A Different Kind Of Fairy Tale

Seal Blubber

Rain poured down hard against my face as a suffocating wind thrashed me in all different directions. I grabbed onto Flo in fear that I might lose her. We swam toward a dim light in the distance and it wasn't long before we realized where we were heading.

"Flo," I gripped tightly around her fin as another wind blew us east bound. "You don't think the ship crashed into the rocks by Swallows Beach do you?" 

The rocks by Swallows Beach were quite jagged and dangerous for anyone passing by on a vessel.

Once when I was exploring, I met Cid, a grey crane with beady eyes and stubby legs. What he lacked in size he made up in wisdom. He told me all kinds of things about humans and the more I learned about them, the more I realized that they were just like us, but with permanent toes.

"Ivan, look!" Flo clicked with worry. 

There it was. The ship of all ships, practically destroyed by two jagged boulders. The main mass had been snapped in half and a dead human dangled off the edge of the ship. His leg, tangled in ropes that once fastened the sails.

"Let's go see if there are any survivors..." 

When we got to the ship, we noticed the only reason it was staying afloat was because a third boulder was deep rooted in the middle of the haul.

"Should I check the underside of the ship?" Flo asked.

"No, you can handle this current better than I can. Why don't you check around to see if there are any survivors floating by."

"Sounds good." She nodded. "Stay safe okay."

"I always am Flo." I let go of Flo and dived under the surface. 

Flo dunked her head in the water and I nodded her off. When I entered the bottom of the ship, the entire floor was filled to the top with water. The water hadn't completely flooded the second floor and I found a spot where I could shift. I swam to the edge of a staircase and put my shorts on when I had two legs again.

The ship was huge! I tried looking around for living humans, but there were so many useless doors and rooms that my search for survivors was practically impossible. 

My search briefly came to a halt when I opened a door to yet another bedroom. This one was different than the others. It had large windows with thick curtains, a wooden desk with strange papers and golden objects on it, and a large bed was place in the corner of the room. Thin layers of fabric fell from the ceiling and draped over the sheets. I notice both the fabric above and on top of the bed were torn in places and had strange red stains that didn't match the rest of the room. Nonetheless, it looked so soft and welcoming. I pressed my palm against it and my body immediately relaxed.

It felt like, what I thought a cloud might feel like.

Clouds were the reason I was attracted to the surface. I had just lifted my leg to get onto the bed when the ship began to violently shake. One of the wooden bars connecting the thin curtain to the ceiling, broke off and sliced a gash into my leg. 

I screamed in pain, but no sound came out. I've never cried while I was on two legs before, so I was surprised to feel water fall down my cheeks and not pearls, like I was told would happen. As I pulled my leg out from under the wooden plank, I scrunched my nose in disgust. 

I wiped my tears before wiping the blood off my leg and to my surprise, the wound started to heal. The bleeding had stopped, but it still hurt to put pressure on my leg while I walked. I shook my head annoyed at myself. I was supposed to be helping the injured, not being the one injured. I pushed past the pain and left the room.