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Hameldaeme.
It was a word that he hadn’t thought he would ever associate with himself. Not because he did not want such a place, but because he had never sought one. There had been no real time in the never-ending whirlwind that was formula one. When you were always jumping from one race to the next, there was never time to truly get to know a place to see if it could be more.
To see if it could truly be a place, and with a community, he could once call home.
Yet, months after retirement had finally called, Sebastian had found himself wanted something. Something more than he currently had. For all his apartment was comfortable and full of memories, he still felt that something was missing. Something he could not explain.
It was a place. It was his place. But it was not a home.
And so, he had begun to search, to research designations that he had always been interested in visiting. Places that he had heard of but had never had the time or even the energy to go to before. Places that weren’t just beautiful, but also had a deeper meaning. It was during his investigations that he found it. A random article from some British journalist that popped up on his phone one night without any seemingly real meaning, ‘Scottish Island wins prize for bee conservation project’.
It had intrigued him. Nature, particularly bees and environmental sustainability were things he had always been interested in, and as he had grown up and woken up to the damage humanity was causing to the world around them, he had wanted to find someway of making a difference himself. Even if just something small. Before he thought about it, he was clicking on the article and reading. The contents were intriguing, and an urge built within him. To visit this isle and see the work they were doing for himself.
The isle in question, he found, was known as Mull. A substantial island located on the west coast of Scotland. Deciding to go to the Isle of Mull in Scotland wasn’t something Sebastian had ever even considered when he retired. After all, why would he. He was a former multiple world champion who had been all over the world. Visiting this small island in Western Scotland that most people had probably never heard off made no sense. But as he had read the article and heard of the array of wildlife and the local’s passion and dedication to preserving it, he was drawn like a moth to a flame, to a community that seemed at their surface to share his same core values.
Preservation and protection of wildlife and the lands around them.
And so, his decision had been made, and 4 weeks to the day later, as summer began to turn into autumn, he had boarded the ferry at Oban and set sail for the famed island itself. For once the weather was surprising calm and as he watched the island come closer, Duart Castle and the mountains beyond almost glistening in the sunlight, he felt something he hadn’t expected. And when he landed, this feeling, this sensation he had not felt before came upon him. A sense, that no words could ever explain, and somehow Sebastian just knew. This island would come to change him. Somehow, in some way, he would not return the same.
A short time later the ferry arrived and as he drove off and turned left, away from the main town of Tobermory, he couldn’t help but smile as after less than a few hundred yards, the road became a single track with passing places. The island felt like an adventure already.
Arriving on the shores of Lochdon and the self-catering accommodation he had booked for a whole month, he was pleased to find the front of the property looked out straight across the beautiful loch. He couldn’t wait to explore with his camera later.
The following afternoon he was exploring around the loch and taking some photos when he heard the voice, “Give a hand and pull on the rope would you, this thing won’t moor itself in these conditions.”
At first Seb ignored the voice as he walked by, aiming his camera at the scene before him and assuming that the voice was not talking to him. A loud clearly deliberate cough came next, and Seb turned in the opposite direction and looked behind him confused.
“Over here idiot.”
Spinning around, he was met with a pair of intense blue eyes and a cool expression from a blonde-haired man trying to land a boat on the shore just down the beach from him.
“Sorry? Are you talking to me?”
“I don’t see anyone else around, do you?” The man in the boat rolled his eyes at him as Seb gapped at him like a fish.
“Stop standing there with your mouth wide open and give me a hand before this storm gets any worse.”
“What storm? There isn’t a storm it’s sunny!” Seb snapped irritated at the rude man’s attitude. He had been trying after all to get his camera set up on the correct settings so he could begin to photograph some of the amazing creatures he had seen so far as well as the gorgeous landscapes. Hopefully the Osprey he had seen only a few hours before would return, and this time, he would actually have the camera in place to be able to photograph the damn thing.
Before the other man could respond, Seb felt something hit the top of his head, and again, and then he heard the telltale sound on the conservatory roof behind him.
Drip, drip, drop.
Within seconds the heavens opened, and he felt the wind change as the rain began to hammer down, drenching him.
“You were saying?” the boat man smirked, almost seemingly amused as he watched Seb frantically shove the camera into his camera bag, cursing in every German swear word he knew as the zipper caught several times, the camera getting wetter and wetter, until finally he managed to wrestle it closed.
Fuck Sebastian wasn’t a violent man, but he just wanted to hit that expression of his face right now.
Flicking some hair of his face, he turned to go back to towards the house and dry off with a warm drink.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man’s voice came again.
“Do what?” Seb growled, spinning back round to glare at him, “Go in and get dry? That’s just what a normal person would do.”
“Maybe, but a good person would give me a hand with this.”
“WHAT! I’m a good person thank you very much.”
“Really,” the man drawled, “Well give me a hand and we’ll see hey.”
Before he had even thought about it, too busy seeing red, Seb had approached the vessel and with guidance from the other man, soon the boat was back on the shore, and safely stowed.
“Not to bad for a city dweller.”
“Thanks,” Seb answered at first, before he suddenly realised what had happened over the last few minutes. His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth furious with how the stranger before him had somehow manipulated him into his actions.
“Kimi,” the man smirked again interrupting him, “and you are?”
“Sebastian.”
“Well Sebastian,” Seb couldn’t help the shiver that went down his spine at the way Kimi spoke his name and at the feeling that shot through his fingertips as the stranger shook his hand, “Welcome to Mull. Meet me at the Craignure Inn tonight and I’ll buy you a drink for your troubles.”
With a wink and a wave, Kimi headed back towards the road, meandering down the road with what Seb now realised was a small catch of some kind in a bucket. As the man loaded his catch into a jeep parked on the corner and began to drive away, Sebastian was left on the shoreline, still not quite sure how this had even happened.
He had felt that Mull would change him, but this wasn’t what he had expected.
Still the pub was only just around the road, and he was curious. Curious about the man from the boat that had given him a feeling he thought was lost.
Hameldaeme. Home will do me.