Depth of the Sea

Fear. Everyone can have a fear. Fear of clowns, insects, the dark the list could go on and on. For me, fear came in the form of the unforgiving sea, though it was not what was within it that I grew to fear. No. It was what humanity could do within the sea that brought about my fear. It all started when I was only seven. Being a child of a well-known marine biologist allowed me to explore things that normal children would not be able to experience much of.

I can remember the day we arrived at my father's workplace; I was too excited to really pay attention to how it looked. My father drove through a large gate, showing the security guard his ID, and then we were inside. The building itself seemed massive to me as we entered the automatic door that was in front of the main building. I could see that everything was white, even the floor tiling, presenting a stark contrast with the symbol of the company engraved on it. We came to a desk and my father began to speak to the lady that sat behind it. I did not pay attention to what they were saying, as I had noticed a large elevator that was sitting in the center of the room. I began to walk over to it; however, I was stopped by my father's stern voice.

 I turned to face him, only to see him approach me with a disapproving look upon his face. I watched as he walked past me into the elevator. I followed behind him quietly. I watched as slid his card and pressed a button, sending us down to the bottom floor. As we descended downward, I was greeted with the wonderful sight of the ocean, and oh! such a sight it was. The elevator that was taking us down was within glass allowing me to see through it. As we got lower the sea, however, grew darker and seemed colder. Before I knew it, we were on our floor. The doors opened, signaling our arrival to the large corridor.

I followed my father until he reached a huge doorway and entered inside. Many people greeted him; however, none of them really took the time to greet me. I sighed, realizing that my father was not going to introduce me, as he soon became enveloped in the conversations of his co-workers. I took this time to explore on my own. I left the room and began to continue down the corridor, looking through rooms. None of them interested me. Though I did find it strange how some of the vials appeared to be a dark red. However, the last room was the room I would later be found in and the one I would constantly visit. 

As I entered the room it seemed large. Within the center was what looked like a large pool, with a small catwalk extending over it. My curiosity got the better of me. As I approached the edge of the pool, I could make out a small shadow which appeared to be swimming along the bottom of the pool. As I peered into it to see if I could see it, it began to swim toward me. Before I could even move back, the little shadow burst through the surface. At that moment, something touches the tip of my nose, and I heard jaws slamming shut. I blinked in surprise, as I could now see clearly what it was as it landed back into the water. Black eyes watched me as it swam along the surface, its fin constantly breaking the surface as it swam. I could instantly tell what it was by the iconic grey and white hide. I was giddy with excitement that I could be so close to a Great White Shark baby. I do not know what possessed me to do it, but I began to talk to the shark.

"Hi! Are you okay?" I called out to it.

To my amazement, the baby shark thrashed its tail back and forth, as if answering my question.

"Y-yes?" I replied to my own question with a small degree of confusion.

Once more, the baby replied, thrashing its tail back and forth twice. I could not help the grin that appeared upon my face. From that day forward I would always go with my father to his job. I would always go to visit my shark friend. As the days soon turned to weeks and then two months have gone by. It was on that final day of the second month that I learned of what was to be the fate of my dear friend. I was in the pool room chatting with my friend when I had heard heavy footsteps approaching the pool room. Not wanting to get caught being in the room I quickly ran off the ramp and hid behind one of the large machines that were within the room. Staying to the shadows I watched as two men entered the room.

 I could see that one of the men was wearing a nice suit and he was staring at my friends' pool with cold green eyes. It was then that I noticed the second man was none other than the father's boss. He was a kind man, who often noticed me entering my friends' room, one day he caught me and told me to be careful not to fall into the pool. I could not really hear what was being said, but I could make out one word that made my blood turn cold. 'Kill' was all that I could make out from the conversation and at that instant I decided I needed to save my dear friend. As I watched them walk away, I noticed my father's boss had dropped something out of his pocket. When they were out of sight I came out from where I was hiding and quickly walked over to where I had seen the object had fallen from my father's boss's pocket.

As I crouched down, I picked it up and noticed that it was a metal key that I had no true idea where it went to. I quickly placed the key in my pocket, glancing over my shoulders at the pool I ran back over and splashed the water in a pattern to let my friend know that I would figure out a way for them to be free. As I looked at the Great White, I knew they were too big for me to carry since they were taller than me. It was then I noticed that there appeared to be a door within the pool to my right. I ran over to it, looking at it closely, I could see several buttons and a spot for a key. 

I looked up to see a giant screen that seemed to be monitoring some type of door that led to the sea. Not wanting to waste any more time, I quickly took the key back out of my pocket and placed it inside the slit. I turned the key causing the room to rumble to life. Lights appeared to turn on around the room allowing me to truly look at the panel. As I looked closer, I could see the button that said 'Release' above it. Without much thought I pressed it causing a few alarms to go off and I could hear the stifled sounds of a door opening. Quickly I turned looking over at the pool, happy to see that the door was opened in the Great White's pool. I then glanced up at the screen and saw that the door to the sea was also opened. Once more I ran to the pool calling out,

"You're free! Hurry before they come back!"

I noticed the Great White seemed hesitant to go, however, they breached the surface once more allowing its nose to poke out from the water. I could feel tears in my eyes as reached over and gently pat their nose. I watched as they returned under the water. I watched as the Great White swam out of the pool, into the unknown, and appeared out into the ocean. I could not help the feeling of pride as I watched them swim until they were out of sight. Though I mentally prayed that we would meet again, and they would not forget me. However, this would not be the end of my story. I would face more challenges ahead of me that add to my fear, but that is a story for another time.