PROLOGUE
There are times in life where the world suddenly surprises you. Or perhaps, you suddenly surprise yourself. I’m not sure which it is, but right now it really doesn’t matter to me.I’m lying on the beach, staring up at the sky. The sand is wet and solid, and trickles of small waves are licking at my toes and creeping under me. There is a beautiful man lying to my left, and I am about to call the most amazing man in the world, the one I have waited over twenty years to meet, but wasn’t sure existed.
I am not sure why they call it a mid-life crisis. I don’t know why they don’t call it “A Time of Great Revolution,” or “When the World is Full of Epiphanies,” or better yet, “When You Finally Know Who You Are, and What the f**k You are Supposed to Do.” That’s what I want to call this time in my life.
You see, at this age, we have often forgotten who we are, but recently, I remembered. I remembered so hard, and so fast, that my head is spinning. I finally know what I want out of this world, and I think I'm even starting to figure out how to get it. Sure, maybe it took a few steps in a direction that some people might call a crisis. Maybe some people would say I stole a man from my nephew, and I am sure there are those who think that I’ve lost my mind, but you see, I ended up exactly where I am supposed to be. I might have tripped into this place, or more like drunkenly stumbled, but I made it. I made it!
As I am thinking all of this, the tide is coming in harder and higher, covering parts of me and then pulling away. I should be worried, but I am loving it. I lie flat and let the water flow all around me. Perhaps I’ll get up in a minute. Maybe I’ll have to. It doesn’t matter though. As I lie here just enjoying the tide rushing in closer and closer, I suddenly hear a thud. I look to my right. A large jellyfish has just landed near me. Its legs are outstretched, one of them only two or three inches from me. I know I should be scared. I should be concerned and worried. But I’m not. Instead of screaming, I laugh, and I laugh, and I laugh, and I remember a story that someone once told me.
The gorgeous man on my left laughs as well, and we watch the tide return the jellyfish to the sea as the water almost completely covers our bodies. The jellyfish is the sort of reminder we needed, the one that tells you that once again, life has surprised you. It’s the kind of surprise that those of us who live by the water have come to expect. My name is Mark Dauphin, and this is my story.
CHAPTER ONE
