IT WAS TRULY AMAZING, utterly fantastic, Rose found against all the odds that she could breathe under the water!
She thought at first that it was obviously some strange form of magic. But then she thought of all the science fiction films she had seen and decided that some sort of strange science might be a better explanation. Then she wondered if there was any difference between the two, magic and science. She decided on one thing—she had found the other world. And perhaps the entrance was more sophisticated than a Mobius-mirror tunnel. The problem was it was more frightening too. Anyway, there had to be a chance she might be able to find her dad. So for now, she was very happy.
Moving under the water was much more difficult than moving on the land, but after a lot of practice Rose soon got the hang of it. She could not move as freely as she usually could, but at least her movements were more varied. For instance, instead of walking around a large rock she could easily jump and dogpaddle over it. Yes, although she could not swim above the water she could certainly swim below it.
To be honest, the yellow-tinged water was much easier to move in than ordinary water, but as Rose had never moved in ordinary water before she did not realise this. Had she been able to swim and walked along the bottom of a swimming pool. It would have been obvious to her. Nevertheless, the water did affect her movements slightly. For instance, when she tried to run she found that sometimes she would take off from the seabed and launch into an impromptu swim.
This other world was indeed a strange place. There were paths crisscrossing everywhere, leading to many unknown destinations, many of which were lined with weird underwater plants. The paths were built upon a rough rocky surface.
Rose noticed the odd fish swimming to and fro between the rocks. Somehow she had not expected the bottom of the ocean to look like this. The fish always stopped and took a good look at her. They didn't look like the dead fish she saw in the supermarkets. Or the fish she saw in the Cambridge Aquarium Centre. They had very expressive eyes. They looked quite clever. She half-expected them to talk to her. But they always swam off after giving her a good look over.
Rose thought that the watery land all about her, bathed in yellow, was rather beautiful; nevertheless, she began to think of a way to get home. She wondered what her mum must be thinking right now. But she did not know which direction to take to get home. Should she go north, south, east or west? She would have to guess these directions anyway. And worse still, maybe she could go up. Or even maybe down into a distant valley she spied. She was quite good at geography in her own world. But this was not her own world. It really did seem hopeless.
She tried to swim up to the surface, but before she could get there the intense yellow light made her dizzy. And so she sank right back down to the seabed.
Gosh, that's no good. I'll never get up there! she thought, feeling somewhat defeated.
Finally, feeling extremely lost, Rose decided to walk back along the seabed to the place she first dizzily landed on. But something deep within her lost spirit told her that she was really wasting her time. However, she had no better plan to follow.
This is the way, perhaps? she thought as she jumped onto a smooth stone path lined with liberal clumps of green shrubs. And as she followed the path she wondered if any people lived down here in this strange watery world, because she realised somebody, or something, must have built the paths.
Rose found herself taking path after path after path. She was definitely lost. She would not be finding the place she started at, that much was certain.
Up ahead on a grey stone path, Rose could see a stone bench at the side of the path. She approached it, inquisitively. Other than the paths, it was the first sign of civilisation she had encountered. Surely it meant there were people in this yellow watered world. She decided to sit on the bench.
"Hello," she said, imagining a person was approaching the bench. She decided to have an imaginary conversation.
"Do you know where the nearest sweetshop is? I could do with a bag of Fish Gums, a fistful of Crab Bars and a can of Shark Fizz."
"Yes," said the imaginary man she had conjured up. He was a very smart business man in a dark blue pinstriped suit. "They've got Jellyfishbabies too." The man then gave Rose a quite complicated description of how to get to the sweetshop.
"Oh, is that where it is? At the bottom of Seashell Street just off Angelfish Avenue, first on the left down Dolphin Drive?"
"That's right," said the imaginary man. "It's not as far as it sounds."
"Thank you, sir. I'll just have a nice little sit down and I'll make my way there soon."
"Very good then," said the man. "Goodbye, young lady. Have a nice day."
"Yes, I will. You too, and goodbye, sir."
The imaginary business man walked off and faded from Rose's mind.
Rose enjoyed her little conversation. It made her feel less lonely. At least for a few minutes. Then she noticed something just over her shoulder. She could see a few letters etched into the back of the stone bench.
Rose immediately stood up and took a closer look at the bench. She realised it was covered in a light pasting of white stone paste. She wondered if maybe there was some seagull fish in this strange land.
She picked up a stone off the path and used it to start to brush off the stone paste. It came off surprisingly easily and revealed the following words:
Please enjoy this bench.
Dedicated to the memory of Paul Anderson.
The fastest fish in the Land of the Yellow Sea.
Rose didn't think that Paul Anderson could really be a fish. She thought his description must have had another meaning. Maybe he was an excellent swimmer. Something like that. However, she did think that the world she was in may well be called the Land of the Yellow Sea. The water all about her was tinged yellow. Yes this other world must be the Land of the Yellow Sea. Or at least the Land of the Yellow Sea was part of it.
She sat back on the bench, wondering what to do next...
Then she spied an unusual sight.
Coming along the path towards her were a pair of large blue fish about her size. But they weren't swimming horizontally, they were swimming vertically as if they were seahorses. Rose stared fascinated. Stranger still, it looked as if they were having a conversation. But the moment they noticed her look at them, they stopped. They dipped their bodies forwards, and began to swim horizontally like normal fish.
Rose thought they would continue like this. But when they reached her, the two of them leaned themselves backwards into a vertical position. They turned and faced her. They really did look intelligent. Maybe they really were having a conversation.
"Hello," she said. "My name's Rose."
The fish turned and faced one another, then turned back to look at her.
One of them opened its mouth, and Rose thought it was about to speak.
But all that happened was that a stream of bubbles escaped from its mouth and streamed upwards.
The other fish then did the self-same thing.
"Can you speak?" asked Rose.
The fish turned and faced one another once again.
But soon turned and faced forwards down the path. Then, once again, dipped themselves down into a horizontal position and swam off, keeping just a few feet above the path.
They must be clever. Otherwise why would they stay on the path?
Rose got off the bench and headed off in the same direction as the fish, attempting to follow them. But they were fast swimmers and Rose was soon left completely alone.
Rose became very sad and lonely. She wanted to go home. But she couldn't. If only someone would turn up and help her. She began to cry and kicked a stone angrily. Then she continued to stomp her way down a smooth stone path lined with liberal clumps of green shrubs. A path she was sure she had already been on. What a birthday!
But it seemed someone needed her help more than she needed theirs...
"Help! Let me out of here!" sounded a voice, startling Rose who stopped sharply in her tracks.
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I hope you enjoyed this Chapter. I welcome any votes, comments or constructive criticisms (style, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors).
T. J. P. CAMPBELL.