It's a beautiful day....

On a fine day with a clear blue sky and some white cottony clouds, you can see the ghostly sailboat and the lighthouse on the shore – that is…if you don’t blink your eyes.

It is said that the boat once belonged to a fisherman who went out to sea in the morning, with a promise to his wife that he would return in the evening with a lot of rainbow fishes for her, but the fisherman and the boat had mysteriously disappeared; both had not returned as the fisherman had promised. The lighthouse keeper kept sending signals out to the sea - all through the days and nights - but the sailboat had never returned.

The fisherman’s wife was overcome with grief. She went up to the mountain top and stood there, looking into the ocean and over to the horizon, trying in vain to catch a glimpse of her husband and the sailboat, sadly, to no avail. The sailboat and her husband had simply disappeared!

After some time had elapsed, all searches were called off, and the missing fisherman was presumed dead. The fisherman’s wife was still not convinced that her husband was dead, she did not give up on the search. She was determined to think that her husband might still be alive somewhere. She would climb up to the mountain top everyday, call out her husband’s name, often weeping as she did so.

One day, her cries of sorrow were heard by a kind heavenly fairy, who sympathized with her sadness. The fairy used her magic power to turn the fisherman’s wife into a stone statue so that she would be able stay at the top of the mountain all the time, awaiting her husband’s return.

Today, on every fine day with a bright blue sky, a mirage of a ghostly sailboat and the lighthouse would appear on the ocean, showing the boat returning safely to harbor; but, alas, it is no more than a mere illusion - if one walks closer to the shoreline, the mirage would vanish just as quickly as it first appeared to the naked and longing eye.

As for the statue of the fisherman’s wife, permanently entombed in a pillar of stone - yet very much still emotionally and cognitively intact - she finds herself at peace whenever it’s a fine day like today, for she knows it’s a promise that she would finally get to see her husband return safely back to shore.

It’s always a beautiful day when he returns!

Copyright © Sandie Angel, 4/03/2014
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (story only, pic is from free images site)