Distort the world into clarity

Chapter Eleven: Helping out an eel

The evening had come to an end and Beatrice was feeling extremely tired. It had been the longest day of her life, probably. She waved goodbye to Glen the shark and wanted to go to her room when she caught a glimpse of three majestic creatures swimming through the reception. 

Lenny was swimming close behind them, apologizing over and over again.

Of course, Beatrice couldn't resist but to check out what was going on. She walked towards the reception and remained close behind one of the whales so she could overhear the conversation.

"We're not staying here anymore. We have other places to be, I'm sorry." The whale that was speaking was a bit greyer than than the other ones. It made him look just a little bit older. He wasn't even looking at Lenny, he was just trying to reach the exit.

"Don't say that! This is the place to be. We'll upgrade you to our penthouse."

The greyest whale still looked uninterested.

"Fine we'll pay you all double. No, triple! Please, you have to stay. Our guests really enjoy your performance."

"Well, of course they do." The smallest whale laughed. "We're the best performers you have in this restaurant."

"Precisely! This is why you should really consider my offer. Triple the amount of golden coins, that doesn't sound too bad, does it?"

This time it was the largest whale with the brown eyes that spoke. He was the first sea animal Beatrice had seen with an eye-colour other than black. "It's a really good offer. Thank you, Lenny, but we really can't stay here. We want to tour the world, we want to see if we can find answers on how to return to the Old World. They must be somewhere... We just have to keep moving. I'm sorry." He gave Lenny an apologetic smile and followed his friends towards the exit.

They couldn't go... Beatrice wanted to hear them sing again. She wanted to feel understood once more. If they left, she would never have that feeling back. She had to do something. Without hesitating, without thinking; Beatrice opened her mouth.

"That's dumb! Why go through all the trouble of travelling somewhere else when it's highly likely that someone that does know the answers will be staying at this hotel or eating at this restaurant at some point. Stay here and you'll meet them, go away and you won't."

The three whales turned around. They were all looking directly at her. Beatrice gulped. Sometimes she wished that she could turn invisible.

Curiously, the greyest whale approached her. "You're human?" he asked. "How incredibly intriguing. I thought they had gone extinct."

This threw Beatrice off. What could she respond to that? "Eh.. Well, we're not. I'm still alive."

"Yes, I see. What's your name?"

Apparently Lenny felt the need to insert himself into the conversation. "Her name's Bee. She's a nice kid, I'm sure she'll answer any of your questions. She's here to look for a way out too. I think you'll all get along nicely."

The next choice of words that came out of Beatrice's mouth weren't entirely intentional, but she was very tired and slightly irritated by the eel's willingness to speak on her behalf so it just kind of came out of her mouth: "Jeez, thanks, Lenny."

This made the smallest whale laugh, again. Was everything just a big joke to him, Beatrice wondered.

"I suppose we could stay for a while then. I'd like to get to know you a bit better, Bee. You see, I've been studying the sea for quite some time. I never had the chance to study a human. This would be a really big opportunity for me. We'll stay here and I get the chance to do a few interviews with you, is that alright?" the greyest whale asked.