A roll of thunder woke Sammy from her hazy dreams. She was supposed to be going home tomorrow and sleep never seemed to come as easily the night before a trip. The sweat dampened sheets clung to her restless legs and she had to kick them off to get out of bed. The lightning came next, illuminating her room in otherworldly white shine. The rain pelted against the leaky window pane in waves, like she was on a ship in the middle of the sea. I might as well be, she thought as the thunder rumbled forebodingly, since her room hung precariously on stilts over Key West’s coral strewn sands. |
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Drawn to the scene of chaos that raged outside, Sammy rose and pulled back the curtains. The beach was awash in violent wind gusts and tumbling waves. Just hours ago, it had been a paradise, and she’d run along the white sand, seaweed tickling her toes. Now it was a nightmare, and she couldn’t imagine how her grandmother lived here, alone, with such a beast as the sea ready to strike.
Sammy pulled her sweatshirt up around her neck. She hoped it wasn’t an unpredicted hurricane. The plane would never take off in such weather, and she’d be forced to stay another few days. There was only so much that she could do with saltwater and sand, and her skin was way too pale for the beaming sun.
The lightning flickered again. To her horror, she saw a body lying on the beach. At first, she thought it might be a small seal, or a tiny beached dolphin. Just as the flash disappeared and the thunder growled, she saw it roll over using long arms. Hair, thick as dreadlocks, flung around with the movement, spraying sea foam into the rain.
Sammy pressed her nose to the glass until her breath fogged the pane. The beach was too dark to make out anything and she’d have to wait for the next lightning flash. Seconds went by as she questioned her senses, wondering if her overactive imagination had transformed a log into a beast. But she’d been out there only hours before and no such landmark was there. Unless, her logical brain informed her, it washed up from the storm. But a large finned predator could wash up as well.
Sammy watched open mouthed with her eyes pried open. She’d only have a second to determine what was out there. When the flash came again, it illuminated a human form writhing in the sand like a fish out of water. The thunder erupted as if the gods of the heavens beat on giant drums. For Sammy, it felt like a judgment, a fate thrown out as cruel as chaos itself.
If she didn’t go out there, then that thing on the beach would die.
Listening to see if her grandmother was still asleep, Sammy cracked open her door and tiptoed into the hall. She rummaged around in the hall closet, knocking over half used prescriptions and bottles of lotion. Her hands reached back and grabbed a flashlight.
She didn’t have the time or the common sense to put on her jeans or a decent pair shoes, and so she walked barefoot to the front door in her plaid butterfly pajamas and a hooded sweatshirt. Frantically, she searched for an umbrella in the small bucket by the door, but all she could find was an old golf club and a fly swatter. Time was ticking away, and she didn’t know how long the human-like thing could live on dry land. With a sigh, she opened the door, wind and rain slapping her in the face.
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I can’t believe I’m doing this she thought as she flung herself out into the storm. But it all made sense, ever since she was a little girl she searched for fallen birds or hurt animals by the roadside. One night she stayed up until the twilight hours of early morning to check on a hurt possum that a cat discarded near her door. She sobbed when it died the next day. |
The rain blinded her almost completely, sky and water blurring together in a wet smear. She hit the flashlight against her palm, but the light was dim, flickering in and out as the batteries ran their last leg.
She cursed as she pulled her hood over her head and tied the strings tight. The rain soaked through her clothes in minutes, and goose bumps prickled her skin. Her sweatshirt grew heavy with water and clung to her body, weighing her down.
She ran behind the house, through the gardens, and onto the beach out back, shining the flashlight where she’d last seen the writhing form.
She almost stepped on it in the darkness. Sammy looked down at an alien face, eyes black orbs with no whites and a mouth of pin shaped razor teeth. The thing hissed a warning and clicked its tongue against the roof of its oval mouth, teeth protruding.
Sammy took a step back, swaying in surprise. She shone the flashlight down the length of its iridescent body, twice her size. A slender torso with slimy, barnacle coated skin tapered off into a single fin. The tail was caught in an old fisherman’s net, small hooks digging into the vermilions scales that covered the lower half of its body.
The sea creature narrowed its black eyes and Sammy placed the flashlight on the sand, angling the faint light toward the beast. She took off her hood to look more human and held up her hands in a universal gesture of peaceful intentions. How was she supposed to help it if it thought she was the enemy?
Slowly, she inched her way closer to it and its hissing lessened into deep breathing. She could tell it was losing energy and had no fight left. And so she called its bluff. Bending down beside it, she began untangling the net. Her fingers were numb and clumsy and she wished she had a pair of scissors or a large knife. The air reeked like old shrimp scampi left in the fridge too long. She sniffed, shook her head, and went back to work.
It was hard to pull out the hooks. She’d never liked the sight of blood. And they didn’t come out easily either. She had to wiggle it back and forth until each barb was released. The first yank elicited a strange, gurgling moan that could only be a reaction to pain.
“I’m sorry,” Sammy yelled into the rain, even though she knew it couldn’t understand her, “I’m trying my best.” Scales fell off into her hands, glowing like the inside of a mollusk shell. She pulled out each hook, one by one, as gently as she could. At last, the netting loosened. She was able to pull it off with a long tug over her shoulder, leaving the sea creature naked on the slick beach.
“You’re free.” She declared, trying to make contact and look into its eyes, but the light in the orbs flickered in and out. Whether it was the pain, the dryness, or the ordeal itself, it was losing consciousness. Sammy had to drag it to the water by herself.
She took its slimy arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, hefting it up the best she could. Soft, wet gills tickled the skin on her neck. It was cold to her touch and she couldn’t tell if it was always that way, or if the creature was freezing like she was. It clicked softly under its breath, but its eyes were not looking good. One step at a time, she dragged it closer and closer to the waves as the storm raged around her, howling in her ears.
The first wave hit her feet before receding back into the depths of the sea.
“Just a little further.” She directed her voice toward the hole in the side of its head that could only be a semblance of an ear.
Soon, she was up to her waist, cradling the creature until it could float on its own. She wondered just how long she could stand out there in the storm, sea water rising dangerously. She was being pulled out with the current and the waves rose up to her neck. She tried to hop at the same time as each one hit to keep head above water.
“Please, try.” She pleaded.
The water rejuvenated it, and, to her great satisfaction, the tale fin started moving. Next the arms undulated with current, and the creature began to swim.
Just as Sammy was about to let go, the creature stuck it head out of the waves, dreadlocks dripping, and made a strange cooing sound. Sammy looked up to see an enormous wave, as tall as her grandmother’s house coming toward her.
“Oh no, oh no,” she flounced her arms in the water, trying to out swim it. Her swimming skills included her family’s above ground pool and beginner snorkeling, but any wave riding or surfing was beyond her abilities.
There was a moment of silence, a rush of wind, and then the wave hit, throwing tons of water on her. She felt like she was slapped in the face, and the wind was knocked right out of her lungs. As the water churned, sea foam bubbling, she couldn’t tell what was up from down. Water rushed in her mouth and she squeezed her eyes shut thinking that she was going to die. At least the sea creature made it. Just then, slender hands held her tightly and she was lifted out of the waves. Spewing the sea water out of her mouth, she gasped for air. She realized that she was being hoisted up, because she wasn’t treading water, and she didn’t know how to float. The creature was beneath her, a shadowy presence, a guardian angel in disguise. |
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Sammy realized that it was pulling her across the water, to the neighbor’s boating dock. She looked over her shoulder and saw more waves coming, but the creature swam swiftly against the current and soon the pillars of the dock loomed over her. She grabbed hold and pulled herself up, hacking up wet coughs and climbing onto the wood. Once she was clear of the water, she lay on her back, breathing deeply and trying to make sense out of the turbulent night.
When she was able to stand, she looked into the waves, searching for the creature. There was nothing beyond blackness and endless water. The tide was going out, taking all it could with it, and the creature was long gone.
Sammy made her way back to the beach house. As she took off her drenched clothes, she turned on the light in the bathroom. Something fell into the sink, glimmering in the fluorescent light. Sammy looked down, had she lost a fingernail in the ordeal?
But it wasn’t from her body. Her hands were still covered in iridescent scales.