to do the unthinkable, and in the early 21st century, some examples of the human drive to flee from hardship are to be found in the endless South to North migration of the oppressed, both in the New and Old Worlds. In August 2004, a newspaper report filed by Joaquín Asención of the El Vocero newspaper highlighted the harrowing, nightmarish experience of nearly forty castaways who had chanced the caprice of the ocean waves for a better chance at a life in neighboring Puerto Rico. A total of eighty-two “boat people” – men, women and children - departed in a rickety boat from the Dominican Republic for what should have been a very short crossing of the unpredictable Mona Passage to a secret landing site somewhere in westernPuerto Rico.

But the ocean had a cruel fate in store for the refugees: their precariously outfitted craft, improperly stocked with food and water, was swept out into the Atlantic for a twelve-day odyssey that not even the bravest Hollywood director would try to capture on film. Hunger and thirst raged among the passengers, causing many to jump into the sea to drink in as much salt water as possible before dying; some survivors later reported acts of cannibalism had taken place in the drifting vessel, but the most astonishing – and terrifying- event was yet in store.

One survivor told the journalist reporting the story that while the refugees fought for survival among the wind, waves and merciless sun, a "monster" with vast wings appeared before them. Overcome by