Held |There's something in the water. . . .|

HOPE!

Izuku rose to his knees and threw up.

When he could stand, he staggered over to his
clothes. His hands shaking so badly that
he could barely button his shirt. He shoved his
feet into his boots, not even trying to lace them.
And then on his wobbly legs, his blood pounding
in his ears, he ran up the hill and found his way
to the street.

He pushed past the ladies with their shopping
baskets. He crossed the street, ignoring the
honking car that swerved around him. A
man in a buggy shouted at him to watch out.
The horse whinnied. Izuku barely noticed.

He staggered into Mr. Shield's hardware
store, tripping across the doorway and locking
over a display of watering cans. The clattering
brought three customers to the front of the
store. Mr. Shield hurried out from behind the
counter.

"Izuku?" he said worriedly. "What's wrong?"
Izuku opened his mouth.
But he couldn't speak.

"What happened?" Mr. Shield said. "Why
is your shirt covered with blood? Are you
bleeding? Who did this to you?"
A small group of customers clusters around
him, their eyes filled with concern.

Finally, Izuku got the words out. "A shark."
"What?" Mr. Shield said.
"A shark," Izuku repeated.

"Has there been another attack on the shore?"
Mr. Shield said. "I didn't see anything in the
newspaper."
Izuku shook his head.

"There's a shark in the creek," he said. "I saw
it. It crashed into me."
The crowd erupted into loud laughter.
Mr. Shield offered a sympathetic smile and a
hand on his shoulder. "It's the heat, my boy. It's
driving us all a little mad."
He asked one of the customers to go into
the back and bring Izuku a drink. He led Izuku
through the laughing crowd and sat him on the
stool behind the counter. A man handed Izuku a
tin mug of water.

"Take a drink, son," Mr. Shield said. But
Izuku pushed it away, and water splashed onto a
pile of seed catalogs.

"We have to warn people!"
But Mr. Shield just shook his head, like Izuku
was a little kid who was sure he'd seen a unicorn
galloping down the sidewalk.

"There's so much garbage floating in that
creek," Mr. Shield said. "It could have been a
plank from the dock, or a barrel, or a — "
"No," Izuku said. "It was a shark!"

"I think maybe all those pranks are getting to
you," Mr. Shield said.
Izuku knew that he must sound crazy, that he
could spend all day swearing that he'd seen a
shark. Nobody would believe him.

Why would they?

A shark in the creek? It was impossible!
Except that Izuku had seen it with his own
eyes. If he'd been a step slower, he'd be dead
right now, another name in the newspaper.

"It's all right, son," Mr. Shield said. "How
about I call Dr. Shuzenji and he'll give you a ride
home. You've never been in his car, have you?"

Mr. Shield headed to the back of the store to
use the telephone.
The customers drifted away, shaking their
heads and chuckling.
No, nobody would believe it. Meanwhile, that
shark was still in the creek.

And then it hit Izuku . . . that there was one
person is town who just might believe him, who
might know what to do. He wasn't sure, but it
was his best hope.

He slid off the stool and rushed out of the
store.
"Izuku!" Mr. Shield called. "Where are you
going?"
Izuku didn't turn around.
He had to find Captain Sorahiko. He'd wasted
enough time already.