SakshiDeal
If by any chance one of them gets out alive, he then would have to go to other’s mother and tell her about her son. For instance, if Alvarenga stays alive then he would head straight to Córdoba’s mother and would convey Córdoba’s apology for not being able to bid her goodbye and if Córdoba survived he would go to El Salvador to see Alvarenga’s parents and tell them about their son fate.
Survival of the Fittest
It had been more than a couple of months and Córdoba was yet to come to terms with the fact that they are lost for an indefinite time. Though he tried to put up with it, he soon began to give up. Lastly came the day when he became reluctant to eat and drink. His body too began to give in to the difficult situation they were in. He already had gotten sick by consuming turtles and raw seabirds and now he had literally stopped putting anything in his mouth to eat. Though Alvarenga tried a lot making Córdoba eat something he would tightly close his mouth.
Bidding Goodbye
Things took the worst turn for Alvarenga when he heard Córdoba murmuring “I am dying, I am dying, I am almost gone.” He tried to comfort him and adviced him to get some sleep. After that, he tried to get Córdoba some water but he could not take that in. It seemed something really horrible was around the corner. In no time Córdoba’s body tightened up. Alvarenga knew what it could be, he began to cry and plead his friend to not to leave him. He cried “What am I going to do here alone,” with tears dripping down his eyes. But nothing worked and eventually, Córdoba bid his goodbye to him. It was too painful for Alvarenga to accept it that is why he began to pretend as if everything was fine and his accompanier was still alive. The next day he tried to wake Córdoba and asked him how he slept? He answered his own question by saying “I slept good, and you? Have you had breakfast?”
Days To Accept
For 6 days Alvarenga treated Córdoba as an alive person. After those six days when he finally accepted that his accompanier is no longer in this world, he decided to give him the most strange funeral. He shoved Córdoba’s body into the water after undressing and washing him. Second, after his friend’s burial he fainted and when he came back to the consciousness the first thing he did was to don his gone friend’s shirt. His shirt had the pattern of skull and crossbones.
Blaming Himself!
He was terrified, hopeless, and guilty! He considered himself guilty for the death of Córdoba. Had he not brought him with himself, he would not have died so early. It was because of him he came here and now he was alive whereas Córdoba lost his life. He wanted to kill himself but his religion did not allow him to do so. So, in order to come over the grief and guilt, he started imagining his surrounding as a beautiful city full of beautiful women and delicious foods. From there on he started imagining a lot to keep himself away from dark reality. Soon the line of imagination and reality began to blur for him. How it was better to imagine than to die! He once saw a towering ship at a distance and desperately signaled towards them but that was to no avail.
Time Goes By
Every cloud has a silver lining! The sea too taught some useful lessons to Alvarenga. He learned that storms are easy to deal with and weaker as he floated further out. He calculated time by observing the waxing and waning of the moon. If we go by his calculation till now it had been 14 lunar cycles since he got lost in the sea. Which implies that he had been staying alone in the sea for about ten months now.