September 29, 2019
All my life, I have been enamored by the movie Jaws. I watched it as a child and into adulthood. Last year, on a trip to Cuba, I wrote a story about the town of Amity after the shark attacks. I hope to be okay with using the characters created by Peter Benchley. Still, I have expounded on their lives with new characters related to them. I enjoyed writing this story so much that I typed it on my notepad on my iPhone nonstop for days in Havana, Cuba. I would hate for this story to rot on my hard drive, so I decided this would be a series for my blog and thousands of readers. This is just the first one. So, here it is, my story, Amity, based on the novel Jaws.
Beneath the ocean's surface lies an artifact that tells the story of the most incredible shark tale that ever terrorized the sea. The story is true and is greater than the fiction of Moby Dick and more tragic than the Old Man and the Sea. Forty-five years ago, the fishing vessel Orca was sunk by the largest great white shark ever seen.
"25 (footer) with 3 tons on him." Captain Quint said.
The Great White instilled fear, like the boogieman, into the minds of the people who lived on the tiny island of Amity. Amity is an island off of Long Island, New York. Mayor Larry Vaughn feared that the death caused by the enormous shark of 10-year-old Alex Kintner would stop the tourism industry in its tracks right before the big Memorial Day holiday.
"I'm only trying to say that Amity is a summer town. We need summer dollars." – Mayor Vaughn.
So after the death of Alex Kitner and heeding the advice from the Chief of Police, Martin Brody, and his expert from the Oceanographic Institute, Matt Hooper, he got the town council to accept Captain Quinn's bounty demand of $10,000.00.
"For that, you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing." – Captain Quint.
The town council wasn't fond of Quint, but they knew his reputation as a hater of sharks that mercilessly tracked them down and killed them. They would charter Captain Quint's 42-foot fishing vessel, the Orca, and, with the help of the town police Chief Brody and Matt Hooper, would catch this man-eating beast.
"Well, it's my party, my charter." – Chief Brody.
For 3 days, Captain Quint, Chief Brody, and Mr. Hooper went hunting this shark. The great white was elusive, and hope for the 3 was dwindling that they would ever find the shark that had been feeding on the tourists. Only after Chief Brody resumed his chumming duties, he saw the shark. The fear in his eyes was chilling. He knew they were overmatched!
"You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Chief Brody.
In the beginning, Matt Hooper and Captain Quint were excited. One is a lover of sharks, and the other is filled with hate. Soon, the excitement of discovering the shark would end because they would realize that this was no average shark. The shark plucked them off the boat one by one like a cunning hunter. The first person off the boat was Matt Hooper. He chose to go in the water while in the safety of his shark cage in an attempt to stab the shark with poison. But he was able to escape before certain death.
"YOU GOT ANY BETTER SUGGESTIONS?" – Matt Hooper
The only one to die on the Orca was Captain Quint, a man who ironically survived the torpedoing of his Navy ship, the USS Indianapolis.
"So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 25, 1945… I'll never put on a life jacket again."
Chief Brody was the last remaining soul of the ill-fated boat. He took refuge inside the cabin, watching the water rushing through the destroyed transom, waiting for the boat to be submerged. But the shark was more intelligent. The shark launched its massive body into the port side of the boat. The weight crushed the wood frame, smashing the port side windows and sliding towards Chief Brody. The shark's eyes were black and focused on its next kill. Chief Brody reached for the compressed air tanks that Matt Hooper brought aboard. He grabbed the large cylinder and shoved it in his mouth, which made the shark back off.
Chief Brody never faced a foe as ruthless as this shark. Not even back in his NYPD days as a police officer. Chief Brody donned a rifle and then climbed the crow's nest of the Orca that jettisoned towards the sky. His weight bowing it down into the dark sea. Chief refused to be part of the tales of the souls that disappeared into the ocean.
He took aim at the shark. The dorsal fin acting as a guide:
BANG! – miss
Come on, come on, Chief said
BANG! – miss
Come on, let me see the tank, let me see it- Chief Brody muttered.
"SMILE YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
BANG!- hit!
The great white shark exploded!
It has yet to be discovered where the Orca rests on the ocean floor. Time and currents have covered most of her and moved the debris around. But there is a strong magnetism in a spot where parts of the boat were discovered years ago. The latitude and longitude were kept secret for decades. It was only after there was a discovery of an uptick of sharks in the area that piqued the interest of shark enthusiasts. Which is unusual for the area since sharks don't migrate there. A strange magnetic field covered the navigational systems and GPS when the tourist boats went there, creating chaotic readings. Eventually, residents of the island stopped making day trips to the area. Locals wanted the search for the boat to cease due to how the boat sank and fear of all the sharks coming to that part of the sea, which would cause their summertime dollars to recede. Amity's true bread and butter.
During a winter council meeting, it was determined that the practice of shuttling gawkers and divers would stop by the following summer of 1984. They could all agree that the best place for the boat and all its remains was to leave it all under the sea. And all its secrets rest in peace.
But, as the town council might have tried to suppress the gossip, word had come out that sharks worldwide were migrating to the site. Most divers have used the uptick of sharks' presence in the area to indicate where the Orca rests. Still, since the presence of sharks has increased and many sharks have become aggressive, most divers have yet to go in the water to explore the Orca any longer. They mostly dive 30 miles to the south around another ship that was sunk to be used as an artificial reef.
Locals, especially the town council, likened this type of talk, that sharks from around the globe were holding a vigil to the king of all sharks as a martyr who was killed by humans, only a fantasy-like Mermaids, the Kraken, and Davy Jones Locker. A tale of the sea from sailors who sailed for months on end.
The town council and the residents would rather keep the past in the museum they erected to honor those who died so many years ago in that summer of 1975 and wish that most people would move on.
Unfortunately, the town's wish was about to end, and they would be thrust into the forefront again.
PART II SOON
1,289 words
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