"My Home! My Nest!" #PlanetOrPlastic

"My Home! My Nest!"

Aquia sails slowly but steadily through the water, her white-tipped wings flapping gracefully in the open ocean. Suddenly, her flat head bumps into something soft and squishy.

She inspects the weird looking thing, swimming around it in circles and trying to figure out what it is. Maybe it's a coral? No, her mother says corals stick to rock, and there aren't any rocks she can see.

Maybe it's a starfish! Starfish are soft and squishy. She nudges the starfish with her blunt nose, the manta ray way of saying hello. Mr. Starfish doesn't say hello back.

Not to worry. She'll be back tomorrow to play with her new friend.

***

Aquia comes back the next day with Reeva, her stingray cousin. It seems that Mr. Starfish has brought three friends with him today!

Reeva and Aquia play a game of catch with their new friends, but for some reason they just float to the sand below, sitting and doing nothing.

Reeva tells Aquia that Mr. Starfish isn't actually a starfish, but a sea slug. That makes a lot of sense; sea slugs don't do a lot of moving.

Aquia plans to come back next time to play with Mr. Sea Slug.

***

Aquia forgets for a few weeks about Mr. Sea Slug. One day, she sees him right outside her house. This time, there are at least twenty friends with him.

Excited, Aquia hurries fast to her mother, who is confused. They both swim to where Mr. Sea Slug and friends have made themselves at home.

Ouch! One of Mr. Sea Slug's friend is as hard as a rock, and he has just scratched Aquia's fin. Aquia is brave and does not cry, but tells Mr. Hard-As-Rock not to do it again.

There is no response.

***

In over two months, more and more of Mr. Sea Slug's friends have taken over Aquia's family's home. They are forced to find another house.

Aquia is sad. She loves her blue room and does not want to leave. Her father tells her things are different now.

Aquia notices that her family isn't the only one relocating. All the neighbors have moved out, and their houses are filled to the brim with more of Mr. Sea Slug's friends.

Maybe Mr. Sea Slug isn't her friend after all.

***

Aquia is all grown up now. Each year, more of Mr. Sea Slug's friends move into the neighborhood, leaving so many nice fish homeless.

The ocean has started to feel stuffy and overcrowded. She cannot swim without bumping into something soft or hard or scratchy.

Just last year, Reeva was killed by something with a lot of holes in it. She got trapped and couldn't swim out of it. Aquia was very sad.

She regrets being friendly with Mr. Sea Slug.

***

It has been 17 years, and Aquia is old enough to know things are bad.

She longs for an ocean to swim freely.

She lets out a small tear, swimming away sadly.