The Gods Laughed
Excerpt from the book “The Gods Laughed“
by Kaya Casper & Rick White
December 2002/January 2003
Monica was a strong swimmer, always had been, but the most she had ever swum at one time was a couple of hundred yards in a fresh water pool. Now she had to swim better than a quarter of a mile, perhaps 500 yards, in a rough, wave-filled sea.
She had seen the small island just before the plane hit the water, realized it was within her abilities to swim to and realized also that it might well be her only chance of survival. There had been twenty-seven people on board that small airliner, four crew and twenty-three passengers, and she didn’t know if any of the others had survived.
Monica had no idea how she had gotten out of the plane. She had realized that she was in the water and that there were at least a couple of other people who had escaped from the plane. She kicked off her shoes and got rid of her tight skirt so that she could swim freely. There were sharks in these waters, but she had seen no sign of them and hoped she was too close to shore for them to bother her. She had read somewhere that sharks liked deep water, but then there were shark attacks often reported at beaches, close in to the shore, and she didn’t really know what to believe. She conserved her strength, forcing herself not to panic at the thought of the sharks, and tried to pace herself as she swam towards the distant shoreline.
The firm ground felt wonderful under her feet as she staggered ashore. She pushed herself to go just beyond the waterline then sank to her knees. In a moment she was flat on the ground, thankful to be alive. She forced herself to roll over and lay there with her arms and legs spread out. She hoped others had made it. There had been an elderly couple with their five year old grandson in the seats just in front of her, and the horror at the thought of that small child drowning crept over her and brought tears to her eyes.
Further down the beach Paul Logan had seen the lovely young woman emerge from the water. He had made it to the island just a minute ahead of her, swept in by a powerful wave that had left him some thirty yards from where Monica landed. In college, forty years earlier, Paul had been considered a truly great swimmer and Olympic material if he had been interested. He still did a lot of swimming, but he knew that without that giant wave that had swept him up near the end of his swim, he might very well have not made it ashore.
He had seen the girl on the plane and couldn’t help but notice her. Her skin was just a shade darker than caramel, like a praline, and she was breathtakingly beautiful. Well groomed and well dressed, he though her to be about twenty-two or twenty-three, maybe five foot seven inches tall and perhaps 120 or 125 pounds. She had been wearing a tailored suit when she boarded the plane, but she had removed the jacket and he could see her full breasts pushing against the fabric of her white blouse. He smiled to himself for being an old lecher and thought that there were only two things wrong with daydreaming about her. He was white, and at sixty-two, old enough to be her grandfather. She had looked directly at him once. Her almond shaped hazel eyes were intelligent and active, showing a lively curiosity in everything around her. Her shoulder length black hair was braided and cottony. Her cheeks were smooth and her figure slim but curvaceous. She was a woman one would notice anywhere at anytime.
She continued to lie on the beach and Paul pushed himself to his feet to go see if she was alive and uninjured. He didn’t need an injured girl to take care of at the moment, no matter how attractive she was.
Paul staggered the first couple of steps but got his walk under control. He had lost his shoes in the water and the sand was hot. He stared down at her lovely body, for the first time in his life really wishing he were a lot younger than he was. He dropped to his knees in the sand beside her. He was afraid to touch her, afraid he might frighten her.
“Are you okay?” Paul quizzed.
Through nearly closed eyes Monica had seen him approaching and recognized him from the plane. He had been sitting two seats behind her, a man about sixty who was slim, nearly six foot tall and appeared in reasonably good shape for his age. He had been quiet and stayed to himself reading during the flight. His clothes were expensive and well cut and she could somehow picture him sitting and reading in the study of his mansion, wearing a smoking jacket, while his mistress tended to the house. It was just the mental picture he conjured up for her. Although he was somewhat old he didn’t look like a man who had been without a woman for very much of his life. There was just a hint of a glimmer in his eyes that said he had seen very much, and a shadow of a smile that said he had enjoyed it all.
She realized she was nearly nude from the waist down. She knew there couldn’t be much of her clothing left after that swim. She told herself she should attempt to cover herself, but the effort was just too great and she remained still, telling herself that at his age he had certainly seen a nude woman before. At last she forced herself to open her eyes fully and saw the genuine concern on his face.
“Yes, I think so.” She told him. “Are we the only ones who made it?”
“I don’t know.” Paul told her. “I saw two or three other people in the water but that was a long and tough swim. I don’t think the average swimmer could make it.”
The co-pilot of the plane, Monica remembered, had been a tall, good looking black man in his thirties. If I had to be stranded, she thought, why couldn’t it have been with him instead of this old white man? Although she had been slightly curious about Paul when she saw him on the plane, she didn’t think she wanted to spend her final days with him.
“Do you come here often?” Paul made a half-hearted joke.
Monica looked at him closely and smiled slightly. If he could joke under these circumstances he must have some backbone to him. Maybe he could help her survive.
About the Book
by Kaya Casper & Rick White
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About The Gods Laughed
What would you do if you met your perfect soul mate, the one person in the world who is everything you have ever dreamed of finding in a mate, and everything you know tells you that you can’t have that person?Paul Logan, a 62 year old white man, and Monica Sanders, a beautiful 22 year old black woman, discover they are the only survivors of a plan crash, and are forced to test their boundaries as they find more in common than they ever expected. If you believe love is a powerful force that can change lives, this story is for you. If you’ve ever been in love, ever thought you were in love, ever wanted to be in love, you must read this story.
Kaya Casper is 25 years old, the editor of an online magazine, and an often published poet and short story writer. The Gods Laughed is her first full length work, and she has brought a unique perspective to this insightful love story.
Rick White is a retired newspaper and magazine editor, and the author of hundreds of short stories and articles. Now in his sixties, he has launched a new career as a novelist and has published two historical novels in the past two years, with a third in the works.
Copyright © 2002, Kaya Casper and Rick White, reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. {jos_sb_discuss:9}