocery bag then, with the dogs dashing out first, went outside.
** *** **
The dogs now didn’t care about what MattiLynn was up to now, they went off and did their own dog thing as she took the path down to the dock, the opposite end to the boathouse, where the dock rose up higher and her uncle had secured ladder rungs to the rock wall that she’s dove off of since she was a toddler.
Matti first set up her phone to her speakers and pushed play to her music, then stripped off her cardigan and flipped off her flops then zipped herself up in her wet suit top. From there she went for the ladder with the grocery bag in her teeth.
Up on top of the rocks was her “Soul Spot”, she could and has spent hours just sitting there. Watching and listening to the waves, watching sunrises and sunsets.
This wasn’t what she was doing now though.
She pulled out the large hunk of meat from the bag, grabbed the strong pole she left up on the rocks, secured a large metal clamp into the meat then dangled the meat over the rock ledge, over the water where the meat dripped into the ocean.
It took about 2 minutes, maybe less before she saw the swirl in the waters off to the right and she smiled and began to jiggle the line. The swirl in the water disappearing under the line and Matti knew exactly what was coming.
From beneath the water, she dove, getting deeper so she could propel herself out of the water to get the bait.
Matti watched, it almost felt like slow motion. She moved so fast beneath the water the her snout was above the water but had yet to break the water’s surface yet and then, she did.
A Great White Shark, of about 20 feet in length, was emerging from the water and soon she was completely out of the water. Massive teeth sinking into the meat and pulling it back down into the water with her.
Since the pole was secured to the rocks so she didn’t have to worry about losing it so, instead, she stood up and did a running leap off the rocks and dove gracefully into the ocean below, not even a foot away from the feeding shark.
A Hippie's Tales 