Noctiluca scintillans and other sexy protozoas

"ay que si el mar es tan azul
es de mirar tanto al cielo
ay que si el mar es tan azul
es de tanto mirar pal cielo"

It was definitely the best house in town. In fact it is located in a district named like one of ex-Yugoslavia’s republics. After a surprisingly good meal made of cuttlefish, leaves of the garden’s over present basil, apple and more secret ingredients, all served in green melon, we moved to the terrace to enjoy coffee and cigarettes.

The sun was high in a pristine blue sky, a light but refreshing breeze was blowing and we were gazing at this beautiful orange grove surrounding us. After the blue (or white, or bright purple - depending on the pair of eyes) painted orange trees, there was the marsh, silver blue naps among deep green isles. On one side this scenery continued toward the sea, on the other side, we could see, in the distance, the buildings of the city center.  It looked as if these were part of another world. From the Laranjal,  where we felt so far from any kind of urban rush, separated from it by the natural barrier of water and marsh vegetation , the city skyline would appear like an after apocalyptic vision.

It was after 2012. They had been hiding up there in the mountains, where not even the church ever entered. While the known world was crumbling, they had been awaiting better times on that peak, in between the two worlds. There, at night, under a concave sky,  it was possible to pass to the other side, where “o Mundo” was finishing. This was where they met the weirdest creatures, like the Silly people, which real name was in fact the Ceiling people, for they would always walk upside down, feet on the ceiling and heads hanging down. The mountain creatures were quite friendly and welcoming to them, but still, they were curious to know what was happening on the coast. One sunny day, they climbed the watch tower as they did everyday to notice that the waters were finally retiring. They thanked their hosts, and started to walk down hill.

Once on the coast, they realized they couldn’t go back to the deserted city, so they chose to stay in an abandoned house nearby in the middle of an orange grove. The air was pure there, and some food was still to be found. Everyday, they looked at the city in the distance, and wondered what had happened to its entire people.

The afternoon passed in the best relaxed atmosphere, as if time had stopped all around, just to let us enjoy the magic of that place. Apart from real birds and the fake peacocks, chicken and monkeys masterly imitated by the Wizard, the only external sound we could hear was the train’s. Apparently, when you hear a train, it means that the weather is going to refresh. But in that heat, one couldn’t care less. The Sociologist was appearing from time to time when making a break from his studies, changing our hocus pocus ping pong into something that sounded like a normal conversation. As soon as he left though, we were left to our ravings until the Wizard asked the strangest question to the Flower Lady.

« Have you ever seen a glowing sea? » As if he knew beforehand the answer would be yes.

She had been spending some time overseas on the Caribbean coast, and the day before her departure back to Europe, the sea wore, as if to say goodbye, the shiniest of its attire.

They lived quite well considering the general situation, but as the days passed they started to wish for a sign, something that would give them an indication, needing to know whether there was still hope to see other people, or not. Apart from them, no trace of a human. They thought that most people could have drowned when the wave arrived, and thus were rather scared to investigate in the city center.

 The only thing that broke their routine at some point is that a message appeared one day in one of the old huge wells where they could take fresh water . It was handwritten at mid- height of the well. They couldn't understand how it got there since they hadn’t seen anyone and it was anyway impossible to get that deep in the well without risking falling down.

The message said: “Look for the glowing sea”

I was not acquainted with the glowing sea phenomenon, and asked for explanation. The Flower Lady spoke about glowing particles illuminating the sea, just like the dress of my first Barbie. (This happened to be a Barbie whose fancy pink dress was covered with tiny phosphorescent stars which would shine at night after being exposed to light. So I tried to imagine a whole sea glittering like that doll of mine. The image seemed quite cool to me!) In fact this particular shine, as explained by the Wizard, was made by the occasional presence in the sea of a marine protozoa called Noctiluca Scintillans , a.k.a Sea Sparkle, Sea ghost or Fire of sea.  From the Sea ghost we logically passed to  graveyards will-o-wisps ( I have no idea if it was because what causes the bioluminescent characteristic of the protozoa is produced by a luciferin-luciferase system) and some kind of bizarre syllogism lead us to deduct that the protozoas could be in fact souls of drowned people. Do I have to mention the reference to the famous song of  Prince which was originally called “You sexy protozoa” ? That afternoon, our thoughts were as fizzy as  noctilucas and as sparkling as cheating stars.

Perplex, they thought long over the sentence that had appeared in the well, until one of them remembered an ancient prophecy that used to be told by an African woman: “The sea, she’d say, tired by the inefficiency of humans in their effort to repair what previous generations had messed up with their so-called progress, would one day resolve things its own way. Simply wash it all and retake what belonged to her. The waters would rise and retire, taking the humans with her in its depths. Humans would be forever part of her, as their remaining souls would illuminate the shore one night a year to commemorate their short presence on earth. There was only one way to counter the terrible destiny: three humans  acquainted with both worlds had to bath in the sea the night it was lit by human souls.”

They understood the prophecy had come true. They were three, and they had dared to cross the border of Mu (o Mundo) while waiting in the mountains.

And so another waiting started. They had no idea which night the sea could devolve the human souls, so they had to spend every night on the beach.

Many days succeeded, the sea was moody, dancing a wild tango with the wind until indecent hours. Except for the whirling white foam of the waves, it was darker then ever. With every passing night watch, they were less confident. If it was not for the serenity of the Laranjal, they would have given up and left.

They would not talk about their distress, never, but it was as if they could read in each other’s minds anyway.

One day, the heat was unbearable. The temperature had increased dramatically, so even the orange grove was feeling like hell. They spent most of the day in, sleeping or daydreaming with closed jalousies to be protected from the heat. The sunset came and they didn’t notice it. They came out of their strange half-sleep when the night was already advanced and felt bad; what if they had missed the glow? They hardly dressed anything and ran as one to the shore.

They saw it already from the road, it looked as if someone had set thousands of floating candles in the sea.

They came closer and just stared at that amazing beauty. The surface was remarkably still, only the glitter would move subtly with the very light swell.

Warm was the air and so was the water, everything was calling them in. Three human shades were silhouetted holding  each other’s hands  and slowly entering the brilliance. 

When the sun rose the next day thousands of people woke up on the beach.  As if nothing has happened, they started to walk in little groups toward the city. Only time will tell if they learned anything from their experience. One expression stayed though, in the local flirting jargon : "you sexy protozoa, you have such a wonderful casing!"

The Wizzard, the Flower Lady and Farolita still meet from time to time in the Laranjal. What happened before and during the night of the Noctilucas disappeared from their memory. So they just keep blabbering stories about protozoas on lazy summer afternoons and ... wish to see the sea glowing again.