The Old Cannery

Chapter Two

"Sorry, sea star," I muttered, "didn't mean to startle you." Why was I talking to a sea star? "Never mind. Ugh, sorry."

I looked around the cave some more. I never realized it was a cave before, but now I was in it. There was the gap where I entered the cave, out of which I could vaguely see the meadow, and another larger one on the other side, facing the sea and the tiny spruce-covered islands in the distance.

OH NO!

The inner tube was floating away! I knew I could swim, but it would be litter if I didn't grab it soon. From where I was, I could probably lean out of the cave and grab it before it drifted further. And so I tried.

Fortunately, I didn't fall in, but I did get pretty wet. I pulled the doughnut-shaped inflatable into the cave with me and almost toppled backward from the effort. I leaned the tube against the wall of the cave, then bent down to further examine a tidepool where the sea star sat limply. Well, obviously. I don't think a sea star could stand upright if it tried.

Suddenly, I heard a voice. It was hollow and whispery and blended in with the sound of the waves washing up against the cannery foundation. Hello?

I shrieked. "Who's there?" I spun, looking around the cave frantically, but I didn't see anyone.

Then the voice came again. Don't be afraid.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" I screamed. Did I have scurvy already from being in a dark cave offshore?

Quiet. Calm. Please. I am nothing to fear.

"Where are you? Am I hallucinating? What is going on?"

I am here, I am here, I am here.

"Show yourself, you creep, if you're even real!"

I am here, I am here, I am here.

What the heck? "Um...?"

Look around, look around.

I looked around. I was still in the cannery pile, surrounded by a few slimy tidepools I'd rather not discuss in detail, and that floppy starfish. No ghosts that I could see.

Ghosts. "Are you a ghost?" I asked.

A ghost, a ghost, a ghost. What is this ghost of which you speak?

It never occurred to me that a ghost wouldn't know it was a ghost. But then, it never occurred to me that I'd meet one. "A ghost. You know, a spirit. Of a dead person."

A spirit, a spirit? I am not dead. I am not a spirit, a spirit, a spirit.

I'd read enough fantasy books in my life to not say, 'you're just my imagination; I'm leaving' but I didn't really know what to do. I mean, what if it was my imagination?

"Show yourself!" I said again.

Look around, look around, look around.

I stared at the starfish. "Are you the one talking to me, starfish?" I asked it.

Star, star, star of the sea. A star, the sea, the sea, and me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said slowly. Why couldn't this voice give me a straight answer about anything?

Star of the sea, star of the sea, that is my name. I am a naiad, a naiad.

"A naiad? Like, a water goddess?" Whoa. "Are all sea stars naiads?"

No, no, I was transformed, transformed, into the creature, the creature you see now.

"Transformed? Why? By who?"

I was not always a sea star, a sea star.

"What happened?" I asked.

I cannot trust humans, never, never, never.

Oops, I guess it sort of figures. "I-I'm sorry?"

No, I don't believe it. I trust people when I shouldn't and that can be a downfall. But maybe not always, maybe I can trust you. Maybe, maybe.

I didn't know what I was expecting (how could I, with this thing?) but it definitely wasn't that. "How can I help you?" I asked the star. I didn't mean to sound like a butler, but I realized after that I probably did.

Freedom. The voice was a chilling whisper, perfectly in time with a wave crashing against the rocks. I shivered, suddenly aware that I was in a cold, dark, wet cave during the tail end of low tide. Oh, no. No. If I didn't get back soon I'd be stranded out here for like, twelve hours.

Wait, wait, please, do not go, do not go! came the voice again. Had it read my thoughts? Creepy.

"Why?" I asked it. Before it could answer, I continued. "I need to know more about you before I can help. What happened to you? Why were you... cursed?"

I showed my true form to one of your kind, whom I thought I trusted, and was cursed, exiled by my people to never show myself as a naiad again. Not even to myself.

"I have to go."

I can stop the tide. I can stop you.

"Stop the tide? How?" I asked.

Star, star, star of the sea, I am the sea and the sea is me.

"Great! You can delay the tide, strand me out here until I save you. While you're at it, can you stop the destructive tsunamis and hurricanes?"

I am not free. Free. Free me.

"For the last time, how do I do that?"

Star, star, star of the sea, I am the sea and the sea is free.

"But you literally just said you aren't free. So if you are free, why do you need me?" Oh, no, I guess I started rhyming just like the starfish.

Hey guys, how should I end the story? Please please comment with suggestions. I have no idea where to take this.