SILENT WATER

Chapter 1: Uriel

I stretched as I felt the warm sun against my skin. I love how the sun makes me think. I rolled over and dived underneath the water as I felt the vibrations of a human object coming closer. I swim into the coral, staring up at the large shadow of the fish swimming by. They were always so fascinating to me. I just wrapped my head around why the sea life craft warned me about them. I've only got a good glimpse once and they didn't have tails or fins. Not even any exotic colors. They always seem to walk around on two little sticks. I watched as something fell into the water and caught a bunch of fish. I looked around, trying to find an opportunity to swim away. I watched the small fish start swimming towards me as the humming started again. I swam as fast as I could into the kelp forest.

I went as close to the bottom as I could so I could hide. I swear I'm around for a little bit longer until the humming grew louder and went away. The shadow passed me off the object before disappearing in the distance. When it went away, I started looking for food and found a prickly little guy. I was small and black and there were a lot of them. I tried to pick one up, but it was too spiky to crack on the rocks without getting poked. I moved my hair out of my face as I continued, looking for something to eat. My stomach was growling, and there was barely anything. I found another little creature with a big head and lots of little legs. I picked it up and its legs curled around my arm as I poked at it. Suddenly, when I popped it, it let go and black stuff clouded my vision.

I quickly swim away, wiping my face with my arm. In my franticness, I got tangled in the kelp. I rolled my eyes as I tried to untangle myself only getting myself into a bigger mess. I stared up at the sun, beaming down into the water. I waited like that for hours once in a while, trying to get myself loose, but nothing worked. My stomach was killing me as I looked around for anything I could grab and eat. I turned my head, and I was face-to-face with some bright green eyes. I jumped back, getting myself even more tangled. "Oh, you poor thing." She said getting closer to me. Her bright red curly hair flowed in the water as she swam closer to me. She had a stunning red tail with beautiful fans. She reached her hand out towards me as I said. "Get your hands away from me, what are you doing?" She rolled her eyes as I tried to hit her with my tail, but she just glared at me. "Hold still," she said as she started untangling me from the seaweed. "Why are you helping me?" I mumbled as she looked up from what she was doing. "Because if I don't, the humans will get you." She said, as I tried to figure out what she was talking about.

"What are humans?" I asked as she let out a chuckle and untangled me. "The creatures walking around on two legs. The ones that drive the large boat. I'm surprised you don't know about them. Have you ever encountered one?" She said, as I tilted my head to one side and stared blankly at her. "No, I haven't." I mumbled.

"You're pretty young. I'm surprised you're not still with your own school."

"Oh... my family... I don't remember them very well."

"You don't interact with your own species. No one teaches you anything. How are you still surviving out here? Do you know how long you've been out here by yourself?" She said her voice edged with concern. "I really don't and I have to find something to eat. I apologize." I said as I swam into the open ocean. I found a fish agent that wasn't feeling so good and there weren't that many around. I swam around and I couldn't find anything. Out of nowhere a storm came in after a whole day swimming around in my eyes, we're starting to get drowsy. I pushed myself as far as I could go eventually, I just fell asleep.

I woke up on the surface of the water, rain pouring down on my skin as I dived underneath the water through the waves catching me and dragged into the current. I swam as hard as I could, but my body was so exhausted and still not all the way awake from my sleep. I looked around for anything, but nothing was in sight besides the blue water. I kept trying my heart racing, but I got swept into the current. I felt dizzy as I couldn't figure out where I was. I couldn't tell if I was right side up or not. The storm went away and the current dropped me off somewhere that I have never been. I swim around exhausted and wanting to sleep. There was something so unsettling about not knowing where you were and staring down into the dark a bit underneath you not knowing what could come out of it frightened me. I swam up to the surface and looked around.