Where the Truth is Placed Second 

The sun rose from the horizon, as it shone spears of light towards the tiny pond rippling through the tepid water, like wind blowing on threads of string. Through the reflected image of the pondering lake, I swam, squirming towards the surface, as my blue fins merged with the blue ocean. “What a beautiful day!", I whispered, as the echoes traveled deep through the lake. “It was an occasional day with so much life to offer and so much peace,” I thought, as I gracefully swam down the lake, approaching my petite cavern chamber. 

Immediately, my mind jumped to the diverse amount of options I had for breakfast, as I mindlessly stared at the algae, plants and precious eggs gently nestled on my food bowl. “I’ll create a combination of all of them, an egg salad!” I shrieked, like a bird that injured its throat, initiatively I grabbed all my options and hurled it inside the sandy bowl, as I steadily broke it into small segments with my newly purchased stick. Shortly after, I was nibbling on my mouth-watering dish, as my soul was intact with the rate of time, the noise was disappearing with the flow of water. The silence was perfect, until it shattered.   

“RING RING RING, RING RING RING”, as the noise exploded in my heart, worse than sharks tearing through my stomach. In response, I slowly swam to my telephone about to furiously shout at them with words sharper than knives. I plucked my phone up and took a huge breath, “Hello Dahi, do you want to come to my playdate?” instantly I changed my tone of voice and mood after hearing my friend Abdu on the phone, as my mind now shifted from rage to excitement! “YES YES” I screamed, with my rage twisting to excitement. “Come at 4:30 in the afternoon, see you soon!”, as my friend Abdu ended the call. I blinked a few times and dropped my phone, as I swam around my cavern a few times in great pleasure. As I stared at my reflections cast by the watery glow, something shown was wrong.   

Despite my contented face, all the reflection had to offer was a depressed face, with a soul wanting to leave life itself, it looked devastating. In a shocking reaction, I rapidly blinked my eyes hoping that my eyes were just playing humorous tricks on me. Yet, all I could see was my own reflection staring at me with no life inside, like it was warning me of something ahead. “No no no” I thought, as my fins shuddered in fright. “This is going to be my greatest day yet”, as I kept cycling the thought through my mind. “Maybe I just need some sleep” I whispered, as the endless shadow overcame my slight noise. I took one last breath and slowly flapped my fins back to my cavern, as I lay down and tightly shut my eyes.    

I woke up to a sudden noise occurring outside my cavern home, it was a deafening sound, constantly crashing and vibrating my inner ear. My eyes were still fluttering around, the world still felt like a dream, as I tilted my head in angles until my eyes were placed on my triangular clock. 4:40 was what the clock read, “Wow it's pretty late, what did I have to do again?” as my dry gloomy voice overflowed the entire lake. I was floating in between my cavern, as the water brushed by me, when immediately I remembered. “THE PARTY, I’M LATE” I screamed, as I immediately rushed out of my tiny cavern, heading to the universal passage, from lake to the pacific ocean, a flooding sea with colourful creatures.  

With a few more flicks of my fins, the slender pass away between both lands of water met, like 2 rivers merging into one bubbling stream. I was happily making my way through, when through my gaze, I noticed the water shimmering, rippling unfolding like pages of a book. I stood, remembering the distorted reflection shown on the ocean. As bubbles of memories started floating in the ocean as strings blackened silk. 

My gaze fixed on the bizarre event, “Is that… my past?, my mind spinning around in an endless labyrinth. It was my entire existence, from birth to now. However, it didn’t stop, it went to unfamiliar events, I looked miserable, just like the former reflection, but somehow worse. “STOP IT”, I screamed, as the bubbles popped to the dagger like words. “I KNOW THIS ISN’T REAL, MY MIND IS JUST PLAYING TRICKS ON ME”, I continued, as my entire body started heating up like a furnace. I took a few deep breaths, following the 4-box breathing rule, as my voice and heart seemed to cool down. “It’s just… a lack of sleep”, I told myself, brushing my face with my fins to wipe the memory away. “I’m just too excited for the party, that's all.” 

I tried to smile and gave a few enthusiastic flicks of my fins. “Yeah, Abdu’s waiting!” I said out loud, hoping the sound of my own voice would drown the gloomy atmosphere. As I proceeded to the arrival of my friend’s house. 

The entrance to Abdu’s cavern loomed ahead, dark and quiet. As I swam through the water, an uneasy chill crept up my spine, like it was warning me. But I swallowed by breath and swam inch by inch as the pounding of my heart swallowed the silence. “It’s probably just… a surprise playdate.”, trying to calm myself down. As I swam through the entrance, the cavern was cloaked in darkness, not a single spot of light to be seen. 

Suddenly, a sharp beam of light burst through Abdu’s cavern, illuminating everything inside. “Suprise! Is this what you expected.” his mysterious cold and menacing voice slithering like a snack ready to pounce. After several blinks, my eyes grew accustomed to the brightness, where I choked to perceive Abdu tied to a pole, along with many other species of colourful fish, from blue to red all lying down in the interior of the sombor cavern. My vines were all freezing up, as my fins trembled as my heart hammered in my chest, it was like ice covering my entire body. 

“What could I do? Why was I so stubborn? Is Abdu my friend ”, I thought as my voice seemed to fade every second. I was traumatized, as the fear pinned me down, and I couldn’t even bring myself to look at the sinister creature. It was like my soul wanted to leave life itself, just like the first warning. Unexpectedly, my friend Abdu burst into tears, “I’m really sorry…. I’m sorry I dragged you into this… it's my fault that we are all here….. I…. I only invited you because it might benefit me, but I was wrong.” I stood, listening to Abdu’s pointless apologies, but yet, he was doing a reasonable action. My eyes were still fixed on Abdu as his tears fell. His apologies echoed through the cavern, heavy with guilt, as the horrendous creatures laughed through the echoes. But still, I knew I had to face what was coming next. Slowly, I forced myself to lift my gaze, toward the creatureing laughing in the shadows.

 “WHY… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS”, I screamed, vibrating the entire cavern surrounding the creature, a massive shark, with the urge to digest anything in its way. “The law, you know it right? Sharks are only entitled to eat dead fish. However, that’s not enough for me. To get around this cruel law, I make fish kill their own kind for my personal savory. So hurry up and pick up that knife, I’m starving!”, the shark cruelly said, as the cold voice refilled the room. “No”, I responded, there was no way I would completely betray my own friends for my own advantage. “I would never fall under your hands!” I continued, as a flicker of courage sparked my soul. “Ok, you’re asking for it”, as the menacing shark sighed. In response, I grabbed the knife as my weapon of defence, expecting him to charge up and gobble my whole soul. But, all he did was chant a song, it had an uneasy feeling, like it was talking away my strongest weapon, my soul. 

“No, this can’t be true”, I thought, as my mind started fading, and I lost every connection to my body. It all made sense now, how the shark was going to murder my friends, it was like the pieces all connected, but now it was too late. My bluish fins went dark, I was a new person, with no heart, no soul, and no life inside. “Hurry up, and finish the job my new son”, the shark exclaimed, as the room's atmosphere was covered with darkness. My body was thoroughly empty, without the soul nor the empathy I once carried. Without any hesitancy I took a few steps toward the foreign fish, lifting my knife, and dropping it, one by one, they all disappeared, as my fins filled with bloody regret, that I could no longer feel.  

And now, it was the last, as I stood face to face with my past friend Abdu. “I…..it's fine, just do what you have to”, said Abdu, as his tears started to flood his face. However, the only reaction I had was a deep glare towards his tiny face. There were only two thoughts covering my endless mind, to kill the fish and feed the sharks. “I forgive you,” he whispered, as his final tears dried up. But, I didn’t react, I didn’t even understand, all I did was drop the knife for the last time. The cavern echoed in silence. Only the shark’s laughter remained. “Perfect, looks like I won”, as the shark finished the last piece of the fish. “Well, blue fish, you’re going to sit here with guilt while I swim free, full and satisfied. I do hope you enjoy the silence that accompanies your long eternities ahead”, the shark taunted, as the shark prowled through the depths of the water, like a thief escaping in the night, leaving behind a horrifying trail of blood. 

Held by the chains of the shark’s curse, I stood without question, staring at my surroundings as the FSH cops arrived, with their beams of blue light piercing through the bloody waters, as sirens echoed through the waves. “This is Unit Siem, we’re at the scene.” one officer shouted. "We've traced the mass killing here, they’re all here, the victim and the suspect.” Suddenly, bubbles started to ripple through water, as the blood started to clear its way, and memories started to form, floating through my very eyes, and when it burst, a memory rushed back like a tidal wave, as my soul started returning with a newly founded purpose. 

I stood, I was back to my original face, Dahi. But…. but all I could do was stare at my murdered friend Abdu and all the innocent fishes covered in huge wounds of blood, as the cold atmosphere blew past me. I dropped my knife, letting it fall on the sandy floor, infecting it with the remains of blood. “What have I done”, I murmured, as tears started to rush down my face, staring at Abdu’s faint smile. Despite that, I couldn’t let my story end like this, I wanted to write my own. I had a new purpose, to find the shark and rip his idiotic smile into hundreds of pieces. 

“I will come back for you…. shark.”, my voice echoing with a newfound purpose.

THE END