The Creature

The girl was 19, maybe 20. Clad in a white blouse and khaki shorts, her hair flew behind her as she ran along the water’s edge. She had a knapsack slung over her right shoulder while her left hand held a pair of sneakers. The girl seemed to be rushing somewhere. Then she stopped and took in a deep breath. The smell of the salty sea water transported her back to the miracle day exactly five years ago.

She was in her old room, her eyes closed as she cried, prayed and pleaded with God to bring her beloved back. She knew it was better this way, better that he had left the world, that he had left the pain behind. The girl just wanted to look into those amazing soulless eyes one more time. Then, the heavens opened. Rain poured and lighting lit the skies. Perhaps, God had heard her cries.

Her room was a prism of colors as she opened her eyes. Feeling dizzy, the girl moved to open the window. As she did, she felt that there was something different. She looked out of the window and vaguely realised that the view didn’t belong to her window. Her room wasn’t hers anymore. She was standing on a little mound of sand surrounded by water. One could barely call it an island, for the girl could walk across it in four giant steps, and around it in seven. More puzzled than afraid, she closed her eyes as she sat down and leaned against the single, leafless tree that grew right in the middle of the tiny piece of ‘land’.

A spray of sea water startled the girl. Opening her eyes, the girl found herself level with a bizarrely magnificent creature. At least, the girl thought the creature was magnificent up to the waist. The rest of it the girl couldn’t see; it was in the water. By Cleo standards, the creature was just bizarre. With a soft oval face with ears that stuck out, the fashion police would have arrested it for being noticed with only a chunky coral necklace and nothing else. Perhaps that was the reason the creature was still half immersed in the water. Its emerald hair contrasted with skin so translucent that the girl had to blink away the intensity of the clash.

“Hello Lily… Take a swim with me.” The creature cocked its head to one side, waiting for the girl. It was rather assured that the girl would follow the order, though she seemed disinclined to make any move toward the water.

“Who are you?” the girl asked.

“The waterman’s right today, you know. The water’s nice and warm and I haven’t seen a shark all day.” the creature said.

“That doesn’t really answer my question.”

“Was that question really the question you wanted to ask? Answers don’t explain. There are a few jellyfish swimming around, though. Come on…”

The girl stood and took the step she needed to reach the edge of the island. “Fine”, she said, as she took off her blouse and took the creature’s hand. Together, they plunged deep into the ocean blue…..