The Iron Foot
An engaging, but unusual
By Mongoose750, mongoose750@yahoo.com
[Author's note: Before the story begins, I must give credit where credit is
due. I give a special thanks to
Andrew Rue for his plot synopsis that gave the backbone to this story. If anyone else has any plot ideas for
any characters in my stories, just e-mail them to shrewsberry@juno.com. For those who
haven't read my previous works, this is pretty much a stand alone story, but to
get a better idea of the main characters involved, you may want to read 'Love
Can be Weird' in the Mongoose bookshelf.]
"C'mon Janelle, we'll miss the plane!” Benjamin Parker said as he paced back
and forth in the living room of Janelle Edwards' apartment.
"I'm almost finished Ben, chill out!" came Janelle's voice from
the bedroom.
Benjamin stopped pacing and decided to sit down on the sofa. After five seconds, he stood back up,
and decided to look out the window instead. It's funny, he thought to himself. You'd think a woman who wears no shoes
almost 365 days of the year would take less time to pack than it would for us
mere mortals who put something on our feet everyday. She shouldn't be accessorizing her
outfits with her shoes because she doesn't wear any. So what's the holdup?
Benjamin and Janelle had been engaged for several months. They had already done the customary
things that engaged couples do, like figure out where to live, organize the
wedding ceremony, meet with the pastor for the mandatory pre-marital counseling
(man, that was an experience, Benjamin thought), and just six weeks ago, the
dreaded visit with the in-laws. The
visit with Benjamin's parents went well, but Benjamin wasn't sure if Janelle's
parents thought he was a commoner, a nerd, or an alien from outer space. He had a hard time convincing them that
his major was in mathematics, not accounting, and he had no plans to do such a
thing. His future brother-in-law's
tax questions for the next year didn't help things any. The one thing that really went over like
a lead balloon was when her parents asked him what he knew of the performing
arts. When he told them what little
he knew was limited to what he watched on PBS, it was as if someone just got
shot. The room became as silent as
the tomb, and Benjamin could almost swear the room temperature dropped ten
degrees, because it started feeling rather chilly after that. He also could almost swear he saw
Janelle out of the corner of his eye, laughing. When he looked over at her, she was
innocently slurping her soup like nothing has happened.
Now I understand why people elope,
he thought to himself.
After the carnage was over, and they headed back to the car to leave
(Benjamin was on the verge of running, but he knew they were watching out the
window), Janelle's sister stopped them and presented them with a gift - a
pre-wedding present. They were two
tickets for a five-day engagement vacation to a
"Don't worry about my parents," Janelle's sister said. "They take some getting used
to."
Again, Benjamin thought he saw Janelle giggling out of the corner of his eye. He turned around, and saw she was
loading her luggage into the trunk of the car. He did find it interesting that her whole
head was in the trunk, and her body was shaking like one does when they heard a
good joke. He also found it strange
that as soon as they drove off, she said that she was taking a nap before he
could ask her what was so funny. He
could have told her parents that he saw Riverdance once during a PBS
pledge drive, but that probably wouldn't have done any good.
Benjamin was interrupted from his musings of six weeks ago back to the here
and now by an antique chest of drawers that sat by the hallway. Nothing was too unusual about this piece
of furniture; he saw it every time he arrived at her place. However, this time, the top drawer was
halfway opened. In her rushing
around the apartment, she must have forgotten to close it, Benjamin reasoned,
so he walked over to close it. As he
approached the drawer, his attention was caught by to photographs placed side
by side. The first one was of
Janelle in the full outfit of a ballerina; the head ware, the tutu, the tights,
and - shock (!) - Ballet slippers. Benjamin
was quickly reminded of those rare, endangered creatures that were held in
captivity. Maybe he could snatch
this picture and show the outside world that Janelle has worn shoes before. The picture shown a younger Janelle, of
course, but it only looked like it was only a few years old, not too long ago. As he continued to study the picture, he
noticed that it shown a lean firmness of a dancer's body, not the muscular Amazon
she is now. On even closer
inspection, he saw that she had the skinniest arms he has ever seen, almost
like sticks. The picture shown
Janelle in mid-leap, and though Benjamin's knowledge of ballet was limited, he
couldn't help but notice how graceful, how beautiful the movement was, like a
swan.
Benjamin then looked at the other photograph. This one featured Janelle in mid-leap
headed the other direction, and was similar to the previous picture, except
that she was dressed in the garb of one who practiced modern dance; a black
leotard, black tights and barefoot.
The build was still the same, including the skinny arms, and Janelle's
perpetual smile on her face. On
closer inspection, if looked at close enough, he could see that her smile was
bigger in the photo of the modern dancer than of the ballerina.
Must be because she lost the shoes, Benjamin thought.
As he put down the photographs, he scanned the rest of the drawer, and saw a
few awards, trophies, ribbons, and in the center of the drawer near the rear, a
pair of ballet slippers.
Wow, this is interesting, he thought.
I wonder why she's never told me about -
"Here I am," Janelle said, coming into the living room, carrying her luggage. "Let's go." She saw Benjamin totally immersed by the contents of the drawer like a moth entranced by a flame. She put down her luggage and quietly approached Benjamin. Suddenly, Benjamin felt her hand push him away from the drawer as she stood between him and her belongings. She looked at him with agitated eyes and extended her butt to close the drawer.
“Aren’t we nosy today?” She said.
“Your drawer was half-open, so I was going to close it, that’s
all,” Benjamin said defensively.
"I was looking at your photos and trophies in there. I didn't know-"
"Didn't you say we needed to go?” Janelle snapped as she walked back and
grabbed her luggage. "We have
a flight to catch."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Benjamin said, shaking off whatever spell
the photographs, awards and trophies held on him. "I'll get the door."
As he opened the door so Janelle could carry her luggage out, he glanced
again towards the chest of drawers near the hallway, thinking of the two
photographs. How long ago could
they be? Moreover, why doesn't she
do that now?
"Come on, Ben, we need to go!” Janelle barked at Benjamin.
"Okay," he said as he closed the door.
As they arrived at the airport, the couple did draw a few glances their way. At first glance, there wasn’t
anything unusual. Benjamin was a
handsome black man with dark brown skin, a 5'10 slim build, and a short hair in
a wave hairstyle. Along with his
customary wire-rim glasses, he wore a white T-shirt with a picture of Einstein
on it (he calls it his 'geek shirt'), faded blue jeans, and a new pair of
running shoes. Nothing fancy there.
His fiancée was a different matter entirely however. Janelle had long black hair that hung
just over her shoulders, shoulders, and arms covered with a baggy lightweight
yellow sweatshirt. Again, nothing
unusual until the observer looked down below the waist. Then the observer would see blue
leggings that went down as far as the knees. What one could see past the leggings and
what the leggings poorly attempt to hide are muscular legs that give a hint to
the athletic build they set upon. But
the one factor that drew people's attention in the airport and other places she
goes are the feet, bare and unashamed.
For years, with few exceptions (and even Benjamin and her closest
friends are hard pressed to say what those are), Janelle has lived a shoeless
lifestyle.
As with most things unusual, this usually came with odd looks and even odder
comments. On some occasions, like
during a snowy winter, people at her dojo have been known to take bets on
whether she would walk in barefoot or not.
The loser, often a new student, would be surprised by her teacher,
walking on the cold ground the same as she would on a summer day. People would think that Janelle knew
nothing about what goes on behind her back, but she did. As an ambassador of the no-shoes look,
she had gotten used to these things.
The airport was no exception.
The reactions would range from shock and horror ("How dare she do
that?") to wonder ("How can she do that?") to admiration
("How cool that she does that!"). One teenage girl said to her, "You
rock, girlfriend!" then took off her flip-flops and encouraged her friends
to do the same as they walked through the airport. Janelle flashed her ever-present smile
and gave them a thumbs-up. Benjamin
quietly and subtly shook his head, which resulted in a little jab in the side
from his girlfriend. A confirmed
shoe-wearer, he didn't pretend to understand his girlfriend's abstinence of shoes,
but he loved her anyway. He was
also happy he's not on the receiving end of those feet. Years of barefoot living had made her
soles as hard as rock, and being a black belt in judo had toughened and
strengthened her feet even further.
Despite the smile she gave the group of teenage girls, Janelle at that
moment was not her usual positive self.
This was never more evident than at airport security. Along with her wardrobe, she wore a
small toe ring, and a metal ankle bracelet that she forgot about when she went
through the metal detector. After
the detector's alarm went off a third time, she was escorted to the side where
she was scanned with a handheld detector.
One of the security personnel, a man who has been eyeing Janelle
hungrily since she passed through the detector the first time, thought this was
his lucky day. He figured he would
run the portable detector slowly over Janelle, covering every inch of
her body. Then he would conduct the
search two or three more times, to make sure. That's
one of the nice little perks to his job, he thought. Every now and then, he'd get lucky and
have to hand scan some babe 'carefully' and 'often' (you can't be too careful,
he reasoned). When he prepared to
do his handiwork with Janelle, before he got started, she gave him one of those
looks that said if he did something funny, he would be wearing the business end
of that scanner in a not so flattering location. Recognizing the threat behind those
eyes, the man conducted his normal scan, detected Janelle's foot jewelry, and
sent her and Benjamin on their way.
Before they left, one of the officers, a man with the personality of a
houseplant, asked her, rudely, "Hey, why aren't you wearing shoes?"
Janelle barked back, without giving the man the benefit of a backward
glance, said, "So you wouldn't have to check them!” This gained some giggles from some of
the people who were behind them in line.
When Benjamin caught up with Janelle, who was walking almost twice as fast
as normal because of how upset the two officers made her feel, fumed, "If
that jerk had any more of an attitude problem, I'd show him how explosive my
bare feet can be!” Her mind
was running through several techniques where she could use a crippling kick
that would bring that rude security officer to his knees, and then use another
kick to wipe that sneer off his face.
Benjamin embraced Janelle on her side, partly to calm her down, and partly
to slow her down, and said, "Relax Janelle, it's over.
She stopped for a moment, blew out her cheeks, and said, "Yes,
vacation, right. Sorry.” She took Benjamin's hand, and started
walking at a more leisurely pace toward their plane. "I guess this is sure sign that I
need a vacation, right?"
When they got on the plane, Benjamin read a book while Janelle looked out
the window until the plane took off.
When the familiar landscape became no more than pinpricks on a broad
mosaic, she turned to Benjamin, who had put away his novel, and was fluffing up
a pillow the flight attendant had given him for his nap.
"Ben, I'm sorry I snapped at you while you were waiting for me,”
Janelle said. “I knew I left
that drawer open, I forgot to close it. It seemed like I've been a real grouch so
far, and our vacation just started."
"That's quite alright, honey.
It's not any big deal, we were in a hurry," Ben said. "Turns out, we had plenty of time,
and our flight was late. I should
be the one apologizing for snooping around your stuff. Wake me when you sea ocean instead of
cornfields.” Benjamin settled
down for his nap.
Janelle continued to look out the window, thinking about how she packed. Normally it doesn't take her that long
to pack for a trip. Since she
doesn't wear shoes, she doesn't have to worry about accessorizing her outfits. She normally packs a pair of 'emergency
shoes,' a pair of Dr. Scholl's exercise sandals that look as good as new
considering she barely wore them. However,
on this trip, she left them behind.
The reason for her delay was the issue of color. Janelle's favorite color is black, and
like what most people do with their favorite color, she wears it a lot. Because of that, she had been confused
for being in mourning, an eccentric artist, or a Goth personality. Like the looks and comments from her
going barefoot, she's used to the assumptions. However, she is also aware that you can
only wear one color to only so many occasions before it starts getting old, so
she brought out her more colorful outfits.
She was debating between bringing her favorite black one-piece swimsuit
and a blue bikini she recently bought.
After 15 minutes, she gave up and threw them both in. If she were going to be in town instead
of in the
However, her delaying in packing wasn't the reason she became so grumpy
since that morning. Benjamin
inadvertently discovered a part of her past that was exciting and traumatic at
the same time, her experience in the world of dance. Indeed, she thought, most people would
consider it an honor to have once danced for the New York Ballet Company, and
later to have been a principal dancer in a modern dance company. But how does one explain the transition
from being a dancer in one of the country's premier dance companies to becoming
a part-time physical therapist and judo instructor in a college town in the
As equally as quick as the good times appeared in her memory, the bad times
came equally as fast. The politics,
the in-fighting and backstabbing, the elitism, and most especially, the setup
that drove her from ballet and the modern dance company's scandal that drove
her from dance altogether.
Every now and then, whenever she thought about the past, the question would
come up; did she enjoy her new life?
She remembered how she virtually fled to attend college after the
scandal at the modern dance company in
She remembered after barely fending herself off from a lecherous instructor,
she made a vow to learn to defend herself better, and to never be weak again. After she attended a self-defense
seminar, she remembered how much she fell in love with the martial art of judo. To her, in its own way, it seemed to
have the gracefulness of ballet, yet also had the aggressiveness of modern
dance. Like the ballet, it had a
disciplined environment, but humility was stressed in the art and as a
lifestyle. Like a favorite meal,
Janelle consumed the art of judo with passion.
She remembered being introduced to weight training, which was rather
different from the exercises she did as a dancer. The delight for her was that she was
able to work on any parts of her body that needed it, and started work right
away on her upper body and arm strength.
She remembered the self-respect and confidence she had gained from being
'strong.'
Finally, she remembered meeting Benjamin, and finding from a list she made
years ago that he was what she was looking for. Because of two lustful aggressions, she thought
she might have lost him as quickly as she found him, but thanks to the grace of
God, she was able to keep him. Speaking
of God, she found him too, and that made her life even more meaningful.
So did she enjoy her new life? The
answer came to her quicker than a heartbeat; yes, I do. I miss dancing, but that’s all I
missed. I gained so much more.
Then she realized that there’s a past life she would need to explain
to Benjamin. An explanation that
would make more sense on why her parents act the way they do. She knew she would have to do it soon,
but not now, there’s a vacation to enjoy, but soon.
Oh, there’s so much I need to tell you Ben, she thought,
almost speaking aloud.
Janelle quickly glanced to her left to see if Benjamin was still asleep. She felt relieved that he was quietly
dozing away. She would be hard put
to describe the tears that were coming to her eyes and rolling down her cheeks.
“Once upon a time, I was a dancer,” she said quietly to herself
as she looked out the window.
-----------------
The island resort in the
After an hour of sailing out in the ocean, they came to a huge coral reef
system. The boat maneuvered its way
through a few channels before finally dropping anchor in a huge underwater
lagoon. The boat was surrounded by
open ocean with no landmasses to be seen.
To compliment the sight, the skies were clear and beautiful, with only a
few clouds that could be seen on the horizon. A stiff breeze blew inland, with just
enough force to cool off the passengers from the heat of the sun overhead.
"Now hear this!" the Captain announced. "You are presently at one of the
most beautiful sites on our tour. You
have two hours to snorkel or take a swim in the ocean. For you landlubbers, if you would like
to take underwater pictures without getting your feet wet, there is a
glass-viewing window in the hull of the boat for your convenience. For those of you who don't feel like
doing anything, you can relax and soak up the sun and get a tan or red as a
boiled lobster for the next two hours."
The crowd laughed.
"One of our assistants will be happy to help you with the sizing of the
equipment and proper snorkeling technique.
For you out in the water, there are two rules. One, that you must stay within the
vicinity of the boat. If you can see
us, we can see you. Two, do not,
under any circumstances, touch the coral on the reefs. Thank you very much for touring with
us."
Janelle barely heard the captain's two warnings; she was so excited to see
the underwater world, the light blue ocean looked so inviting. She was wearing a red, light, baggy,
long sleeve cotton shirt with a blue light cotton dress that extended below the
calf, and of course, no shoes.
Both Janelle and Benjamin found proper fitting masks and snorkels. While Benjamin was sitting and busily
sizing a couple of pairs of flippers, the equipment attendant was looking long
and hard at Janelle's feet, under the guise of sizing them for flippers. One thing Janelle discovered over the
years was that there were your 'T and A' men, there were your 'leg' men, there
were men who liked the 'total package,' and the last category, which Janelle
had ran into quite a bit: your 'feet' men.
She had been told over the years that her large, strong feet were very
attractive. Contrary to what an
observer may think, Janelle took proper care of her feet to make sure they didn’t
look ugly. She had told her friends
that she actually has a bigger responsibility than they do for as making her bare
feet look nice. She once told a
close friend of hers, Tracey, "If you don't feel like doing anything, or
something goes wrong, you can always throw a pair of shoes on to cover it up,
but if something goes wrong with my feet, it's there for the whole world to
see.” Tracey then suggested
when that happens, she could throw a pair of shoes on too, but in response,
Janelle just gave her a dirty look.
Janelle knew what the attendant was really doing; even with her
limited knowledge of snorkeling, she knew it didn't take that long to size
flippers for her feet. Out of
curiosity, she tried a little experiment.
She glanced over at the mask and snorkel chest, and pivoted her right
foot about 45 degrees. Out of the
corner of her eye, she saw the attendant move his head to follow her foot. She then moved her foot back to where it
was, and sure enough, the attendant moved his head back. She ended her move with wiggling her
toes, and she could see the attendant become a little glassy-eyed. Yep, no doubt about it, another foot
guy, Janelle thought. Now let's have some fun.
Moving directly in front of the mask and snorkel chest, and turning her back
to the attendant, she placed her heels together and turned her feet out to a 90
degree angle, like a ballerina would stand. She then spread her toes wide and dug
them into the rubber floor then contracted them like ten toe talons while her
great calf muscles flared. She
leaned over the chest with straight legs to a seemingly impossible angle to the
floor with her body. A normal
person would have promptly fallen into the chest, but Janelle casually looked
through the far corner of the chest while her bare feet: conditioned,
strengthened, and toughened by dancing, marital arts, and years of walking unshod
over the harshest of terrain, appeared to be welded to the floor. She knew the exhibition was showing off
her foot muscles, displaying bulges of muscle over the fine curves of her feet,
along with demonstrating their strength.
The watching attendant was probably wondering how what she was doing was
humanly possible. By this time, he
dropped all pretense of sizing her flippers, and just outright stared,
mesmerized by the demonstration being played in front of him.
Janelle picked up a snorkel, and then pivoted on her ankles to stand
normally. She suddenly fumbled the
snorkel so that it fell to the ground beside her left foot.
"Whoops," she said.
Rather than bending down to pick it up with her hand, she turned her head
just enough so she could see where it fell (also taking a quick peek to see if
Benjamin was still occupied and if the attendant was still watching), and
elegantly extended her left foot to it, finishing in a perfect ballet toe-point. She then turned her head to look into
the chest while her long toes stroked the snorkel shaft with long strokes, as
if she was trying in vain to grip it.
She drew out this 'toe dance' long enough for the attendant to be
virtually hypnotized. She finally
grabbed the snorkel with her toes, and slowly curled her foot to bring it
behind her on a bent leg, to her waiting open left hand. She then dropped the snorkel back into
the chest, and quickly turned to face the attendant. His mouth dropped, and his face flushed
as Janelle gave a smile that said, "Got ya!"
The attendant quickly bent down, grabbed a pair of fins, and cleared his
throat twice as he offered them to her.
"He-Here you are, Ms. Edwards," the attendant said.
Janelle just frowned a little and shook her head as she said, "That's
okay, but no thanks, I'll dive with my bare feet," making sure to put a
little emphasis on the words 'bare feet.'
As she walked towards Benjamin, smiling, Janelle thought to herself, it's
nice to know I still got it. That
move gets them every time.
By this time, Benjamin had chosen fins that fit properly and they made their
way back to their backpacks inside the boat. Janelle then pulled off her shirt and
stepped out of her dress, revealing a blue bikini that truly showed off her
muscular figure. The men in the
cabin figuratively had their eyes popping out of their sockets! They had rarely seen such a fabulous
body. The men couldn't help
noticing her arms and shoulders, muscular and well developed. Janelle kept a habit of wearing long
sleeves to cover her arms. Not
because she's ashamed of them, on the contrary, she took great pride in having
powerful arms, but because other people, men in particular, feel compelled to
either touch them or challenge her in arm-wrestling. Along with the arms, there was a
slightly V-shaped back, with a six-pack on the other side, coming down to a
lovely lean waist that sat on a compact, and firm, rear end, perched on long
and muscular legs.
A small part of Benjamin wanted to sit back with pride regarding his
girlfriend, and say, "she's mine, all mine," while the biggest part
of him wanted to put Janelle's clothes back on, so she wouldn't be stared at by
the all the males on the boat. Janelle
tussled her black mane, folded her clothes, and put them into her backpack as
she stepped out to the back of the boat, flashing a sweet, if not slightly
embarrassed smile back to all the onlookers.
"I think these men have been out to sea too long," Janelle said to
Benjamin as she joined him at the stern of the ship. "You'd think they'd never seen a
woman before."
"No," Benjamin said, "They’ve never seen you
before."
Benjamin hopped over the side of the boat while Janelle stepped onto the top
railing and dived in, executing a perfect pike. They met at the surface, put on their
masks and snorkels, and dove down to the sandy bottom of the lagoon. An armada of brightly colored tropical
fish greeted them. Janelle touched
bottom first, a good 40 feet below the surface. They came together at the sandy ocean
floor and swam toward the edge of the lagoon as they rose to the surface. Janelle's feet and legs provided a
surprising amount of thrust and she easily kept up with Benjamin, who had the
aid of scuba fins. They were both
thrilled at what they saw as they came to the edge of the lagoon.
Up from the sandy floor came an almost vertical wall of coral that hosted a bustling society of fish all shapes and sizes and colors. The edge of the coral cliff flattened out into a plateau that offered a 'meadow of coral flowers' about five feet below the waters' surface. Janelle and Benjamin frolicked like sea otters in the water, following the perimeter of the lagoon all the way around. Except for the channel that allowed the boat to enter into the lagoon, the same steep wall of coral defined the boundary of the lagoon. Within half an hour, Janelle motioned that she wanted to talk.
"Ben, this is fantastic! I
want to go over the top of the reef so see what's on the other side," she
said.
Benjamin's better judgment kicked in as he shook his head.
"You know what the Captain said," Benjamin said. "Stay within the vicinity of the
boat. I'm sure that means in the
area of the lagoon."
"Oh come on, where is your sense of adventure?” Janelle asked. "We have an hour and a half until
they serve the meal. We can be
there and back in no time and who knows what else we will find. It could be something we will talk about
for the rest of our lives."
Benjamin knew better than to argue when Janelle was like this. He knew she was going to swim over the
top of that reef regardless of whatever he said. No sooner after he thought this, Janelle
turned and taunted him as she started to backstroke.
"Come on Benny, Benny, Benny!
Catch me if you can! I'll
bet that you aren't' as fast in swim fins as I am in bare feet!"
She turned around and started kicking her legs, propelling her over the top
of the reef. Again, Benjamin had no
choice with his wife to be, and he kicked his fins in hot pursuit, if anything,
to tell her not to call him ‘Benny.’ He hated that worse than being called 'Ben!’ He noticed that he was practically
flying over the coral; he never imagined he could go so fast in the water. However, he was only gaining a little on
Janelle. How could she move so fast
without scuba fins? He bore down
and put even more effort as he could into his fins. Finally, after 300 feet, he could
finally reach out and grab her foot.
Waiting until the opportune moment, Benjamin lunged and caught her foot
on the upstroke.
The surprise was Benjamin's however, as Janelle's toes spread out and
grabbed his thumb. She stopped
kicking and tumbled backward, bringing her knee forward, sending Benjamin
beneath her in a slow motion judo throw, except she was using her leg and foot
rather than her hand and arm. He
had no choice but to follow his hand as he shot past her, twisting such that he
was facing the direction he came from.
To gain his equilibrium as much as one can underwater, Benjamin grabbed
Janelle's foot (the one that had a grip on his thumb), with his other hand; all
the momentum was now working against his thumb and Janelle's toes still had a
strong grip. Seeing him squirming
against her foot, Janelle quickly released his thumb and straightened out. Benjamin had to marvel at two things;
one, seeing how beautiful Janelle's long, lean, powerful body was, and how it
suited this underwater paradise; and two, grabbing his thumb with her toes. How did she do that?
Janelle stepped onto the coral with both feet and flicked against the
polyps, breaking off a bit of the coral in the process. She shot up beside Benjamin and held him
around the waist, looking at his eyes thorough the masks. He could see how happy Janelle was as he
hugged her back. They finished
their embrace and continued swimming along the surface for the next 200 feet
holding hands. The whole thing
seemed like a dream. It felt like
they were flying above the water instead of just swimming through it. It was a pleasant feeling of bliss
exploring this world of nature, untouched by the hands of man. It reminded Benjamin of a verse of
scripture he once heard from church or Sunday School, "The whole earth is
filled with God's glory," but he couldn't place where it was. The Psalms, maybe? He made a mental note to look the verse
up when they got back home. Regardless
of where it was, perhaps God was thinking of this place when he wrote it.
They swam over the ledge, and entered another world. They dove down along the coral wall and
unlike the lagoon; they could not see, let alone touch the bottom. All the fish were much bigger and there
were sea turtles! Janelle, still
feeling playful, caught one by the hind flippers and received the ride of a
lifetime about 100 feet from the coral wall. Benjamin followed as best he could, but
Janelle finally let go and swam back to him. They explored the wall more, finding
little caves and some interesting coral outcrops. The surfacing for air was brief as they
quickly got back to their underwater adventure. It was timeless, like a living snapshot,
its beauty never changing and preserved for all eternity.
Suddenly they noticed all the bright colors becoming gray and the surfaced
to see what happened to the sun. High
clouds had already turned the sun into a fuzzy white circle and the wind had
picked up considerably. The
previously rippled surface of the water was now filled with little wavelets and
a black band of clouds upon the horizon was approaching quickly.
Benjamin looked at Janelle and smiled.
"Looks like the rest of this adventure is going to be called off due to
the weather," he said, then looked at his watch. "Wow! We've been out here for an hour! They are probably serving food now. Are we ready to get back?"
"You bet! I'm
famished," Janelle replied, and then she moved over to him and gave him a
sincere kiss on the lips. She
continued in a low whisper.
"Thanks for coming out here with me. You've made it a trip to remember."
Benjamin beamed in affection before a strong gust of wind brought them back
to reality.
They spoke in unison and laughed, "Let's get out of here!"
They donned their masks and paddled a few strokes to come up against the
reef wall. They both looked at one
another in surprised terror and shock.
Where had the water gone?
The five feet of water depth between the reef and surface had shrunk to less
than two feet and there was a strong current flowing out against them, making
it impossible to swim across the top of the reef back to the boat. After a minute of shocked silence,
Benjamin spoke first.
"The tide was flowing out! No
wonder it felt so easy swimming out here, we were swimming with the
current."
Janelle looked apprehensively at the boat in the distance and asked,
"Do you think they will come out for us?"
"They are eating right now and probably soon getting ready to leave. I'm sure they want to get going before
this storm comes in. It will
probably be at least 15 minutes before someone takes a head count and finds out
that we are missing. Even then, I
can't see how they can get out here if they see us. Even a small boat won't make it over the
reef now."
Janelle felt stupid and afraid as they both looked at the incoming storm in
which they now had a ringside seat.
The black clouds were visible now with flashes of lightning. The sun was all but obscured with the
darkening high clouds. She figured
a storm would probably drown them out here if the lightning didn't electrocute
them first. Moreover, how could the
boat get out here to save them? The
ship couldn't wait around for them; a swell carrying it into a reef would sink
it for sure. The Captain would not
risk 21 lives for two stupid ones, no, scratch that, one stupid one and an
innocent party. It was her idea to
come all the way out here, against Benjamin's warnings. For one of the few times since he met
her, Benjamin saw that Janelle was vulnerable.
"I'm so sorry for dragging you out here, Benjamin. I was so stupid. Why didn't I listen to you?"
Benjamin was stunned by Janelle's use of his preferred name. It's the first time she called him that
since they met. Boy, she really
must be bad off, he thought. Snapping
back to the present moment, he said, "Well let's not worry about that now. We have to get back to the boat and the
only way I can see is we have to walk out."
Benjamin put his bare hand on a piece of coral to hoist himself onto the
reef. He fell back into the water
as pain shot through his hand. He
lifted it to see a streak of red coming from it.
"Yeow! That stuff is as
sharp as broken glass! I'm
cut!"
Janelle's anguish grew even greater and she could feel tears forming in her
eyes. What had she done? This was all because of her stubbornness
and stupid curiosity. Benjamin
again tried to stand on the reef with his swim fins on. This time he got one leg up, but as he
tried to pull up the other leg, he slipped and his foot came down on a jagged
piece of coral and he screamed in pain.
There was a huge gash through the rubber and into his foot as blood was
pouring out. To makes things even
worse, it was then that Janelle saw a dark shape swim past not ten feet away
with a single fin slicing through the water above it. A shark! Not a large one, but a shark nonetheless. Soon Benjamin's blood mixing with the
tidal current would be drawing sharks in the schools of all shapes and sizes.
Oh God, their fate was sealed, Janelle thought. They would be lost at sea, the victims
of a terrible death. Her confidence
and will were evaporating. This
situation was beyond her and she started to cry.
Benjamin's mind was racing. There
has to be a way out of this, but their options were few, and his fiancée
was becoming unglued.
"Come on, Janelle, we don't need that now!” Benjamin yelled.
That rebuke was all she needed. At
the bottom of her despair, there was a spark. Quickly, she remembered what her sensei
told her many years ago, "To control the situation, first you must control
yourself."
All the training and mental focus she received from the martial arts began
to slowly ignite, bringing a calm to her soul. She closed her eyes for a moment,
focused her mind, and let her confidence and inner strength return. There had to be a way for both of them
to survive, and they had to use their strengths wisely. They weren't going to die if she could
help it! First things first. She looked again for the shark. She remembered from some wildlife
program that an oncoming shark could be sent away by a sharp blow to the
creature's snout. One good blow
would keep the shark at bay until they were clear of the water.
She pushed a startled Benjamin behind her and placed her left foot on a piece
of coral, gripping it with her toes to steady her. As the shark came in, she fired her
right foot straight at its snout and connected firmly. The deadly creature glanced off her foot
and turned in the opposite direction to swim away. As far as getting back to the boat, she
knew what she had to do. She turned
to Benjamin.
"I got us into this mess and I'm going to get us out," Janelle
said to Benjamin in a calm, serious tone.
"You are right Ben; we have to walk out of here. Now climb onto my back."
"What?” Benjamin
said, but Janelle just turned around, her back ready for him to climb onboard. He was still trying to believe what he
just saw. This same woman who was
on the verge of losing it moments before just kicked a six-foot shark away with
her foot like it was a stuffed toy.
Now she wants him to climb on her back so she can give him a piggyback
ride back to the boat? Seeing the
steel hard resolve in her eyes, he knew better than to argue, and he climbed
onto her back and brought his leg across her stomach to hold his cut foot
closed. Benjamin felt real power
from the muscles in Janelle's shoulders and waist as she simply walked straight
out of the water with him clinging to her back. They weren't wavering half steps
fighting to retain balance, but purposeful strides that were straight, strong,
and coordinated.
Coral arms were now exposed above the water's surface as the tide was out
and the flat coral reef in front of them only supported puddles of water as the
wind gusted from behind. Benjamin's
foot ached as he dreaded the thought of what was happening to Janelle's feet
while she walked. He looked down,
expecting to see streaks of blood in the puddles, but to his surprise, he
couldn't see a trace of red. Instead,
he saw the odd broken piece of coral in the path they had come. He wasn't sure, maybe his mind was
playing tricks on him from the pain in his sliced foot, but he could almost
swear Janelle was getting stronger, the muscles in her back, shoulders, and
arms flexing with every step. He
looked down to where she was stepping and watched the top of her size 11-foot
rise high above the coral as her knee bent to a 90-degree angle. She then drove her foot down like a
piston, heel, and ball first, snapping and crushing any of the sharp, hard
coral fingers that happen to be in its way. When her foot came to a stop amidst the
coral, the long, strong toes would dig deep into the sand, water, and coral
alike as her foot held firm to thrust them both into her next stride. Benjamin looked behind to where her foot
had been, and saw a distinct outline of her sole crushed into the coral with
little eddies of water spinning all the broken coral fingers.
That would blow the mind of the next people who'll come out this way,
Benjamin thought. He didn't think a
big man could do that with heavy boots, much, much less someone in bare feet. It was unreal. He also realized that Janelle hasn't
said anything on this unusual return trip.
He looked to see where she was looking and saw that Janelle was focused
directly on the ship and nowhere else, not even to see where she was stepping –
like she was in a trance. Even the
stormy winds didn't bother her. It
was then that Benjamin decided to relax, confident that they'd reach their
destination.
Halfway over the reef, Benjamin saw a small aluminum boat being dropped from
the ship. By the time they reached
the edge of the reef, the boat was nearly there and they dove into the steadily
roughening water to meet it. Janelle
still hadn't said a word as they were climbing aboard. The driver of the boat was the same man
who was handing out the snorkeling gear earlier.
"I noticed that you weren't around for lunch and I saw that your
snorkeling gear was missing. I was
concerned that you might be in trouble," the attendant said. "I was sure glad to see you, er, I
mean the both of you making your way across the reef. The Captain would sure be angry if he
had to call in a rescue, especially with this storm coming in."
He kept watching Janelle, who was still oblivious to everything at the
moment, and looked long and hard at her feet. As Benjamin got in and looked for a
temporary bandage to wrap around his foot, the attendant quickly looked at him
and started looking puzzled. After
everyone was settled in the boat, Benjamin was the first to speak.
"Thanks for coming to get us, buddy. Hope it hasn't caused anyone any
trouble."
"No, that's okay," the attendant said. "We should be able to get back to
the resort before the storm hits.”
The attendant looked again at Benjamin and then Janelle before he
continued.
"Say, I thought I saw one of you carrying the other. I can see he has a pretty bad cut. That must mean you carried him."
At this point, Janelle's focus was beginning to lessen, and her character
was beginning to warm up to her usual self, but all she could manage to say
was, "Uh-huh.”
The attendant was starting the motor as he continued to press her.
"So I guess you lost your boots in the water when you got off the
reef?"
Janelle could have used that as a convenient explanation to shut this man
up, but she didn't need to say that, and there was no reason to, so she told
him the truth.
"No boots, sandals, or shoes.
Didn't I tell you I wasn't using fins? That I was diving with my bare
feet?"
"Oh yeah, that's right, you did," the attendant said, feeling a
little uncomfortable.
Janelle looked over to Benjamin and winked, then sat up to look the man in
the eye, and put on a dead serious face as she spoke slowly.
"In fact, I do everything in bare . . . feet!"
The attendant's face flushed a little as he glanced down at Janelle's feet
trying to believe that she could have walked barefoot across the coral reef
without a scratch. From seeing the
fire in her eyes, and the expression on her face, he wasn't going to dare take
it any farther, considering his interest in her feet and her unusual behavior. Clearing his throat, he quickly turned
away from them to get the boat going to the ship, and spoke out loudly,
"We better get back. The
Captain still might try to have my hide if he has to wait."
He looked past them to the ship, not tempting his weakness, and he didn't dare look at Janelle's feet again.
They made it back to the resort before the storm hit, and Benjamin with a
bandaged foot and wearing flip-flops hobbled to the resort's medical room. Janelle, who was wearing her skirt,
T-shirt, and barefoot (naturally) helped him along. The resort doctor, an older man, was
waiting for them, and seeing Benjamin's problem immediately, motioned for him
to sit down and lift his leg on the examination table. The couple detected a French accent as
the doctor spoke, removing the bandage.
"Well it looks like you have a bad cut that will require a couple of
stitches. How did you manage this?"
the doctor said as he reached in the medicine cabinet to collect a syringe,
suture, and needle.
"I tried to stand up on some coral," Benjamin said.
"Yes, the coral around here can be particularly nasty. We call it Razor Coral. I've seen people tear the soles of their
sturdy hiking boots to shreds while trying to walk on it. So why were you trying to stand on
it?" the doctor asked as he busily worked on Benjamin's wound.
Benjamin, not expecting the sudden interrogation, tried to give as short an
answer as possible. "Well,
it's a long story, but we kind of got stranded on a coral reef while
snorkeling."
The doctor not satisfied with his answer, continued. "Ah yes. So how did you get off the reef?"
"We walked, er, well, my fiancée walked out. She carried me because the flippers I
was wearing offered no protection to my feet, and I already had this cut.” Benjamin looked over to smile at
Janelle, and then looked back at the doctor to give him a sheepish, embarrassed
expression.
"Ah ha," the doctor chuckled.
"And your fiancée had the good sense to bring sturdy shoes,
or perhaps she was snorkeling in hiking boots?” He laughed again as he looked over to
Janelle.
Janelle rolled her eyes, crossed her arms and legs, and looked like she was
beginning to boil at the ridiculous inference. Benjamin saw this coming and quickly
spoke up to avert a scene. He
looked at Janelle with sincerity as he spoke.
"No, no, not at all. My
fiancée is an extraordinary woman with incredible strengths. Strengths that I am only just beginning
to learn about. I am a very lucky
man to be with her.” Benjamin
waited a long moment and then continued.
"My fiancée walked over the Razor Coral in her bare
feet."
The doctor stopped to take a long, hard look at Janelle's bare feet, one of
them tapping the floor impatiently, and then looked at Janelle, who had a look
of annoyance on her face. He then
looked at Benjamin and spoke while smiling.
"These islands have many legends of men walking barefoot on hot coals
and then onto razor coral. Walking
on hot coals is documented, but walking on a razor coral reef? That is a myth. Your fiancée is a beautiful woman
with very strong and attractive dancer's feet - but for her to be able to walk
barefoot over these coral reefs, her feet would quite literally have to be made
of iron," he said.
The room was quiet as the doctor finished his work. He motioned he was finished, and led
both Benjamin and Janelle out the medical room and into the hall. He then pulled Benjamin aside.
"You should be fine to have the stitches removed in five days, but you
must keep the area dry, so no more swimming. You might have to preoccupy yourself
with other things.” He moved
his eyes in Janelle's direction and smiled a naughty smile. He started to walk away, then stopped
and talked to both of them.
"The lady with the iron foot.
Your story would work well in the movie "Big Fish.” Have you seen it?” He winked again, not expecting an
answer, as he turned to go on his way.
Had he stayed, he would have seen the face of Janelle, who overheard
what he said to Benjamin, and was not too happy about it. The couple took a few steps and sat down
in a small sitting area just off the hallway.
"Dirty old man," Janelle said in a fit of annoyance. "All of the crew here are dirty old
men. If we didn't need them to
pilot the boat, I'd throw them all overboard. And what's with this "Big
Fish" movie, anyway?"
"For one thing," Benjamin said, "We, or rather, you will have
to deal with these 'dirty old men' for a few more days, so don't try to throw
any overboard, including that attendant who was drooling over your feet."
Janelle was surprised.
"Yeah, I saw you tormenting the guy earlier. I thought he was going to have a cardiac
arrest when you caught him in the act."
"He had it coming," Janelle murmured.
"As for the other thing, I guess we'll need to go to the movies a
little more often. But at least the
good doctor came up with an excellent name for your dojo."
"The Iron Foot?” Janelle
exclaimed. "It sounds like the
title of one of those kung fu B movies that come on TV late at night."
"You got to admit though," Benjamin said, "it does stand out. I've been thinking; since you almost
always call me 'Ben,' I'll just start calling you 'Iron Foot.'"
"Almost always?"
"Yeah, back at the reef you called me by my right name."
"Oh, that was a moment of weakness, it won't happen again. Come to think of it, I
like the name 'Iron Foot.’ It
seems to stay with you. I guess
you'll have to find another name that I don't like."
"Like Jan?” Benjamin
said.
"You want to die?” Janelle
replied.
"As long as I can die happy.” Benjamin leaned over and kissed Janelle
lightly on the lips. In doing so,
he saw the skies over her shoulder.
"That was a quick storm."
Janelle turned around. "It's
over already?"
"Yeah. It looks like I may
have to go to my cabin to get my sunglasses. Hey, wait a minute, do you see that
rainbow?"
"Yes, it's beautiful."
"Do you want to step outside to take a closer look?” Benjamin asked.
"Sure, let's go," Janelle said, and then started forward. "Ben, what are you waiting
on?"
"I was hoping that you could, uh carry me."
"Carry you?"
"Why not, you did it before."
"We're not on razor coral now, Ben.” She came over and took Benjamin by the
arm. "I will tell you about
the next time I'll carry you. After
we get married, and we go on our honeymoon, I will carry you across the threshold. Things will start getting a little um,
rough after that. Am I clear?"
"
"Good. I think I saw some
chairs at the front of the resort that will give us an excellent view of the
rainbow. If we don't budge, we can
see the sunset too."
"Sounds great, let's go."
For any comments or suggestions, send
your correspondence to shrewsberry@juno.com.