In Search of the Blue Tiger (42 page)

‘And play chess?'

‘Yes, Oscar, and play chess.'

And she leans forward and kisses me on the forehead and time stands still to seal the moment and my future slows down to savour the memory.

‘Time to make your own magic, young Oscar,' she shouts to the wind, her words echoing around the cliffs and gullies of the headland.

My head feels like the pea, the future will come even if I stay here. The future, the ocean ahead. The present, all any of us really have. With the sails catching the wind, I walk up the gangplank.

Here I stand on deck with Stigir, the newly appointed ship's dog, by my side. I'm happy to be setting off on my own special journey into the future, not knowing what adventures await me, but sure that adventures there will be. The lookout, in the crow's nest above, trains his silver telescope on the distant horizon. The anchor is heaved aboard and the heavy ropes released from their moorings. There on the quayside, waving me off, is Mrs April, a tear and a smile on her face. Just like the day she waved to her husband as the ferryboat sailed towards the battleship waiting in the sound. Whoever knows what life holds for any of us: Mr April, the eager young sailorman, watching the battleship grow larger on the horizon, the buttons still shiny on his uniform, off to war; me, a young boy, taking my chance in life, not knowing the future, but sure that it is not the past.

Mrs April waves to us as the ship gathers speed. I wave back and Stigir wags his tail.

‘Chocs away!' I shout to the freshening wind, as the huge and glorious vessel, freed from its ties and weights, speeds to the open sea and the world of oceans and jungles beyond.

Robert Power was born in Dublin and now lives in Melbourne, as an Australian citizen, with his wife and his youngest son. He freelanced as a journalist in London for a decade, appearing regularly in newsprint and magazines including
The Guardian, New Society, New Statesman, Radio Times, Time Out, City Limits.
An earlier version of
In Search of the Blue Tiger
was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2008. He has just completed
Swansong,
a literary thriller and is currently working on a sequel to
The Blue Tiger.

Robert has worked in HIV prevention for many years, travelling to all continents as a consultant and publishing over 100 academic journal articles, appearing on TV and radio in Australia and abroad. He paints in oils and acrylics and has had five solo and four group exhibitions and numerous commissions.