SARGASSO SAILS

CHAPTER 2

SUMMERLANDS


   Racing towards the bow, I was greeted by the sight of a large, black and white mass sprawled over the forward deck. A flipper-fin-web-wing like thing moved across the deck. The head rose with an enormous beak that semed to smile upside down.

   -Hi, I'm Nelligan.
   Now I am convinced that I am stark, raving mad... totally off my rocker. I can talk with birds now. I'm a seafaring Dr. Doolittle. I do a quick check to see if I've become one myself. No, I'm quite the same.
   -Sorry 'bout the crash landing. I be lucky boy, that you had this little floating island here. I'm too far out and not be able to reach back 'ome.
   -What...who? I stammer incongruously.
   -I've told you my name is Nelligan. I'm what they call a peliguin adn I come from Emerald Isle. These are the Summerlands. Does ye not know where ye be mate? Ye're heading in my direction and I'd be obliged for a lift. Ouch...I seem to have broken me leg.
   -You also seem to be short on feathers, I replied. Now that I realized I had nothing to fear from this friendly creature, I helped him into the cockpit to begin questioning. I had never heard of a peliguin before, let alone seen one. He stood about three feet high, and had the trademark tuxedo look about him like a penguin. However, he had an enormous beak like a pelican and his flippers worked like wings.
   -You're quite right about me being lost. I've seemed to have come through a bit of a disturbance, to put it mildly, and now I haven't a clue as to where I am.
   -Emerald Isle is one of five islands that make up the Summerlands. The island you see in the distance is called Coco Key. Me 'ome is just passed there.
   Coco Key looked to be about seven miles off the port bow. I figured I would have plenty of time to explain my own presence here, and gather some information on these Summerlands. It would seem as though I had discovered some sort of modern-day Galapagos. Seeing that I was lucky enough to make it through the mist, I might as well stay and have a gander. One thing I had learned in my travels is that if you're hospitable to the locals, they will watch out for you.
   -Would you care for some tea? I asked.
   -That would be lovely, Nelligan replied. It's my favourite.
   While I was making the tea, I had time to observe him from the galley. A flying penguin. I wondered what Darwin would have made of that. I had seen fish fly the length of a football field. But for what purpose? I had to find out more about this amazing creature.
   -Here ya go...careful, it's hot.
    One sip was all it took to convince me that peliguins did not like tea. He was obviously trying to be polite. Then he informed me that he thought I might be serving whisktea or teaquila, some of the specialties from Emerald Isle. At that point, I rushed back to the galley and produced a bottle of Appleton's rum.
   -Ah, he swooned. Now this warms the cockles and the soles.
    I was beginning to get used to his colloquialisms. Nelligan did not seem overly surprised that there was another world outside of the Summerlands. I tried to simplify the technology and put it into terms he might comprehend, but most of my world was too far out for his understanding. But his world seemed like a fairy tale as well. It was as if I had been transported back to a paradise lost. Was H.G. Wells indeed a visionary, or had I discovered a new archipelago? Regardless, Nelligan waited until I had finished and then began to fill me in on the Summerlands.
   -All us creatures are vegans except for the scum at Konkerland. They be a bad bunch...cannabalistic carnivores and such. The rest of us all get on well and love to party. There's lots of music and plenty of food, and everyone will love this stuff you call rum. Rum, rum, its gentle on the tum. Nelligan grinned that enormous grin and handed his cup back to me.
   He told me that the Summerlands was a place of perpetual sunshine. Nelligan had never seen the moon and did not understand the concept of night. I tried to explain how it got dark at night and there were stars, and that night was just a long period of shade. He admitted that he didn't know anything about time either. This struck a strange chord with me but I didn't dwell on that subject just then.
    Pretty soon he was drinking right out of the bottle and jabbering on about his cavern and something about having to feed all the McCormants and O'Henries and the Konkers getting all riled up about something or other. Someone or something called Oopslop, had got his dander up and Nelligan was out searching for something or somewhere. For those who have never heard a peliguin slur its words, it is only comical if one is wearing raingear.
   Nelligan was fascinated about Sargasso, but even more astounded by the bottle of rum. He had never seen glass before and had a lot of fun with the bottle. He had so much fun, that when he drained it, I had to help him below where he made sort of a nest in the forward head. Just before he passed out he said:
   -Beware the Green Flash!


ON TO CHAPTER 3 "SAILING THE SUMMERLANDS SEA"
GET ME OUTTA HERE...PELIGUINS RAN OFF WITH MY WIFE