In the distance, something caught my eye. A flash of silver darted across my vision. My gut tightened, and my eyes focused on what was in the distance, as if there were nothing else in the entire sea.
Tiny air bubbles swirled around me with the force of my speed as I chased what was mine. My eyes narrowed into slits as I closed in on the fish. It was the first sizable one I had come across in months, and I ached for the meat on its bones to fuel me.
The fish crossed the threshold of our territory, but I didn’t hesitate as I swam right up behind it. I swam and swam, tunnel vision on the tuna as it dashed away from me, taking me furtherfrom where I was supposed to be. I gripped the spear in my right hand, ready to strike when the time was right.
A dark streak in the corner of my eye stole my attention, and I took my line of sight off the fish as I scanned my environment. Blood pounded loudly in my ears, pulsing the water around me.
The dark creature was too large to be another tuna and too small to be one of us. I held my spear up, ready to take aim at the oncoming enemy. It was nothing but a blur in the distance for now, but it closed in on me quickly.
A shark?
No.
A slick, tan animal glided through the water, chasing after my prey.
A damned seal.
I lowered my spear but didn’t drop my guard. If I was seeing a seal, then I was far closer to land than I should have been. I focused on my prey; I couldn’t let myself think about how far out of my territory I had strayed.
As I grew closer, I slammed into the side of the seal, throwing it off course. I closed in on the tuna, close enough that I could smell it. I braced the spear in my hand, brought it above me, and shot it through the water, spiraling toward the fish. Just when I thought it was mine, the tuna slipped between two rocks, and my spear clattered against barnacle-covered stone.
I could almost hear the seal laughing at me, mocking my inability to make the kill. Another pang of hunger ravaged me, and I lunged toward the mammal with red hot anger. It slid out of the way with ease, and I crashed against the rocks, scratching my forearm in the process.
You’re getting sloppy, Sid! Focus!
Diving deeper, I scooped my spear out of the sand on the seafloor. Rising above the rock once again, I stared out into the vast expanse of water. The seal hovered on the surface,taking a dangerous breath. If I was desperate enough, I would have ended that mammal’s life—the thief of our fish. The other hunters would be disappointed in me for doing nothing more than swimming away, but I was determined to find food elsewhere. I couldn’t waste any more time or energy on something that mattered so little.
I swam, fear clawing at the back of my mind that I was going too far too quickly. I stopped recognizing where I was long ago, but therehadto be more fish out here somewhere. We had gone for months on kelp and crustaceans, and my muscles grew weak and sore.
The rumbles of my stomach shattered all rational thought, and I followed the curious animal as it bobbed in and out of the water, gliding in graceful, quick loops in the opposite direction of my home. To land.
I stayed far behind the creature, not wanting to give myself up but desperately needing a guide to food. We swam until we reached a translucent, grey wall.
Not a wall, no. A net.
I grew closer to better understand exactly what it was I was seeing. I grabbed hold of the net, looping my fingers through it to allow my aching body some much-needed rest. My stomach lurched as I saw movement through the material—a lot of it. It was a whole damned school of fish!
The seal slipped over the top of the massive, netted enclosure and dove into the swarm of fish. A limitless supply of food for the both of us. The mammal took several into its mouth, swallowing them whole.
This can’t be real.
I rose to the surface, much like the seal did, and felt the air on my skin for the first time in over a year. I slipped back under the surface, the water feeling cool after the sun’s rays had touched my skin and scales. Immediately upon re-entry, Iwas surrounded by a school of fish swimming in massive circles around me. My hand tightened on my spear, the fish around me oblivious to the fact that several of them would be my next meal, several more brought back for the pod.
As I prepared to take aim, the spear was knocked out of my hand by an unusual force. That same force closed in around me, a web of rope and tangles. Bubbles escaped my mouth as I thrashed violently, attempting to claw my way out of this unknown prison.
My tail struck something solid, and a strange noise echoed through the water in response. There were too many fish in my face, sharp scales cutting my skin and roughing up my own as we all were pushed together. The space between us grew smaller and smaller as the net that had been dipped into the enclosure was lifted through the water. By the time we broke the surface, I was scrambling for air, wiggling my way toward the edge so I could breathe.
My whole body was airborne, and the lack of salt water on my skin would have me transforming any second now. I felt the familiar, deep-rooted itch as though it was so far beneath my skin, the only way to rid myself of the discomfort was to shed it altogether. Memories of the pain that came with the transformation clawed at my mind and struck fear into my veins.
I’m far too weak for this!
My raw, exposed skin was thrashed by slimy scales rubbing against me in all the wrong directions. Without warning, the net dropped to the deck of the ship, and I stifled screams into my palm as my fins shed and my tail split in two. I choked down the tearing pain in every cell as the new skin wrapped my arms and evolving legs. Anguish blinded me, but I did my best to shake it off. I didn’t have another choice.
Tangled in the half-opened net, my legs were buried by the rest of the catch. We were a flopping mess on the deck of thefishing vessel, and curious fishermen would be approaching any minute.
I gritted my teeth as I began pushing the slimy fish off the raw skin on my legs, further exposing myself to my surroundings.
Familiar whines and barks erupted through the air, and my foot shot out on instinct, kicking the seal in the ribs to shut it up. The animal whined once more before falling silent.
