The swamp is gone as you open your eyes. Beneath you, sand—warm and fine—cradles your waking form. Around you, the repetitive break of waves attempts to lull you back to sleep, but there is an urgent sense of doom that wells in your stomach. Lifting your head, you see that you are trapped on a sandbar that is quickly being swallowed by the sea. Beside you, a whale shark wails and you know that this creature is the only chance you have to survive. Do you befriend this animal or is it a fiend? Are you even a kin or are you a whale shark, too? Do you survive?
Shallow Waters had fallen asleep curled up close to his mate like usual, settled in their cozy little set back away from the water home. Their kids were scattered in their own shelters nearby, having left after a shared meal. It was wonderful having them so close, and yet they having their privacy now. With his head resting against Deeper Waters, Shallow fell asleep quickly, the sound of the water near him fading to an easy to ignore noise that lulled him deeper.When he woke, the area he was at was different than where he went to sleep. No more was the shaded area they slept under, to keep the sun from their faces as they slept, or merely rested in the day time. Instead of the softer materials they slept on, he was surrounded by fine, soft sand which confused him. He wasn't used to this sort of sand where he slept. He started to ignore it, to fall back asleep listening to the waves when his stomach churned violently, snapping his eyes open fully. Somehow he'd gotten out to a sandbar and he didn't know just how as those tended to be further out than he could actually swim.
Shallow looked around frantically for Deeper, but didn't spy his mate, their grown children, their shelters...nothing was familiar to him and the sand he was on was getting smaller and smaller. Shallow had a feeling this was it, and then he heard it, a cry beside him and he turned to see a creature similar to the whale shark that had befriended him some time ago, but with a kinder face, and to his surprise colored and marked like his mate. With a cry of hope he moved towards it, and found himself draping over the creature to the best of his ability as it floated him over the water, hooves skimming, and depositing him on the shore, a short time later (though to him it felt like forever). He couldn't help the relief he felt, and he babbled a stream of relieved thanks to the creature.
He wasn't sure how long he laid there on the sand, just thankful to be away from the water, because that deep and he knew he was a goner. Water at a certain depth and he just did not play well together, and he sank like a stone, no matter how he might try to swim. The whale shark was still there, floating nearby and seemingly watching him. Shallow Waters felt a strong connection to it, and couldn't stop giving it the biggest smile ever. It didn't hurt, he figured that it was very close in color to his mate, which made him laugh a little. Deeper Waters as a whale shark was a funny thought, but he knew his mate would have done all he could to rescue him from that sandbar, and the encroaching water, so it was a warm feeling he had at the end of this little adventure. Well, warmth, and a huge side of relief!
(509 words)
