When I arrived in Croatia, I first stopped at the capital city Zagreb to get an orientation from my predecessor colleague Anand whom I was going to replace. My destination was the city named Rijeka (pronounced ‘Riyeka’).

Zagreb is located at the center of the country while Rijeka is about 100 miles southwest of the capital near the northernmost region of Adriatic Sea. I was invited by the mayor of Rijeka for some discussion. My Assignment was under the auspices of U.S. Agency for International Development, known as USAID.

At the first visit, I was mesmerized and awe-struck by the decoration of the city hall and its Austro-Hungarian architecture.

“Mr. Neal, thank you for coming to our city. Please allow me to introduce you to Antonya and Emilia, who will help and work with you during your stay in our city,” the city mayor told me in our first meeting.

The timing of my assignment was perfect; it was late summer at the juncture of fall. The weather was delightfully pleasant.

As the scope of my work was not clearly defined, I had lots of leeways to structure my time. I found out that local residents flock to the Adriatic shore in the late afternoon to enjoy the fall weather.

I asked the two helpers, “In addition to your routine job, do you have any extracurricular activities such as sports in which you regularly participate?”
The two girls looked at each other; they almost simultaneously chimed in, “We enjoy swimming.”
“Do you swim regularly every day?” was my next question.
“Yes, we do.”
“Where do you swim?”
“In the Adriatic.”

Before proceeding further, a short of the Adriatic Sea is in order:
Croatian writer Predrag Matvejevic wrote: “The Atlantic and the Pacific are the seas of distance, the Mediterranean a sea of propinquity, the Adriatic a sea of intimacy.”

Adriatic gives a wonderfully thrilling feeling. There is a sprawling residential neighborhood which grew up over many years. Water is amazingly blue and crystal clear; swimmers may find it difficult to resist the temptation of jumping into and swimming. Residents and visitors flock to the shore to view the spectacular sunset.

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Rijeka is located on the east coast of the northernmost region of Adriatic Sea.

“It is a big sea. Which specific location?” I asked Antonya and Emilia.
“It is fairly close to the residential community where we live. Many residents spend their afternoons and evenings to enjoy the calm weather. Many parents attend the events to encourage their children.
“Aren’t there high currents and waves?”
“Yes, we are used to it.”
“Is it safe from intruding sea animals such as sharks?”
“There is a built-up protected area so that intruding sea-animals cannot get in. Moreover, the coastguards, Ivan and Jakov, are very vigilant and prompt in any situation.”
“What if coast guards are not able to stop the intruders?”
“Well, it hasn’t happened in our memory. So we feel fairly secure.”

After about a week, Entonia excused herself and left to mind her family issues.

Emilia continued her pastime hobby for the rest of the summer. Still three more summer-weeks remained. She was determined to complete the full course. She was enjoying her swim. Occasionally her parents used to watch swimming competition events and at the same time encourage her.

High tides and low tides are daily routines with certainty and accuracy. But people sometimes forget nature’s schedule. Emilia was not an exception. So were not most of the attendees. One day at the juncture of a hide tide and a low tide, water started gushing out of the channel towards the sea.

As ill luck would have it, a baby shark, possibly got separated from its mother, stealthily swam against tide towards the swimming arena. The coast guards did not notice the sea animal for quite some time. All of a sudden there was a loud cry. The shark bit off a chunk of flesh from Emilia’s leg. With excruciating pain, she fainted and started sinking. Hearing the cry, Petar and Jakov jumped into the water to rescue her. They pulled her from the water and applied CPR treatment. She was not breathing during the rescue operation. However, Petar and Jakov were able to revive her.

The onlookers, which included Emilia’s parents on the bank of the channel, jumped off of their chairs, and started screaming saying: “Save her, pull her off water and resuscitate.” A sense of panic spread like a wild fire.

Petar, the coastguard, jumped from his chair and ran as fast as he could. He did not spare any efforts to revive her from unconsciousness. He continued to take special care of her. He continued to give her company while she was recovering in her house. He visited her every day and helped her parents for whatever and whenever needed. Petar and Emilia were long-time friends from their high school days. They had developed a special liking for each other.

Even after all the treatment and care, Emilia was getting weaker and weaker; all the efforts to cure her proved to be of no avail. Finally she was on her eternal journey.

Petar was devastated. He joined a religious organization to find solace. But after trying several similar organizations, he was not able to find peace of mind anywhere.

After about a month, not finding any solace, Petar left the religious place. He could not find any peace of mind there also.

He started wandering here and there aimlessly. His family, friends, and acquaintances tried to find him.

He was nowhere to be found.

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