The Rough Drafts Writing Blog

“Lost In Thought”

“Yeah, he’s learning Portuguese from this site he found on the internet. It’s called learnportuguesereallyquick.info or something like that.”
“Really? That’s impressive. What have you learned to say son?”
“Poderia ajudar-me com a minha bagagem?”
“Well, I’ll be! What’s that mean?”
His mother looked puzzled. “Johnny, what’s that one mean again?”
“It means ‘could you help me with my luggage?’”
The man looked at the boy incredulously. “How old are you son?”
“I’m seven. I’ll be eight next summer.”

The boy’s mother beamed. She was obviously quite proud. I watched this all from a booth in a greasy little diner just off the highway. I was waiting on someone. The words of the man, the boy (Johnny, I gather), and Johnny’s mother all began to sound more and more distant as my mind wandered. I was thinking about how cool it would be to learn Portuguese. I made plans to check out the site that they mentioned. I even took out my notebook and wrote down the name.

I looked down at my watch. It was 1:30. She was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago. This wasn’t unlike her though. I sat and waited; my mind drifted a little further. A whole world unveiled itself to me. I would begin by learning Portuguese. I’d change my name to Frederico and move to Lisbon. I think that it’s hot there. I’m not sure. I made a note in my book to check.

Looking at my watch, I discovered that it was 1:32. This could end up being a long one. She’s good for one of those once in a while.

I began to drift again. This new man Frederico would need an apartment. Perhaps it could be by the sea? Is there a sea there? I thought that there was. It made it to the book. Anyway, so Frederico lives by the sea, speaks Portuguese, and … works as a fisherman on a small boat that leaves every morning at four. Frederico’s small boat was named ‘Maiden do mar’. The ‘Maiden of the Sea’ was an old boat; the paint was peeling off and most of the nets had holes in them. You can’t take your shoes off while you’re onboard because you’ll get splinters in your feet; the floorboards are rough and careworn. The crew is small and haggard. They love the ‘Maiden do mar’ blindly; oblivious to its obvious faults. Frederico was among their number.

Frederico had worked hard to prove himself on this boat. He was even accepted by the old-timers now. They had given Frederico a hard time at first. Who could blame them? Frederico had never been a fisherman before his arrival at the ‘Maiden do mar’. He wasn’t even Portuguese. He spoke the language well, but his accent was horrible. Maria had helped with this. Maria was the daughter of one of the old men. Frederico had met her when he first came aboard. She was beautiful.

“Lost in thought?”, Mary asked as she walked up to the booth.
“Huh? What? Oh yeah, I guess that I was.”