A little note before we start: I am in the stages of moving from my current residence to a new residence, and may not have internet access for a few days. Also, with moving comes lots of packing, planning, and getting things in order. Therefore, I may not be able to write anything in the next week. However, if I get the time and the patience, things will continue as normal.
That all being said, let’s get onto today’s story:
copyright Jennifer Pendergast
Beyond This Point
The young man beamed at his family with pride.
“This, by far, is one of the best days of my life. I finally have something I can call mine!”
His parents shined their approval as they looked at his garb.
As he picked up his cap from the ground, he looked around at the walls of the place where, for four years, he allowed himself to flourish.
“Mom? Dad? What do I do now?”
His dad smiled, and pointed behind him.
“Everything that happens from here on out, happens beyond that point. That gate is where life begins.”
(Dedicated to the memory of all the students and passengers lost in the Sewol ferry disaster last week. Please make sure to play the music while you read.)
(NOTE: This is a work of fiction, designed to help people think about and work through their feelings regarding the Sewol ferry sinking.)
(Written on sheets of rice paper, and found on the desk of a fisherman on Jindo.)
Clouds. Happy as clouds.
That’s is how I see them now. All of them are in school up there, learning about love and life, learning their new assignments and how they will do new things. Learning, while in the cloudland.
I live in Sinyuk, just off the main coast of South Korea. My family has lived here for many years. That day will be burned into my mind.
I was on the shoreline, finishing the rigging up the nets that I would use for crab fishing during the night. I always do that after the day’s work is done. I was going to go to sleep soon, and wake up again in the afternoon to do the fishing checks all over again.
It was just after 8:30 in the morning when I went to my home and sat down for my supper. I ate, and felt good about the upcoming catch that would come in the night. I went to my room to pray and honor my wife. Long ago, we were a happy fishing couple. She died a few years back, and it was a sad time for me. But, still, I live on with her in my memory.
It was around 9:45 that I heard the phone ring. This was unusual, I didn’t normally get a call when I was just about to go to bed. I picked up the phone and answered like I normally do. It was Byeong-jun, the harbormaster here. He told me that there was an all-call for all fishing vessels, that a ferry was sinking just off Gwanmae.
It was like second nature to me. I was in the Navy during my days in the military, and whenever a call for assistance was made, it was my job to alert the captain and to help direct where we needed to go. I immediately ran out to my boat, and started it up. Or, at least I tried to start it.
I couldn’t start it. The boat that helped me check my pots did not start. And I needed to get out there and help out, as it was my duty. I got on the radio and called around to see if anyone was still in port and could use an extra man. My friend Sin-Gil, a very good man who sold fish for use in hoe called back and told me that all boats had gone. There were none left in the harbor.
At that moment, I stood in shock. And I started to cry. I cried because I felt like there was nothing I could do. As I dried my tears, I hurried over to the harbormaster’s office and volunteered to help coordinate the rescue boats. Since Sinyuk could not hold many people, we decided to send the rescued passengers over to Jindo, the closest big island that would get them to where they needed to go.
It was too late for some of us, and for a lot of those passengers.
As I write this, the count of the people that are dead is 84. There are over 200 more passengers still missing, and in my mind, likely no longer here. 250 of those passengers and dead are kids. Kids. Going on a vacation like they always do, every year. That sticks in my mind. A simple fisherman like me, who didn’t have much education, can see in my mind how a child’s eyes lights up when they are told they will be going to Jeju for a field trip.
Now, I see these kids as students up in the cloudland. Their fellow passengers who aren’t in school, they too are there. They’re assisting, helping out at the big school up in the cloudland. They’re laughing, with no pain or fear, nothing of what they felt down here. The young lady, the worker on the ferry who helped so many students that survived, I see her as a teacher up there. She’s showing them about what it means to be brave. Some of the other men and women who died, saving all those students, they’re up there as well. In the cloudland.
This tragedy is affecting everyone. I hear my friends, fellow fishermen, cry for those who are lost. I can imagine all of the parents, and the classmates in the different grades at that school in Ansan. I can even imagine the foreigners here, the ones who see this and whose hearts break for those who are gone. Every person in this country, whether a Korean or not, is affected by this. The dark cloud of sorrow will be over us for a while. The cloud already took a few people’s lives after this, and more will be taken before the cloud is lifted.
After today, I can no longer be here. I have family on the mainland, a sister and her nephew in a big city, with small kids of their own. I will take what I have earned, and go to them. I will help those small children as much as I can, to show them not to be afraid. To show them that there are people who are heroes, and that there will be a brighter day.
To whoever reads this: Whatever is here, sell and donate to the families of those who have lost everything. It won’t be much, but the house and the land are valuable. The boat can also be sold, all of the deeds are with the harbormaster.
Remember the kids and adults in the cloudland. They are the ones who we must mourn today.
-Han Gong-Cha
(a stamp, an injang (인장) was embossed at the bottom)
“In order for us to do our work, you need to conquer your fears,” Roger Daniels told her, as she grabbed a hold of the doorknob on the roof. “And you can’t do that when you’re paralyzed of high places.”
“I’ve tried to conquer it! I’ve tried everything! Hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, pretty much every therapy you could imagine.”
Roger just sighed at this. He knew the routine. She would try to talk him out of doing it, he’d get her close to the edge, then relent.
However, he resolved to himself and a shot of Wild Turkey 100 to not back down this time.
“Vanessa, do you trust me?”
“I would trust you with my life. You’re my partner in crime.”
“Would I steer you wrong?”
She thought for a second. This was a new tactic. Ooh, he’s goood, she said to herself.
“Alright, you’ve convinced me. Let’s do this thing.”
Vanessa tensed up a bit, but she was slowly led to the edge of the building, where two beams were crossing a long drop of nearly 90 feet. It was certain death if she fell, and her only safety were the two I-beams that looked like they were older than Fiorello LaGuardia’s bones.
Roger was in front of her, walking backwards. He was going to be with her all the way, and he wouldn’t let her drop. Just as long as she did not look down.
She took her first shaky, fear filled step onto the I-beam and kept looking at Roger. He looked directly into her eyes as he clutched her hands and moved backwards. Every step he took, she took one more. They got halfway across when she suddenly froze. A small wind blew across the I-beams, and she froze up.
“Don’t worry, honey. I gotcha. I ain’t letting you go.”
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….” she cried out, closing her eyes for a few seconds before opening them and seeing Roger’s face directly in front of her.
“I. Have. You. Do not fear. Keep your eyes on me, I’m calling you.”
He moved back one step more, and she moved it one step forward as well. She slowly took her steps, moving one at a time with incredibly slow speed. They inched closer to the other building, and she took her eyes off of Roger, and looked past him. The building was just a few steps away, and she was nearly there.
Until a pigeon hit Roger in the face.
His foot slipped and he started to fall. She grabbed onto him and held on tight. He was dangling off the edge of the beams, and Vanessa looked down upon the street below, She was about to tense up and freeze when a small voice from inside called to her.
“Leading ladies never think about stage fright. They live without it.”
She had to do something. She thought of the first thing to do. She shuffled her body, currently on the beam with both arms holding Roger’s. It was going to take her all her strength, but one way or another, she was going to get Roger up on that building.
“Roger, if anything happens to you, I am going to find my way to heaven and kick your butt.”
“I think it would be a pleasure, Nessa!”
Vanessa smiled as she bodyshuffled her way across the beam. 15 feet would get her to the building, and she decided to put all her force into it. She powered her away across and reached the edge.
“Get a better hold on my arm, Roger! Get a toehold on the building, and I’ll get ya up!”
“You’re open.”
And he was right. She just opened herself up for a dirty comment. Roger wouldn’t do it himself, but someone else at work just might.
“When we get done with this, you can say all the dirty things you want. Just DON’T FALL DOWN!”
“I ain’t gonna fall, sweets. You’re choking off the blood flow to my hand.”
Vanessa put her feet up against the edge of the building and heaved. Within a few seconds, he made it up the side of the building.
Or, rather, he was semi-catapulted. Within just a moment after cresting the edge, he fell on top of Vanessa. After a few seconds of clearing the cobwebs from his brain, he looked down and found a very peculiar sight.
One of his hands was wrapped around her arm, and the other rested on her breast. He quickly stammered and removed his hand.
Vanessa just laughed.
“Well, if you really wanted to cop a feel, Roger, you should have just asked. You didn’t have to nearly die for it.”
Roger looked bashful at this, and was a bit concerned. Now he was on the hot seat. Vanessa got up and looked him square in the eye.
“Well, now that I’ve conquered my fear of heights, why not we conquer your fear.”
She walked closer to him, and he just stood in fright.
“W-w-w-w-what fear is that?”
She was within a few feet of him. She moved right up to his side and grabbed his hands. She wrapped hers around them and looked straight into his paralyzed eyes.
“Your fear of offending a woman when you like her a lot.”
Roger stammered as she moved her face to his forehead. She gave him a short kiss on the forehead, and put her arm around him.
“You’re holding aces, Roger. Play the hand, and take what comes. We’re partners, and we can be more.”
Roger softened as they started walking towards the stairwell door.
“Let’s get something to eat. I think we both have some analysis to go over. Of each other.”
Vanessa smirked into empty sky, with a knowing look on her face.
Music and Fiction 