One day soon after she’d first arrived in America, she was down at the dock and had met a famous artist named Allesandro. He was waiting to board a ship back to Italy. The man had traveled to America in search of some inspiration for his next masterpiece.
As he sat at the dock he felt discouraged thinking that his long journey had been in vain. But then he spotted the young Isabel selling beautiful necklaces made of seashells.
In a loud voice that startled the young woman he exclaimed, “Alas, I've found you! You must come with me!”
He told Isabel that he would pay for her ticket to Italy and that she would be the subject of his greatest masterpiece rivaling even the Mona Lisa! He said he would capture her beauty in such a striking painting that it would be coveted all over the world and would make her rich and famous!
Although Allesandro’s offer was very enticing to young Isabel, who at the time was only 20 years old, she thought about how her parents had given her their life's savings after many years of sweat and toil to send their only child to America and a better life. She wasn't about to throw all of that away on a gamble. But she regretted declining his offer for many years.
In her dream she saw herself aboard a ship approaching the port of a City known as Melita off the coast of Crete. From the deck she noticed that a passing vessel was being tossed about by a wind of hurricane force, although from where she was there was only a slight wind blowing gently.
She then saw the crew of the distressed ship throwing their cargo overboard as they were pounded violently by what appeared to be their own personal storm affecting only their vessel. They were forced to throw even their ships tackle overboard.
As the Sun began to set the sky was clear and the stars were many. But it was pitch black dark over that other vessel. The Captain of the ship the old woman was on ordered the crew to drop anchor to avoid being pulled into the storm with the other ship and a span of what appeared to be 14 days passed.
All of a sudden as the old woman and those traveling with her watched, the crew of the distressed ship cast off their anchors, unfastened their lines of rudders and hoisting their foresail into the wind they made for the beach, striking a sandbar and running the ship aground. The pounding of the waves had caused their ship's stern to break up and the crew began to swim for their lives.
Those who apparently couldn't swim floated on planks and other debris from the ship until they were all safely on the beach. Immediately the storm ceased and the ocean was calm. The old woman, and those aboard the ship with her, also debarked at the port of Melita off the coast of Crete.
They had seen the crew of the distressed ship discard all of their food and equipment into the sea, so they offered them of their rations. They then proceeded to build a fire large enough so that the distressed crew numbering 276 could warm themselves.
One of the distressed crew a distinguished man named Paul helped to build the fire, at which time a venomous snake escaping from the fire fastened itself onto his hand. To all of their surprise Paul simply shook off the snake and seemed to feel no harm.
Throughout the night as all sat around the fire many murmured against the man Paul, saying that he must be a bad person whom though he had escaped the sea, vengeance would not allow to live. But after a long time had passed, and he neither fell down dead nor had swollen up as they expected, they changed their minds about the man Paul and called him a Son of the Power.
Upon hearing about the man Paul, many on the Island who were sick or had diseases came down to the fire and asked Paul to pray and touch them, and as many as he touched were healed immediately.
All of a sudden in her dream the man Paul emerged out of the crowd, walked over to the old woman and touched her shoulder. Instantly she woke up. She reached instinctively for the rubbing salve that she used to soothe the rheumatoid arthritis that had plagued her for many years now. However, as if by some miracle she noticed that her body was not stiff and achy as it usually was every morning. In fact she felt as good as she had when she was a young girl.
“Strange”, she thought to herself. “I guess all the rubbing salve I have used over the years has finally paid off!”
She jumped up showered and got dressed much more quickly today. The old lady had a new spring in her step as she made her way down to the dock. It would be the first time that she would arrive early enough to witness the amazing amber sun rising over the Santa Cruz Harbor.
However, when she reached the dock she found something else just as amazing if not more so. The old woman saw as it were, a vast sea of men standing on the dock. The men were in a trance like state, staring out into the distance with their heads tilted identically as if they were all viewing the same thing. As far as she could see there was nothing out there.
The old woman then noticed one man who was not entranced moving through the rows of men, every now and then touching a man. She felt compelled to call out to him but the eerie quiet made it inappropriate. So instead, the old woman slowly made her way over to the man all the while awestruck by the scene.
“What are they looking at?” she asked.
“They're not looking at anything,” the man replied. “They're listening to the Song of the Siren.”
“But that's just a myth”, the old woman exclaimed.
“Only to women”, he said.
“Who are all these men?” the old woman asked.
“These are the souls who were spared by the Great One when they were lured out to sea by the Siren and their vessels crashed against the rocks. Unlike the legions of men before them, these escaped with their lives. But they are still captivated by the enchanting chords and intoxicating melody of her song. They can only hear the Song for 5 minutes at sunrise, so every morning they make their way out here,” he explained.
“But I don't hear anything,” the woman said.
“Only men can hear the Siren's Song.”
“So why are you not affected by her song?” Can you not hear her?” The woman asked him.
“Of course I can hear her. I can hear all things. But I am not a man, I am a Watcher, sent every morning from the Great One to remind these that the Song of the Siren is unto death and not for love.”
“Who is this Great One you speak of “, the woman asked?
“You've known The Great One for many years fair maiden, and ask you now who is He?” the man replied and seemingly into thin air he disappeared. The old woman was confused.
“I've never met any Great One”, she said to herself. Suddenly the men began to disperse, each man hurrying this way and that. And soon the old woman was all alone on the dock wondering if it had all been just a dream. As she savored the smell of the ocean she could almost taste the salt from the water and the cool breeze felt nice against her face.
“This has been some kind of morning”, she thought as she stared out into the distance, watching for ships from whither they would come hence and back out again.
The old woman walked up to her favorite place at the edge of the dock and noticed a bottle floating. It appeared to have a message of some sort inside, so she reached down and lifted it from the water.
The old woman pulled out the cork and indeed there was a letter inside. It was tied with a scarlet ribbon and had a little gold trinket of some kind attached to it. The old woman removed the ribbon and put it in her pocket. She then unrolled the letter, and sat down to read it.