DANESH was the only son of Vishnu and Seeta Ramoutar. There were three girls older than him and three younger. Everyone called him ‘Snakie’ because he liked to catch snakes and scare the girls with them. He was in Form Three but hardly attended school. Most days found him swimming in the dark mauby-coloured water of the conservancy. Everyone called this body of water `Black Tide’

Many elderly villagers tried to advise Snakie about his truant ways but he ignored them all. He loved swimming in the cold, dark water. It was as if it called to him. It seemed that he and the water had a spiritual connection. If he dreamt the water was rough then he was in for a bad day. The only time he felt happy and at peace was when he was in the water. When his parents found out they too tried to change his behaviour without success. He continued on his merry ways.

One afternoon Snakie did not come home. After it got dark his parents began to fear the worse. Next day the entire community organised themselves into search parties and scoured the land looking for the missing lad. He could not be located. After two days of searching, they gave up. The boy was declared dead after a month. Everyone returned to their normal routine. Soon the wayward kid was forgotten.

Six months after his disappearance the boy walked into the village. He looked dazed and puzzled. Many questions were hurled at him but he did not respond: not because he did not want to but because he could not remember anything for the last six months.
His family was delighted to see him. He ate heartily and then slept for 24 hours. Snakie soon developed a new habit. He would leave home early each morning and return late in the afternoon. When his parents enquired about his whereabouts he explained that he could not tell them.
“I made a promise. It’s something I cannot tell,” he said.

SILENT PURSUIT
Reluctantly they accepted his refusal to divulge but they were very curious as to where he went and what he did all day. Mr. Ramoutar decided to pay one of the youths to follow him the next day.

The following morning, Snakie set out early. Walking briskly he headed straight for the bush. Gavin followed. The lad walked into a clump of bushes and Gavin followed. Entering the same place that the boy had done he looked around to see where he was. His target had disappeared. Embarrassed, he returned to an anxious father to tell him that he had failed.

Next day he was ready. He hid close to Black Tide sure that the lad was heading there. Snakie arrived and walked swiftly past his hiding place. Gavin followed him making sure he was not detected. Sure enough, his quarry headed straight for the black water. Taking off his clothes he dived into the water.

Gavin watched smiling to himself. It looked as though Snakie was having a nice splash. He was just about to step out of hiding and join his friend for a swim when he received a nasty shock. From somewhere beneath the murky water another figure joined him. She was beautiful with long black hair. They swam and played for a while then with a flip they both dove from view. Gavin was in a state of total confusion. He waited for them to surface but they did not. With a racing heart, he sprinted back to gIve this strange news to Mr. Ramoutar.

Mr. Ramoutar and a few other villagers ran to Black Tide. They searched and searched but could not locate his son. Tired and distressed he returned to the village with his friends. He gave a heavy sigh. His family would have to mourn a second time for the same person. Later that afternoon in the midst of plans and preparation for the wake, Snakie walked in smiling.

ANSWERS
This time everyone descended on him with questions and threats. He had better start talking or else. He stubbornly continued to maintain his secrecy and this enraged his family. They became hostile and eventually gave him strict marching orders.
“Get out and don’t come back!”

Snakie promptly moved into an old abandoned building owned by his family. The villagers gave him no peace. They were determined to discover his secret one way or another. His life became very, very difficult.
Himara is a fishing village. The villagers depend on catching and selling fish for their livelihood. All along the beach and waterways were boats, nets, floats and engines. Every day they worked hard at their trade but catches were becoming smaller and smaller. They were all hoping for a change of fortunes; a day of a big catch.

From the moment they began to abuse Danesh their luck took a turn for the worse. The fishermen found nets destroyed, floats and lines missing and boats capsized. Pretty soon they began to fear going out on the water. Each trip ended in disappointment.
It was old Chetram who stumbled upon the answer. One day he decided to make the youth talk. Each time he hit Snakie he asked a question.
Ply!

“Tell me where you go every day?”
Silence.
Wax!
“Who you does meet?”
No answer.
Crack!
“How you could stay underwater so long?”
Tears but no response.
The licks did not seem to budge the boy, all he did was cry and shake his head.
“You all will never catch more fish till everyone stop beating me,” he said.

TESTING THE WATERS
Chetram was about to hit him again but this stopped him in his tracks. Could this be true? He hastened to inform the other fishermen and they agreed to test this out. For one whole week, they stopped hitting and cursing Snakie. The next time they went on a fishing trip they made a huge catch. Everyone was so excited at their change of fortune that they forgot all about the experiment.

For the next two weeks, everyone was in high spirits or had consumed a large quantity of same. Whenever they encountered Danesh they treated him as usual. Kelwan was drunk on 10 bottles of High Wine when he ran into Snakie. He immediately began to abuse the boy calling him a weirdo. The lad just smiled and ignored him.

This infuriated the drunk man and he picked up a piece of wood and dealt him some vicious lashes. Unfortunately, he hit him a severe blow to the head and the boy fell unconscious to the ground. He ended up in the hospital and stayed there for three weeks.
During that period the water became a very dangerous place to be. Two boats capsized and a man went missing. A large fish almost killed another.

He was fishing from his boat using a strong line, hook and bait. The fish took the bait and suddenly the craft was being pulled away. He tugged strongly on the line trying to arrest the movement of the fish. It was the worst thing he could do. With a tremendous jerk, the monster fish pulled him out of the boat and underwater. It was only his experience that saved his life. Quick as a flash, he released the death line and kicked for the surface. He sped to shore in record time. Boats were dragged up onto the shore, a sure sign that fishing had come to a halt in Himara.

The entire Ramoutar family went to visit Danesh. Soon they reconciled with each other. As soon as he was better they took him home. His parents told him about the bad fortunes of the village fishermen.
“I can make it better but they have to leave me alone or my friend will get angry with them,” the boy said.
“Who is your friend?”
Silence.
“Gavin’s father is dead. His boat turn over.”
Danesh looked at them and smiled.
“I’ll go see my friend maybe she can help,” he said.

He headed for Black Tide once again. This time no one followed him or bothered him. They were now a little afraid of him. That afternoon Danesh returned to the village with Gavin’s dad in tow. He would not say how or where he had found the man. As usual, the poor fellow could remember nothing since the day his boat capsized. All the dazed fisherman said was:

“We have to start treating Snakie better.”
And everyone did, even drunken Kelwan. The fishing industry in the village became very lucrative. There was never a trip that did not result in a big catch. As for Snake he still goes swimming in Black Tide.