I had taken a sleeping pill so I slept like a baby as my husband drove through the night. I woke in perfect time with our arrival at the beach. The hotel had promised us an early check-in, but apparently 7:00 AM was a bit too early. My husband suggested we pitch our umbrella on the beach and wait it out. I happily agreed. He pulled our beach supplies from the car while I went through our luggage to retrieve our swimsuits. In no time, he was asleep in a reclined chair and I was headed for the water.
I stepped in and found the water to be the perfect temperature. The gentle waves pushed my body back and forth as I slowly walked through the soft sand deeper into the water. Once up to my waist, I softened my knees and sank into the clear turquoise water to my chin. Small waves lapped by as I bobbed along with the rhythm of nature.
With knees bent deeply, I rested my toes against the sea floor, then with a small push, I rose up with the peak of the passing wave. With arms outstretched and floating beside me, I became one with the motion. Up and down I floated. Up and down. Wave after wave after wave. It was my happy place and I wanted to stay forever.
I took in the salty sea air and the steady repetitious sound of the waves lapping against the shore. It was no wonder my husband easily fell asleep in the shade of that umbrella. No one was seen on the beach beside us and this was a welcome alternative to the crowd of tourists that would soon arrive.
I was pulled from my laze when I suddenly felt something brush against my leg. Mildly alarmed, I stood and focused into the sparkling water as a school of tiny fish rushed by. I took a moment to watch them in fascination. A moment later, they were gone and I sank back into the water.
A gull cried out and I looked up to watch the bird fly nearby. He circled again, took a sharp turn and plunged into the water, emerging a moment later with his breakfast. I glanced briefly toward my husband to see if he had witnessed the scene, but he was sleeping soundly.
That is when I noticed I had drifted farther from the shore. Reaching my toes to the bottom, I found nothing below. A confident swimmer, I began kicking and pulling my arms through the water, but as I focused on my husband under that umbrella, I found myself getting further away and the water getting colder. "Ken!" I cried out, but he didn't flinch.
I rode the waves, up and down, as I shifted to swim parallel to the shore, resting whenever possible. The current pulled me further out into the deep cobalt blue. I began to tire when a sudden wave crashed over my head. For a moment the sea air was gone, the blue sky was gone, the sound of my efforts was gone. There was only an eerie silence mixed with a rustle of bubbles. When my head finally emerged, I gasped deeply as another wave took me back under. Each time I popped up I strained to find my husband but I had drifted too far out. My instinct caused me to cry out even though I knew no one could hear. "Help!" I screamed.
As I continued to fight the current, my legs became weaker and I began to fear the worst. It became more difficult to push my body back to the surface, and the power of even the smallest waves became incredibly difficult to recover from. When something passed against me so close I felt it touch my swimsuit, I gasped in shock and inhaled a huge draw of salt water. Again, it brushed against me, this time between my legs. My scream was silenced by water cover.
Then, in one horrifying scene, I felt the thing again. It coiled itself around and around my leg. My arms were suddenly thrust upward as it pulled me down further. A final burst of energy came over me as I kicked and fought with all I had, but it was no use. I looked up as the blue sky gradually disappeared behind the sparkling surface of the water. Darker and darker the cold water got until finally, I faded away.
*****
.
The next thing I remember, I was on my knees coughing and gasping. Dripping wet, I forced the oxygen into my lungs, though it burned like fire. My wet hair fell into my face as I put my hand on the cold marble floor to brace myself.
"Side!" I heard a strange voice demand. "Side!"
I looked up and found myself surrounded by at least a dozen strange creatures. As if a royal court, a big throne sat empty on a raised platform. A creature I can only describe as a fish-man stood to the left of the big chair and repeated himself angrily. "Side!"
"I'm afraid it's not a dream." I heard someone say. I turned toward the voice as a man stepped forward, feeble with age. He approached and slowly knelt beside me.
"What is this place?" I asked frantically. "What are those things? How did I get here? Who are you?"
"I have been a prisoner here since I was a young man. My wife and I were on our honeymoon and were pulled out to sea." he explained.
"Yes!" I said. "Something pulled me under. How did I get here? What's going on?" I was frantic.
"Side!" the creature demanded.
"Side?" I said to the man. "Why does he keep saying that?"
"I don't know what these things are called or what this place is called, but I do know that they selected you for a task that is very important to them. They pluck a woman from the sea as often as they can, sometimes once every few days."
"But why?!" I asked.
"The creature wants you to decide." he said carefully. "Decide whether you are to be used for breeding or for feeding."
"What?!" I said, shocked.
"If you let the king breed with you, you will be returned safely to your life above the sea." he looked at me for a moment. "But... If you refuse this, you will be released into the bottom of the sea where you will drown and be eaten. No one has ever made it to the surface by swimming. It's too far."
"How far?" I asked. "I am a good swimmer."
"No, Miss. We are at least 50 miles down. You would never make it."
I looked at him shocked and disgusted. "I... I can't." I stammered.
"Many years ago, I begged my wife to chose the breeding." he told me. "I have to believe she's up there on land and has lived a long happy life." He looked away. "When I was young, the king tried to breed with me too... many times... but I was not... compatible, and so here I will stay. He will not release me because I have become a translator of sorts."
Just then, one of those fish-people appeared carrying a grey mass. It was placed in the king's throne before I realized what it was. About the size of a big duffel bag, the "king" reminded me of a very large tadpole except he had long tapered fins at his side with two forked fingers at the end. He had no legs and his "tail" was phallic shaped instead of flat. He had large black eyes on either side of his round head. With no expression, he stared at me and made a strange sound in his throat.
The old man turned to me. "Shall I tell him you have decided to die to feed his people?"
I looked at him with panic in my face. "I don't want to die. Please ask him to free me." I said.
The man shook his head. "He will not. Your body is the only one he is compatible with. He just needs the sexual release, then you will be returned to your home."
We sat in silence for a moment, all eyes upon us. Then he cleared his throat and continued. "I am sorry. Perhaps I am not being very clear with my translations." the man said. "The king is only interested in one act of intercourse. It is not possible for you to become pregnant by this species. 'Breeding' is their word for the act."
"Side!" the fish-man said again. "Gore." he said, and some of the fish-people stepped aside to reveal a door to a small airlock room. They all began making a strange sound in their throats.
"It is time to go." the man said. "The king's subjects thank you for the contribution of your body as food." He began to stand.
"No! Wait! ...I'll do it. Tell the king he can have intercourse with me." I said quickly. "I will get to go home immediately after?" I asked.