Shark Lover (12 page)

“Oh.
Yes I can hear you. I just wasn’t aware that I was wearing a talking mask.” He
joked as he held his hands to his ears in an effort to hear Chris better.

“We
wear the speakers so we can hear Chris’s instructions from up above while we
tag Mandy.” Cathy explained informatively.

“I
know why we wear them,” He grinned behind his mask. “It’s just weird to get
used to a guy talking in my ear from my mask. But joking aside, we’re ready
Chris. Drop us in.”

“All
right. The cage will be dropping in a few seconds. Keep breathing while you
immerse yourselves in the water. Don’t move around your bodies too much. The
cage will submerge unevenly, so just look out for that. Once we fully drop you
down into the water, I will speak to you again.”

Marc
breathed slowly, trying to calm himself for what was ahead. He took a peek over
at Cathy to see how she was reacting. She looked as if she had done this a
million times. She looked excited even. Marc couldn’t wrap his head around
being excited for swimming with sharks, but he knew Cathy’s fearless spirit
would be up for anything. She was always up for a good adventure. Being with
her was always exciting to say the least.

The
bottom of the cage submerged with water. He could feel the cold rush hit his
flippers and slowly rise up his knees. The cage was filling up faster and faster
with water. He didn’t know it would actually fill up this quickly. An icy blast
hit him in the stomach as half his body was covered in water. He pulled his
arms down to immerse them in the water along with the other half of his body. As
soon as he knew it the water was all the way up to his neck. He shivered trying
to shake off the cold feeling as his mask had finally touched the water.

Looking
around, he was surprised at how clearly he could see everything. When he was
scuba diving before, while picking up the trash, he could barely see anything.
He figured the surface of the water was murky and polluted, but deeper down it
was clearer. He was now fully underwater and he was mesmerized by what he was
seeing. Fish were flying by him, trapping their prey. A whole school of them
swam right by his face and through the cage. Cathy looked over at him and
laughed at him jumping around as the fish flew through his legs. He smirked
back, thinking that she had never looked so beautiful. There she was with all
of her scuba equipment on, a hood over her gorgeous hair and a mask covering
her blue eyes; yet he had never seen her look better.

“Marc,
do you see the blowfish?” She said through the speaker as she pointed towards a
large, pink puffy creature.

He
looked up and down, then to his left and his right. He couldn’t find it. “No,
where is it?”

“Look
straight ahead. It’s right in front of your face.”

He
looked directed ahead, placing his hands on the bars of the cage to get a
better look.

“Do
you see it?” She asked looking at him.

“Yes,
it’s so…spiky. I want to touch it,” He reached out his hands as it approached
him. The blowfish sat in his hands and he examined it. “They are poor swimmers
and don’t have any scales, but they are one of my favorite creatures. I think
Kirby was modeled after them. That was always my favorite game as a kid.”

“Kirby?”
Cathy looked at Marc holding the blowfish in between his palms. She admired his
love of marine animals. It was the one big thing that they had in common. It
was the main reason she was so drawn to him. He had compassion and an
understanding for creatures that were unlike him.

“Yeah,
Kirby the little pink animal that inhales air then flies. Blowfish do a similar
thing, but they inhale water to make themselves a spiky ball to get rid of
their predators. It virtually makes them inedible. It’s incredible to see an
animal with a defense mechanism like that. Most fish just have to swim for
their lives to outrun predators, but not blowfish. They just spike up to avoid
getting eaten. It’s quite convenient.”

“Marc
and Cathy, we are about to drop the tuna bait in the water. Once we do we will
probably be seeing a frenzy of animal creatures. We will be dropping it right
in front of the cage. When Mandy comes by, quickly put the tag on her fin while
she is eating the tuna. It should be quick, easy and painless for Mandy. Here
comes the tuna.”

Marc
looked above at the ocean surface. It looked white, soft and rippled quietly.
It almost looked like heaven. He saw a line above and a few seconds later, the
large tuna fish was dropped in the water. Hearing the splash, most of the fish
scattered away as quickly as they had come. The blowfish went further down into
the ocean floor, avoiding what it thought to be a predator. Seconds later, the
tuna was right in front of Marc’s face. He could even smell its fishy odor,
even from underneath his mask. He looked at it lying there so peacefully in the
water, waiting for its demise.

It
didn’t take long for the sharks to come. He could see them from a mile away.
They were traveling in a pack. He figured they were all three female sharks,
since they tended to swim in a pack to avoid male sharks and their mating
habits. He didn’t blame them. Male sharks could be fierce and pushy when it was
mating season. The sharks were approaching closer and closer. He was getting
nervous now. It would almost be the moment that he had been waiting for. Seeing
the sharks up close made him feel nauseous. He tried to relax by thinking of
calming matters and peaceful times.

“I
can’t believe I did it. I just can’t believe it. It didn’t even feel like me
out there, you know? I felt like a completely different person. Like something
took over me and helped me achieve victory.” He said as he sat on his long red
board, proud of himself for once in his life.

“I
can believe that you did. You were always a true champion. I knew from day one
that you would be successful. You just had to believe it yourself.”

“Dad,
I just can’t believe I am the winner. I not only won the semi-finales, but the
finales too? It’s just unbelievable. I feel like I am going to wake up any
moment and this will all just be some amazing dream that I am having.” He
looked down at his board, the one that had made him a champion. He still wasn’t
used to the fact that he was a winner. Running the sand grains through his
hands, he pinched his arm. He wanted to see if this really was his life. It was
almost too good to be true. He figured he would wake up and all of it would be
gone instantly, just like everything good seemed to do.

He
patted his son on the back approvingly. “You did what you came to do. You
conquered the waves and did what you set out to do,” He stood up and watched
his son pondering in thought. “I’ll let you have a moment to let it all sink
in. I know it doesn’t feel real yet, but don’t worry it will soon. You will
feel what I used to feel when I competed.”

“What
did you used to feel?”

“I
felt as if it was the biggest accomplishment of my life. I had practiced for
months and months, trying to nail down certain tricks. When the competition
came, it was my moment to show everyone what I learned. Winning the trophies
felt like I had taken the world by storm. Surfing was always my biggest love,
until I met your mother and had you. Then my priorities changed. I set my goals
on becoming the best husband and father that I could be. I gave you the crown
of glory. When you got older, I could see your talent and I knew it was your
chance to shine. I never doubted you, Son. I knew you would make me proud and
today you did.” He gave his only son a loving look and walked away to let him
have the time to think about his accomplishment.

Marc
wistfully watched his father walking off towards the car. He desperately wanted
to follow him and talk to him more about the competition, but he just wasn’t
ready to accept the fact that he had just been crowned the Junior Surf
champion. Beating out all of the competition, he had pulled in the win. The
competition had been tough. They were all talented and he knew it would be a
challenge to come out with the win, but somehow he had managed to do it. He sat
in the sand, in complete bliss. He had just pulled off an Ariel, a move that
had taken him months to master. He and his board had launched into the air off
the top of the wave, he then dropped back down perfectly into the wave landing
the trick as the crowd cheered. He replayed the moment in his mind over and
over again.

He
didn’t want to forget this moment for the rest of his life. He kept thinking of
standing on the podium, holding the trophy up with both of his hands as the
crowd roared his name. It had been just like a scene from a movie. He could
still see the audience throwing their hands in the air, calling out for him.
The trophy was placed in his hands as they shivered with excitement. He didn’t
want to put it down, ever. He was still relinquishing in his thoughts when they
were suddenly interrupted by a loud, piercing scream.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

He
looked to his left and then to his right. He couldn’t find where the deadening
tone was coming from. He stood up and picked up his board, looking out into the
ocean. He saw a small girl, who looked to be about four or five years old,
jumping up and down and waving her hands. She was too far away for him to
understand what she had been screaming. From the way she was panicking, he
could tell that she was in deep trouble. He threw the board under his arm and
darted to the ocean as fast as his feet could take him. If he slowed down, he
knew he wouldn’t make it in time.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!
Help me! Somebody help me!” She cried.

“Hang
on! I’m coming!” He yelled as he ran faster. Looking all around him, he didn’t
see a lifeguard anywhere near. He never understood why they were never around,
when they were truly needed. They always made time to sunbathe or flirt with
the opposite sex; but when someone was in danger, they were nowhere to be
found. There weren’t many people on the beach, he noticed now. They must have
all cleared out after the competition was over. He didn’t even see a parent for
the poor child that was stuck in the dangerous current.

He
raced faster and faster to get to her side. When he finally got into the water,
he plunged underneath. Getting on top of his board, he paddled forcefully with
his hands cupping the water carefully. He could almost see the blond locks of
the child, as the waves were crashing down on her head. He knew she would end
up drowning if he didn’t reach her in the next few minutes.

“Hurry,
grab my board!” He yelled as he jumped off the board and pulled it out towards
her. “You need to grab it, or you will keep getting sucked under.”

“I
can’t!” She yelled crying. “I’m so tired. I’ve been stuck out here a long time!
I just want my Mommy!”

“Grab
on to the board, use all the might that you have left. We’ll find your Mommy,
but I just need you to grab this board so I can get you out of here.”

“I
can’t do it!” She submerged under the water once more, losing her breath. She
came up out of the water coughing hard and choking.

“You
can do this! Just reach out a little further and grab the board.” He looked at
her earnestly, pleading with her to understand that he was trying to save her
life. “You can do this. Please you have to. The current will end up killing
you. I want to help you.”

She
paddled along in the current, her eyes widening at the possibility of drowning.
She kicked as hard as she could, swimming with all of her might to get closer
to Marc’s board. Her little hand reached out and grabbed the tail end of his
board. Once she held on, he grabbed the front end of the board and started
pulling her and the board out as quickly as he could. When they had reached a
shallower part of the ocean, he went to the back of the board and pulled her
body completely on top of the board. He wanted her to be able to breathe again
and calm down from her tough fight.

He
looked at her little body sitting lifeless on top of his prize winning
surfboard. Feeling bad for her, he felt a tear roll down his eyes. He had tried
so hard to save her, but there she was lying motionless not making a sound.
Picking up the pace, he could see the shore now. He wanted to get back and help
her as soon as possible. He plunged underwater, with only his hand displaced
above the surface to keep leading the board back to shore. As he turned to his
left, he saw a gray fin pop up from under the water.

“Shark,”
He murmured to himself as he breathed in an enormous amount of air. “This can’t
be happening. Not when I am this close to the shore.”

He
tried picking up the pace again, in an effort to get closer at a faster speed.
He was so close to the shore that his shoulders, chest and the top of his swim
trunks were no longer inundated in water. Looking to his left again, he noticed
the fin was nowhere in sight anymore. He released a large breath and felt
himself relax. At least he had avoided one horrible misstep today. Pulling the
board out of the water was tricky, but he used all of his strength and saved
the girl from the rough seas. He saw her eyes fluttering and felt his heart
fill with hope. She opened her eyes and stared at him in wonder.

“Who
are you?” She asked quietly.