Julius Chance
Bird
The car was already waiting for him. Antony jumped in: “To the St. Francis Yacht Club.” The taxi driver looked over his shoulder at the passenger with interest. “A university friend invited me to take a ride to Alaska.” Boasted Antony “On your own yacht?” the taxi almost jumped on his butt of curiosity. “Sort of,” Antony said. “Great! I wish I had such a friend!” taxi-driver exclaimed. Antony left his remark unanswered. The driver's chatter has annoyed him and distracted from pondering why Victor would suddenly has remembered him after twenty years.
The caretaker was already waiting for Antony at the entrance to the club. To the right of the harbor the famous Alcatraz prison island was in clear view, to the left was the equally famous Golden Gate Bridge. It was apparent from the yachts moored that this club was an elite one. The caretaker escorted Antony to pier seven. Victor’s motor yacht with the unusual name ‘The Trackless Hero’ was impressive. Sixty feet long, with a closed wheelhouse, freshly painted in blue and white, it was one of the best yachts in the harbor. Feeling a mixture of envy and pride for his friend, Antony ran up the ramp.
A sunburned Victor was pacing the deck forth and back giving instructions to someone in the control room. Antony recognized him straight away. When Victor noticed Antony, he opened his arms and took a step towards him:
“How many summers, how many winters! Looking fresh!”
“Thank you for the invitation! And you look well preserved too!”
They hugged.
As they sealed away, Alcatraz faded in the haze behind them, the orange arches of the huge bridge overhead slowly flew away, and the yacht turned into the open ocean. The sun was shining mildly. Glittering waves calmed mind down. There were only three people on the boat. The third was motorman Daniel. He was busy down in the engine room. Victor was at the control desk, checking the route by the map and navigation instruments. Antony was comfortably situated on the deck. He seemed to have been forgotten by all and liked it. Antony did not understand much about yachts and did not want to delve into them either. His brain, overloaded with the complexities of the latest project for Deutsch Bank, relaxed and refused to strain itself about the nuances of navigation.
Antony looked half-asleep at the silvery stream of water over the side and thought about life in general. About what is the crucial condition for success. At the university, Antony surpassed Victor both in academic performance and in sports. But now he was on Victor's yacht, not the other way around. His friend was able to put together a thriving company from scratch, while he, Antony, worked as a programmer for others. Antony was not envious, because he believed that the universe is arranged absolutely fairly and therefore everyone gets what deserves. He believed that many people doubt it only because they do not see the whole picture in the panorama (which is visible only to the gods). He was just trying to find some secret springs of success by comparing himself to his successful classmate. He was driven by both curiosity and self-interest. Antony tried to guess in order become wiser and more successful himself. He went through quality after quality, feature after feature, remembering his own and Victor’s actions, good and not so good. But he could not find a clue.
