Waves of Emotion

In the old sea village of Montauk there is humble pier that resides on the beach that allows a resident to gaze into the never-ending ocean. An old town lore says that if you look out long enough on that pier, in the early hours of the morning you can see the moon, sun and stars all at the same time.

But alas, the aged pier is decaying and crumbling into the sea. If one didn’t know any better, you would think the pier is trying to join the old lost city of Atlantis at the bottom of the ocean. Splinter by splinter, pieces of wood would fall into the waves, leaving the pier slightly lighter than it was before.

One of Amelia’s earliest memories is on this pier. She was flinging seashells into the water with her abrasive older brother who, to her disdain, wouldn’t leave any shells for her.

Amelia Gray’s family has lived in Montauk for generations. The Gray family are lifelong fishermen, each generation making a living off of the sea. But alas, the life of a bay man is getting progressively more arduous and money is becoming harder to come by. The seas have been bare, leaving the family with less fish to sell.

Despite these hardships, the Gray family would always treasure Neptune’s seas. Amelia has grown up on the ocean, practically learning to fish and sail before she learning to walk.

One morning, on one of her days off, Amelia found herself stumbling around Montauk’s famous tourist attraction: the lighthouse. Both red and white, the lighthouse stood tall into the sky to aid the sailors home on those rough watered nights.

Amelia knew the light house keeper, allowing her the rare opportunity to lurk around before visiting hours which was one of her favorite pastimes. She loved seeing the light house in the early hours of the morning.

This visit, however, proved to be unique compared to all the others. As she walked up the steps of the lighthouse she noticed a little black book hidden in a crevice on the wall.

The handsome book called to her like a mermaid calling to sailors out at sea.

As Amelia grabbed it from its hiding spot she knew she needed to read it.

Without looking back Amelia left the light house with her new possession. She walked with a sense of urgency for a reason unknown to her. Perhaps her subconscious was willing her to get to a destination so she could unlock the secrets of the light house’s hidden treasure.

After what felt like an eternity, Amelia finally found herself sitting on the sand in the backyard of her family’s house. She sat cross-legged and stared intensely at the book.

It was time. Amelia slowly opened it to find page upon page of handwritten entries. This wasn’t a novel at all, this was someone’s personal journal. Who would leave such a personal item in such a public place? How has no one noticed it before?

The pages described the life of a fisherman, one who roughed his way on the waters in the 1970’s.

This man described his daily adventures on the ocean, whether good or bad. Everything seemed to be fairly typical for someone who lived in Montauk year round. Life here was simple and routine, only during the summer months did new people venture to the small island.

Those who came to the island only for the summer months are tourists. The year-round people lived an entirely different reality. They do not live on a permanent vacation.

This man wrote in scratchy handwriting about his large boating family and how they have resided in Montauk for decades.

Could this man be distantly related to her? That is a possibility, but there are so many fishing families that live on the island. Fishing is typically a family business, and all the families here compete for the market space.

Amelia scanned the journal for a name, but all she found was a last name according to the writings. The author of this journal was a part of the Hart family. The Harts were another fishing family that resides in Montauk, and one of her family’s greatest competitors.

As the beach-worn girl continued to read, she learned of a feud between the man’s family and another family from the island. The two families battled constantly about anything and everything it seemed. As Amelia turned page after page, the resentment of the author become more clear. The bitterness for the situation was undeniable.

Amelia read on, slightly uncomfortable by the hostile energy of the written word. As she continued to read, the root of the feud became clear. The author of the journal described an incident that involved a small fortune of $20,000.

The author’s storytelling was vivid and crude, but at last he named the family that has caused him and his loved ones such vexation.

The Gray family.

This revelation was like a crash. Amelia’s family was the other half of the feud. She knew her family competed daily to make profit, but to fight over $20,000 was not something that came up at family dinner. Maybe the Grays wanted to move on, maybe they wanted to forget about the whole scenario? Perhaps they chose not to tell the younger generations?

According to the entries of the journal, her family and this man’s could not agree upon the division of a profitable fishing season. Montauk Harbor is the home to a large family of marlin, (a profitable catch) and the two families collaborated for the sake of making life easier.

One family provided the boat, the other provided supplies. A typical deal made by mariners gone awry.

As the author continued with his tale his tone changed to one of hopelessness. The raging fight for the money was exhausting him. The author could see the money was not worth all the aggression. By the end the book the money landed in the hands of the owner of the journal.

This fisherman, who so honestly relayed a good sum of his life, confessed to never spending the money. In fact, the owner of the journal never relayed where the money ended up? He simply stated he didn’t want it and didn’t spend it.

Where could the feud money have gone?

As Amelia sat in the sand, a feeling of unease swallowed her whole. The urge to distance herself from the hatred discussed in the small book.

The sun was setting along the coast of the island and Montauk began to submerge into night fall. Amelia, after what seemed an eternity of reading on the sand, got up and walked towards the only light she could see: the light house.

The light was bright and seemed to direct Amelia towards it. She headed there like a moth to a flame; the light bewitching her like it did every time she saw it.

Amelia sneaked into the light house, making a mental note to tell the keeper tomorrow. She hiked step after step up the structure. The lantern cast iron details were painted, excess mortar was removed, and the walls were left naked to the bay air.

Hours went by as our heroine stayed in the light house. If the journal was here, maybe something else was too.

Room after room, crevice after crevice, Amelia found no other paraphernalia related to the journal. Dejected, Amelia lost herself in her search. She couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary, and the only room left to search was the motor room.

The light house’s mechanical motor spun in the direction of the light above. It did just what it was supposed to. Amelia saw nothing in this room either, until she noticed a small indent in structure connected to the beacon motor’s base.

She removed the loose side of the metal box and saw paper - green paper.

There was money hidden within the motor of the light house — $20,000 dollars worth.

The author of the diary, patriarch of the Hart family, hid the feud money in the base of the light house’s motor.

Now that Amelia found this money, what would she ever do with it? She did not want old rivalries coming to light again, creating another generation of distrust and greed. The future is supposed to be bright and the finding of this money would taint it.

Amelia knew there was only one course of action: to do the right thing.

Hoping that their legacies could be born a new, Amelia donated the $20,000 in the names of the Hart and Gray families to the restoration of every fishing family’s favorite item of nostalgia: the crumbling pier.

This money was a blessing, it has always been destined go back into the community. . It was not one person’s money, it was everyone’s money.

As time went on, the sacred pier that sat in the middle of the island was restored back to its original splendor. All the residents of Montauk came together for the return of their beloved landmark.

Just like the sea foam from waves that reach the shore, the hatred that docked in Montauk dissolved into the sea.