Almost everyone agreed that Jack was dead, although his body had not been found. The police concluded that Jack had probably drowned and that his body was probably devoured by sharks that inhabited the waters. People could only hope that he had not suffered too much in his final hours.
A funeral was held for Jack on the Virgin Islands. The entire town had come to pay their last respects. It was a real tragedy, because the people felt that they had all lost a good friend. It was a great loss for those who knew him and liked him. “Such a pity,” someone said. “They were such a happy couple. It’s a shame things had to end this way.”
The graveyard was now empty, except for Janet who had stayed behind. She was still standing over her husband’s grave and weeping, despite the fact that she was well aware that Jack’s body was not in the coffin. She couldn’t believe that this was actually happening. She couldn’t accept the fact that her marriage to the man with whom she had spent her entire life had come to such an end. The dream she had before Jack had left port had come true.
Suddenly, someone anxiously called her. It was Jurgen, the policecaptain. “Janet, Janet,” he uttered to her. “Cheer up, I have good news!” Janet just stared at the excited Jurgen as he rushed towards her. “I have just been contacted by the coastguard over the radio,” he said when he caught up with her, “and guess what they told me?”
“I have no idea,” Janet said in a sad voice.
“They have found a lifeboat, with someone in it, drifting on the ocean,” Jurgen said. Janet hopes immediately began to rise. “The man was unconscious,” Jurgen continued, “but, thank God, still alive. I have to admit that at first, I had my doubts. After all, we’ve had many false claims made before, but this time, they assured me, there was no mistake.” Jurgen grabbed Janet by the shoulders. “They’ve found Jack!” Jurgen said. “They’ve finally found Jack!”
A week had gone by and Jack had fully recovered. He was released from the hospital and Janet had come to pick him up. Together they were driving home in their car. Jack was silently looking out the window. He had not told anyone about what he had experienced during his ordeal. After a while, they approached a cliff overlooking the ocean.
“Stop the car,” Jack said all of a sudden. Jack stepped out of the car after Janet had stopped the car and walked towards the cliff overlooking the ocean. He looked at the waves that slammed down on the rocks beneath him. It seemed like it was only yesterday that he was struggling against the waves, trying to stay alive on his lifeboat. Jack thought of what he had experienced with Olaf.
“It must have been a dream,” Jack thought. “I got hit on the head and must have been hallucinating..........but then again, I’m sure that I got knocked overboard by the wave. But if I did, how did I get back on the lifeboat where the coastguard found me?”
Janet had also stepped out of the car and put her arm around his neck. “It’s a miracle how you survived that storm,” Janet said to Jack. “Nobody could survive in those hostile waters.”
Jack nodded in agreement. He turned his head to look at Janet and said: “Do you know the story of Atlantis?”
“Sure I do,” Janet responded. “When I was a child, my father used to tell me these sailor stories about the lost continent of Atlantis. It’s about a great civilization in the Atlantic Ocean that was swallowed up by the sea.”
“Do you think the story is true?” Jack said. “I mean that the Virgin Islands were once part of Atlantis and that we are actually standing on what was once a mountain of Atlantis?”
“Of course not, silly!” Janet said. “C’mon, we need to get back home. The doctor said that you should not overexert yourself and need to get some rest. We have no time to waist on a myth.” She turned around and walked back to the car.
“I wonder,” Jack to himself. “I wonder.”
--o--
Click on Part 1 for what happened previously in this series.
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