Short Stories by Me

Keys

The girl on the dock was so still that you wouldn't see her until she began walking forward, toward the water. Her breaths were shallow and quick, her eyes desperate. She dropped away her jacket, shivering in her tank top before diving head first into the water. Quickly, ever so quickly, she shoved something in her mouth. Her struggling stopped, and she looked around with bright eyes, a soft smile donning on her face.

She had a chance at saving him.

She kicked her legs, but there was no need. The water pushed her along to wherever her heart desired.

The water pushed beside her, ignoring the strong current going in the opposite direction. The girl's hair sagged behind her, but still she pushed on, flying like she was in the sky, not a hundred feet under the surface of a very large lake in the middle of the night.

She must have seen or sensed something, because in just a millisecond, she jerked to the side, shooting downwards.

"Slow, slow," she said to herself, her voice clear in the water, the air bubbles drifting lazily from her mouth. She just watched them go. She wasn't going to need any more air anyway. She had enough.

On the ground now, the girl began to walk unsteadily along the murky bottom, searching for the thing she had sensed.

Behind a wall of kelp, something moved. The girl gasped, the water she took in not bothering her. She stared nervously at the seaweed, her dark eyes darting back and forth. What was in there?

A burst of bubbles, a blur of gray. The girl screamed as five sharks surrounded her, on all sides and even above. She held up her fists, though they would do nothing and she knew it. So did the sharks. Their thoughts drifted into her mind, demanding answers.

Why are you here? A voice in her head asked.

I'm looking for the Keys, the girl thought, hoping that the sharks, or whatever was speaking into her mind, would hear her.

Of course you are. The voice hissed, tickling her ear, making her flinch down.. The sharks drifted closer by a half-foot.

Please, the girl thought desperately, and her hand mindlessly went to her pocket.

What do you need with the keys?

The girl thought about her answer. What did she need with the keys? Did she even really need to open the locket?

Of course she did. It was the last thing her father had left her and the world. It was all she had left, it was the only connection. She had to know what was in it.

No key in the house and even a few outside it would fit perfectly in the large keyhole. The locket itself was very unusual, nothing like lockets usually are. It was heavy on her neck, probably over a pound in weight, and it looked like it was made of pure gold. But the girl wouldn't sell it for all the money in the world. She was convinced that there was something special inside, something from her father.

You wouldn't be able to tell, since she was underwater, but the girl's wide eyes were filling with tears as she thought about her father and the key and the locket.

Why are you here? The girl asked. We're in a lake. Sharks can't be in a lake.

They can when they are put there to protect something. Like the keys. And it has been too long since the sharks have had a chance to protect the protected. Why are you here?

The girl was shaking. I already told you. I need to get to the keys.

The sharks moved in more.