Roseanne's Summer Vacation- Chapter 13
“I was born in Gdynia, but I’m living in Rumia. I came over to Gdynia today because I need to get plugs from an electronic shop.” A guy eating soup was talking nonstop to a woman. They were sitting by the same table, and so was Mr Orville. This was unfortunately the consequence of a few dining seats in a popular fast-food restaurant.
The guy in his 60s kept talking and talking. His mouth just wouldn’t shut up. Mr Orville thought: just a couple more minutes and he’s going to tell that lady his entire life story.
“Jeez, time flies so fast! Everything changes. It seemed like yesterday when Anna Przybylska died, and there was a memorial service held at the Parish of the Virgin Mary. The whole city came to bid the final farewell.”
“Ah, yes.” The woman raised her spoon. “I remember her from the Złotopolscy series. Didn’t know she was from Gdynia,”
“Born and bred in Gdynia, and died in Gdynia, too.”
“That’s sad.”
“When the weather is bad, everything is sad. You don’t want to reach the end of Washington Street. Just look at the old harbour. It’s gone! Completely gone! All that’s left is a grey rumble of rocks and a giant construction site next to it. Outdated harbour terminals are torn down and replaced with apartment buildings. Sure, it makes the neighbourhood look nice, but the city loses its old-fashioned spirit. That’s too much to handle! And the living costs, oh my god! I moved out to Rumia for a reason…”
Initially, the man tried to strike up a conversation with Mr Orville as well, but the teacher just ignored him. Mr Orville knew from experience that it’s never a good idea to engage in random conversations like that. You meet cheerful, philosophical strangers only in the movies. In real life, on the other hand, strangers who want to have a chat either suffer from mental deficiencies or—worse—a crippling condition known as loneliness.
Indeed, Mr Orville had seen it many times before. You are outside of your house, be it at work, in a restaurant, or on a street, and the victim of loneliness comes up to you. You may think at first they’re a hobo asking for money, but they don’t look too shabby to be a hobo. In a twisted, sinister gargle, they say to you: “Good morning. What a nice day we have.” If you say anything back, if you allow them to establish direct contact, you are done for. They will prey on your sanity and self-esteem, avalanching you with their worldview and personal opinions nobody cares about. And when they’re done eventually, when they let you out of the vampiric clutches, you are so out of breath that your body just wants to lie down.
These people are like that because of loneliness. They behave the way they do because they cannot accept the fact that they are alone at their homes and have nobody to talk to. Thus, workplaces and public areas become their hunting grounds for prey, for someone who could listen to their ramblings.
However, it has to be made clear that not all people are like that. Mr Orville is alone, but he doesn’t suffer from loneliness. He goes to work, gets the job done, and comes back home to enjoy peace and quiet. He doesn’t feel the need to chat anybody up because he has conversations every day with his students. One student tells him about how they spent their weekend, the other about their future plans, etc. These small conversations are more than enough for him.
But now, it was vacation time. He wanted to have time off, even from the students, and there he was, stuck on an improvised trip with them.
Speaking of students, Thally Kowalski knocked on the windshield outside the restaurant. “It’s 2:30 p.m. already!” she said, showing her phone.
“Is that your daughter?” The soup guy asked.
Mr Orville looked at him in shock. He completely lost it at that moment. “How old do you think I am, you gimp?! She’s seventeen and I’m thirty-two! If I were her father, then I would end up on MTV’s Teen Mom!”
***
“Where are we going next?” Thally asked.
“We’re going to the beach, but not the regular one full of tourists. I’m taking you to a special place,” Mr Orville answered.
“But I have all these bags with me.” She showed her treasured possession from Deichmann and CCC. “Can’t I leave them in the hostel?”
“No, the bus is in a few minutes. You’ve got to carry your burden.”
“Come on!”
Outside the Batory, the group turned around the corner into Armii Krajowej Street. The left side of the street behind the shopping mall was an open space with a large parking lot. The right side, however, was obscured by a long-ish, at least nine-storey high block of flats. It was painted in dark shades of green and had tiny balconies sticking out of every window. In Roseanne’s eyes, it looked like a massive Lego brick thrown by a toddler, so it could reflect sunlight from the sea.
The stop was next to the parking lot, and as the electronic board indicated, the bus 109 to Babie Doły arrived on time.
“Babie Doły?” Milena was confused. “Grandma’s Dimples?”
Mr Orville instructed everybody to take their seats on board the bus, while he put the tickets into the fare box. “We are getting off at the last stop,” he said.
They were in for a long ride. The bus rode through picturesque streets, road junctions, and populated neighbourhoods. While ploughing through bridges and overpasses, Roseanne realised the bus was actually making a bow-shaped detour around the wide infrastructure of the city harbour. She could see tons of containers stacked upon each other, either on land or cargo ships that were moored on piers. These piers were peppered with tall overhead and offshore cranes, which were moving back and forth in a hasty manner. On them, she could read the names of shipping companies, as if that kind of promotion mattered to common passers-by.
“Excuse me, sir.” Nika faintly raised her hand. Mr Orville approached her.
“What is it, Nika?”
“I’m feeling sick.”
“How is that so? Do you have a cold, or does your tummy hurt after lunch?”
“No, I think I’m having motion sickness.”
“A motion sickness! Didn’t your mom give you any pills for that?”
“She did, but I left them at the hostel.”
“I told you we would go by bus.”
“Yes, but I had no idea this would take so long. We’re riding for like thirty minutes already! Do you think it’s okay if I puke on the bus?” Having said that, Nika grabbed her stomach and suppressed a gagging reflex. Mr Orville jumped away to avoid getting splashed by undigested pulp. Fortunately, nothing happened.
“Here, take this,” the teacher said, giving her a shopping bag.
“What am I supposed to do with it? Suffocate myself to death?”
“It’s the best thing I’ve got.”
Not long after, the bus passed through an airfield and community gardens until it entered the woods and came to a halt.
***
They marched on the pavement through a thick forest. Natasha couldn’t marvel at the green trees surrounding them. She kept taking pictures one after another.
“Watch out, there’s a crossing! And another… And another,” Mr Orville warned.
They were meandering through an airbase road from one side to the other, either because of tall grass or a lack of pavement. Eventually, they reached a lonely bench covered in dunes and scrubby bushes.
Behind it, there was a narrow passageway between the dunes that led them to the top of a wooden platform with stairs descending to the beach. A gust of powerful, cold wind shook their bodies. From up there, they could see the majestic waves of the Baltic Sea, their white crests swooshing towards the shoreline. The beach itself was completely empty. There wasn’t a single bystander, tourist, or nudist, just as Mr Orville promised. The white, sunbrushed surface of the sand looked inviting, with its grains carried by the wind from one place to another and beyond.
“It looks amazing!” Natasha exclaimed.
“Wonderful!” Milena giggled.
“It’s time for a smoke,” Nika declared.
“Can I go into the bushes to relieve myself?” Thally asked.
Roseanne remained silent. She saw the sea numerous times, be it on the internet or in movies, but nothing could beat the real thing. The sight of a vast water reaching the horizon reminded her of such films as A Scene at the Sea and Le Grand Bleu, but the difference was that she could feel the wind, she could feel the breeze caressing her cheeks, she could inhale the sea air, she could…
“What do you think, Rosie?” Natasha turned to her, but was shocked to see her friend taking her shoes off and running down the stairs.
Roseanne jumped across the dry, hot sand until she reached the shoreline. Splashing water reached her toes. The sensation of skin interacting with water and wet sand exhilarated her. “It’s cold! It’s damn cold!” she shouted with joy.
“Of course, it’s cold. It’s the Baltic Sea, dummy!” Natasha shouted back, approaching her.
“Come on, let’s dance!”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“Dance with me!” Roseanne disconnected her headphones and played “Don’t Leave Me This Way” by the Communards through the phone speaker. She then snatched Natasha into a spontaneous spin.
Aww, baby, my heart is full of love and desire for you
So come on down and do what you’ve got to do
You started this fire down in my soul
Now can’t you see it’s burning out of control?
So come on down and satisfy the need in me
‘Cause only your good loving can set me free
Set me free, set me free, set me free, set me free, set me free
“What a crazy song,” Natasha commented. “Wait a minute. I didn’t take my shoes off. They’re getting wet!”
***
Approximately three hundred metres or so from the shore, they could see the concrete ruins of an abandoned torpedo station that remembered the times of World War II. Mr Orville described what it was to the students. It was out there, isolated amidst the sea, but one could spot large piles sticking out of the water. These were the remnants of a bridge that led to the station, but was ultimately destroyed by retreating Germans in 1945.
“Germans doing German shit. I mean, what can you do? All because of a frustrated Austrian painter whose art wasn’t appreciated,” Thally remarked.
“Please keep your historical comments to yourself, Thally. Thank you very much.” Mr Orville said while frowning.
“Come on, Thally. I will be running along the shoreline, and you will record me,” Milena suggested.
The two proceeded to run. Mr Orville observed them for a bit, then switched to dancing Roseanne and Natasha. Nika was sitting on top of the wooden platform, next to Thally’s shopping bags. Mr Orville tried to encourage her to come down, but she kept insisting she was fine and enjoying the view from above.
Soon after, Roseanne and Natasha proceeded to look for seashells.
The teacher approached them. “You’re gonna have a hard time finding any shells among these pebbles,” he said.
Roseanne suddenly stood up and carefully trod on the water stream. She extended a closed hand to Mr Orville and placed something in his palm.
“Sometimes pebbles are more than enough,” she said. A warm smile appeared on her face.
The student removed her hand, and Mr Orville saw a small, shiny porphyry. It wasn’t, however, a dull-looking, sidewalk-type of stone. The pebble was very smooth in touch and its red colour intensely vibrant, nearly marble-like.
“Thank you, Roseanne.” The teacher nodded. “I know nothing about geology, but this piece of rock is beautiful.”
“It’s from me to you,” she said. “Thank you for showing me this place.”
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