Short Stories of the Arctic

The Monster that Lurks Beneath

    The northern water near Greenland was so cold it was bone-chilling. An adventurer named Ray was walking across a frozen lake with a fishing rod and some bait in both of his hands. He packed some mud from nearby to sit on whilst fishing. He caught a few fish here and there, but nothing too incredible. Then, his rod began to bend. It bent so far down it was like it wanted to join the fish. "This's a big one I tell ya!" Ray said to himself. The rod was bending more, and more, and more, until... "CRASH!" Ray crashed through the ice and splashed into the ice-cold aqua. His fur coat was soaked and he was starting to get frostbite on every inch of his body. He could hear water movement from behind him. He turned around only to see a giant fish. "This's no fish," he thought. He was correct. This wasn't a fish, it was a shark. The shark opened his mouth as wide as earthly possible and... "CHOMP!" Instead of closing upon Ray, he chomped the vertical half-rod. It was as if he bit into a spear. This gave the explorer some time. He swam as fast as he could, but couldn't return to the area where he fell because the shark was there. The other areas of question were iced in from the top. This meant only one thing. There would only be one winner, that being Ray or the shark. Ray knew this but wasn't confident in himself to slay the aquatic beast. He still had the other half of the rod that he quickly grabbed before swimming away from the shark. Ray's timer was ticking. He swam over to the injured shark and proceeded to stab him with the half-rod. The shark whipped him with his tail and sent him flying backward. He swam back and stabbed the beast again! This time, in the gills. That had little effect on the shark for he tried to eat the man up, but the beast was simply too slow. Ray came in for one last stab before his breath could hold no more. He stabbed the shark in the eye. Blood floated to the top of the sea from the water beast. Now the problem was getting back up through the ice hole to retrieve air again and finally be on land. His hand grabbed the rim, yet slipped. He flailed his legs back and forth to try to further swim upwards, but it was no use. It seemed as if all hope was lost. Then, Ray could feel a sudden grasp on his wrist. An explorer brought him back up to land. By the time he could see who did so, the explorer was gone. Ray barely survived the experience, but it made him a better man in the long run. Whoever saved him was a hero, a natural-born hero.