Old text message found

All levels

No, not in the backup memory of your mobile phone or a hidden folder in your Hotmail. People have always needed to communicate, even with strangers, or preferably with them. Not so long ago, one of the few ways we had to send messages to the outer world was writing a text on a piece of paper and placing it in a bottle that was then thrown into the sea. Hopefully someone on the other side of the ocean would find the bottle and respond to our claim, whether it was about survival, friendship, love or the results of the lottery.
But, apparently, this was simply an impossible thing to happen that belonged only to literature and castaway films. Maybe the occasional teenager did send a bottle or two when they were bored or lost in their thoughts about life and the universe, but that was all.
 Well, almost, because exactly that is what has just happened. Read here about the amazing find that took place on a remote beach in the Baltic Sea: a message in a bottle that waited 24 years to be found, and that was found.
 

Waiting for the message. Photo by E. G.

And for some background inspiration, maybe the following sounds familiar:

Message in a Bottle
(The Police)

Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh
Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh

Refrain

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life but
Love can break your heart

Refrain

Walked out this morning, don't believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone in being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home 

Refrain