Children of the Tide

by Theo Shapiro

  ****

  That night Trapper hardly said a word to his mother. He kept playing out the events from after school. He couldn’t figure out how he got wrapped up in this adventure. The most exciting thing he had ever done was try a new route to get home and changed his mind when he was half way there. When he told his mom he felt so guilty and nervous that he blew up. When his mom asked him what caused it he came up with the excuse that there was a quiz next week he didn’t think he was ready for.

  Lying in his bed he considered just staying there at least a dozen times, but every time he thought of Sole standing up for him and the idea of disappointing her and proving Corsair right was worse than getting eaten on this adventure.

  When it was dark enough Trapper cautiously peeked his head outside the reef making sure there was no one around. After checking and double-checking he left his room. The swim to the Black Rock took around ten minutes, but in the dark it felt like he was trying to swim around the globe. When he neared the Black Rock he heard Corsair and Sole laughing. Trapper was almost positive they were laughing at his expense. When he came into sight Corsair stopped laughing and looked shocked. Trapper thought that look already made the trip worth it. Sole smiled at him.

  “Well,” Corsair said. “Now that we’re all here let’s get going shall we?”

  “Where are we going?” Trapper asked.

  “All right I guess I’ll let you know the surprise. I heard from a friend that three reefs away and over a wall is a wreck. One of the Fit Tún’s ships. From what I hear it was some supply ship that they used to transport things across the ocean. This wreck supposedly sunk no more than three days ago, so I bet we can find some good things in there before some scavengers come around or something makes it their new home.”

  This time Sole had a look of fear on her face that matched Trapper’s. “Are you crazy? Going near anything that belongs to a Fit Tún is a death wish. If swimming all that way out to the wreck doesn’t kill us then that ship will become our grave for sure. I can’t believe I came out here, I’m going home.”

  Trapper felt relief wash over him. He was thinking the same thing, but he was thrilled that he wasn’t the one to say it.

  Corsair wasn’t going to give up that easily though. “How many fish do you know that went into an actual Fit Tún ship? None, because they’re all too scared.” Or smart, Trapper thought to himself.

  Corsair must have prepared for this skepticism because he seemed to have a whole speech ready. Basically he went on and on about living life to the fullest, taking chances, being bold explorers and leaving their mark. All Trapper heard was “living” and “life”. Both he thought would come to an end if they went to the Fit Tún ship. Apparently Sole heard a bit more of Corsair’s speech because she had a change of heart.

  “All right, I’m in. Trapper, you’re coming too right?”

  Tide comes in, tide goes out, tide comes in. “I-I-I don’t know. I’m not sure if this is such a good idea.”

  “See? I told you he would back out, Sole. Some fish just aren’t cut out for adventure.”

  “Trapper’s not backing out, are you?” Trapper could hear the hopefulness in her voice. For some reason she wanted him to come along. He could easily turn around and swim home. The only thing he would lose is the respect of the only fish that was nice to him. Not too large a loss considering there were about three hundred other fish that already laughed at him. The other thing would be for him to go and probably wuss out later. At least that would mean I would be with Sole for a bit longer and Corsair wouldn’t be alone with her.

  “All right, I’ll go.”

  Once they were all agreed they took off, Corsair in the front and Sole and Trapper following close behind. Trapper had never been past the Black Rock before. His mother had taken him out there before to show him the limit of the reef. The point was to show that anything past that point meant death. Now he was way past that point. Corsair had said they would be swimming past three other reefs, but they never saw them. Corsair assured them they were there but it was too dark to see.

  The next point they came to was the wall. A wall is a point in the ocean where the bottom drops off and goes down thousands of feet. Trapper heard that at the bottom of the wall were all sorts of strange creatures each more dangerous than the next. As they swam over the dark descending hole Trapper imagined all kinds of things swimming up to drag them to the bottom of the ocean floor. It was a miracle Trapper made it over the empty space without blowing up.

  When they made it to where the ocean floor was level again Corsair assured them they were almost there. Trapper noticed his breathing was uneasy, like one of his gills had closed up. Next to him he heard Sole gracefully swishing her tail back and forth like they were out for a swim just around the reef. Trapper focused on her calming presence and felt himself start to breathe normally.

  The three of them swam farther still into the black abyss and Trapper started to feel a sense of hope. Maybe there was no ship; maybe it was just some story. They would swim a bit farther, realize there was no ship and head home. “

  “Is there even a ship out here or is this some kind of joke?” Sole asked, seemingly reading Trapper’s mind.

  “Oh it’s out here.” Corsair assured her. “I heard about it from a reliable source. I heard it from that old eel, Mandin.”

  “Mad Mandin!?” Sole exclaimed. “He’s crazy! He’s always telling stories and tall tales.”

  “That’s not true, he travels all over the ocean and he knows more than anyone I know.”

  “Mad Mandin went around telling everyone he saw sea turtle traveling with a Jellyfish. How ridiculous is that?”

  Despite all his fear Trapper started chuckling. The idea of a Jellyfish and a sea turtle in the same facility is crazy enough, but the idea of them traveling together?

  “Hey, if Mandin said he saw it then he saw it, and I will bet my right fin that there’s a wreck out here.”

  “If we don’t see some sign of a wreck in the next few minutes Trapper and I are heading home and leaving you out here all alone.” Trapper had never hoped for anything so much in his life before.

  “You’ll see, it’s out here.”

  As soon as Corsair stopped talking Trapper saw a large shape forming in the darkness. It was still too far away and too dark to make out any features, but it was large and unlike anything he had ever seen before. As they swam closer he waited for Corsair to start bragging, but even he was speechless and Trapper glanced over at him and thought he saw a look of fear. Sole had a look of fear as well, but she also had a look of excitement as well.

  Now they were close enough to make out several details of the large figure. It was without a doubt a ship. As soon as Trapper realized what it was he quickly expanded, but this time he felt no shame and Corsair didn’t make a single wisecrack. From the look on Corsair’s face he wasn’t expecting the ship to look like it did.

  The ship rose out of the ocean floor like it grew there. The ship was lying on the floor perfectly flat like it would if it was sailing on the surface. The ship looked to be about fifty yards in length and twenty yards wide. The bottom was a rusted orange and the rest a dark grey. Near the front of the ship was a closed off cabin where the Fit Tún could control and navigate the ship. Behind the cabin was a large open deck. On the deck were twin towers of metal that went off on each side of the ship. Old ropes and wires ran between the two towers. Scattered around the ship were bits of metal and junk that looked to be a part of the ship. On the side of the ship was some Fit Tún writing in bold print, but none of them could read it. Right in the middle of the ship was a large hole. Trapper could see right into the ship and saw a few rooms and places the Fit Tún could go to for cover.

  Trapper could see the ship sailing on top of the ocean and pictured a bunch of Fit Tún crawling all over it, probably using the ship to hunt and kill hundreds of innocent fish. Trapper realized he was still expanded and figured even if he said his calming phrase over and over
a hundred times it wouldn’t do any good. He wasn’t even sure if he would ever go back to his normal size.

  “Well?” Sole asked. “Are we going to go investigate it or just gawk at it?”

  Trapper turned his swollen body toward Sole, not believing what she just said. It looked like Corsair hadn’t heard her as he continued to stare at the ship as if he was hypnotized.

  “Come on you guppies.” Sole sang as she started swimming toward the ship. Corsair’s trance seemed to break and he shouted for Sole to wait up and went swimming after her. Trapper was left to watch them swim toward the ship that would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. Every fiber in his body was urging him to turn around, but there were a couple problems. First, in his state he would be able to swim as fast as a sea cucumber. Second, he wasn’t sure he could find his way home.

  As much as he hated to admit it his best chance of survival was to stay with Corsair and Sole. Once he made this decision Trapper could also hear a tiny voice in his head saying that if he left Sole and something happened to her he would never forgive himself. Once Trapper made the decision he felt better and he felt himself returning to normal. Once he was back to his normal size he took off after Sole and Corsair.

  When he reached them they were already hovering over the open deck of the boat. There was little rust on the boat from the ocean, so Mad Mandin must have been telling the truth that it just sunk. In a matter of a few days Trapper was sure there would be all kinds of fish and sea creatures that would turn this wreck into a reef and make it their new home. Trapper knew from his mother that evil follows evil. She had told him about wrecks before and that he should avoid them at all costs. She explained that the Fit Tún are considered the most dangerous things to ocean life and anything they touch is designed to bring death. This included the ships they used to travel on top of the seas. She had told him that once they were wrecked and on the bottom of the ocean, of no use to the Fit Tún anymore, they were still dangerous. She told him that the wrecks attracted some of the most dangerous sea creatures; sharks, rays, squid, eels, lionfish, and barracuda. Something about the lingering presence of the Fit Tún attracted these aggressive creatures. If this was an older wreck Trapper doubted Corsair would have dared to come investigate the wreck. There was no guarantee that the wreck was still uninhabited.

  After they circled the wreck a couple times, neither of them saying a word either too infatuated with the wreck or scared to make a sound, Trapper hoped the other two’s thirst for adventure was filled and they would head home. Then Corsair seemed to regain some of his bravery. “Let’s go inside.”

  Trapper stopped dead in the water. “No way, this is getting crazy. We are pushing our luck. Let’s just go home.”

  “No way! When will you get a chance like this again? Even if we came back tomorrow night there will likely be some predators lurking around. We have this whole wreck to ourselves.

  “We don’t know that. There could be anything inside just waiting for us.”

  “I have to agree with Trapper, maybe we should just go home. I don’t think going inside is such a good idea.” Sole said. Her singsong voice was barely above a whisper but Trapper could still hear how uncomfortable she sounded. “Besides, if anyone finds out what we’re up too or where we went we’ll be in massive trouble.”

  “Come on Sole, I expected this from the inflating ball, but not from you. I thought you were cool, but it turns out you’re just another lame fish.”

  Trapper could deal with insults directed at him, but for the first time he felt anger boiling inside him. This wasn’t the feeling of blowing up, but the feeling of increasing anger and bravery. “Shut up Corsair! Don’t you dare say another word about Sole. She is a braver fish than you! I saw your face, I saw how scared you were when we first saw the ship. Was I scared? Yeah, I was…am scared. I’m scared of a lot of things, but at least I don’t pretend to be something I’m not, like you. If you were so brave you would have come out here on your own, but instead you had to get us to come with you. If we didn’t come along I doubt you would have ever made it out here. Now Sole and I are going home and if you want to come along you can or you can stay here.”

  Corsair was staring at Trapper with his mouth hanging open and Sole had an expression that was a cross between a smile and disbelief. Trapper was about to turn and start heading in the direction he hoped was home when a light came on inside the ship. The light was coming from the cabin where there was an asset of stairs that led below deck. The three of them starred at the light not daring to move, afraid that if they did the light would illuminate them and whatever was causing the light would come and eat them.

  The light flicked to the right and left and back again. Then the light went out. The wreck was again covered in complete darkness. The three of them waited, each holding their breath, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did Trapper realized he was blown up again. He closed his eyes. Tide comes in, tide goes out, tide comes in, tide goes out. When he opened his eyes he was back to normal and was ready to get going, but he realized he was alone.

  Panicked, Trapper looked in all directions and then saw Sole and Corsair were swimming toward the cabin. Trapper quickly caught up to them. “What are you two doing? We need to get out of here, there’s something in the ship.”

  Sole answered, “Trapper have you ever seen a light like that before in your life? We have to find out what caused it. The light was so beautiful.”

  “Sole please, this is a bad idea. Trust me, nothing good can come from this wreck. I don’t know what that light was, but I promise you it can’t be good.”

  “I just want to take a quick look and then we go home right away. Please Trapper, I would feel so much better if you were with me.”

  Trapper noticed a look from Corsair. Was that jealousy? Was Corsair actually jealous of him? Trapper let out a long sigh. “Ok Sole, I’ll go with you but we’re getting out of here right after ok?”

  Sole smiled and moved a bit closer to him. Corsair had turned back to the wreck and was nearly in the cabin. When they entered the cabin there were all kinds of numbers and letters written everywhere, but Trapper had no idea what any of them meant. At the very front of the cabin was a large wheel, which the Fit Tún must have used to steer the ship. Next to it were several levers and an arrow that moved back and forth with four letters surrounded it. Pieces of broken glass was scattered all around the floor.

  To the left of where they entered the cabin was an open doorway with a set of stairs that led below deck. Trapper couldn’t see past the first few stairs. It looked darker down there than the deepest part of the ocean. Trapper was drifting toward the stairs, unaware he was even doing so, when the light turned on again.

  Trapper managed to control himself somehow and quickly moved away from the staircase. Luckily the light was not directed up the stairs, but seemed to be searching below deck. Then the light started blinking; on and off, on and off, on and off. Then it stayed on for several seconds then it went off and stayed off.

  Trapper realized Sole was shaking next to him and then she leaned into him. The contact of her reassured him and he felt calm, all the fear was gone. He couldn’t understand why someone like Sole found comfort near him, but she did and this gave him a strength he never knew he had.

  Trapper looked around and couldn’t see Corsair anywhere. “Corsair! Corsair!” Trapper called out. Had something happened to him? Had the light gotten him? Then Trapper saw him. He had hid behind the door. After Trapper called for him two more times Corsair finally came out of his hiding place. Corsair looked embarrassed. Trapper considered saying something about Corsair’s apparent lack of bravery, but he actually felt sorry for Corsair and knew what it was like to be embarrassed and scared better than anyone. Instead he turned back to Sole to make sure she was ok.

  The three of them watched down the stairs waiting for the light to come back on, but there was no sign of it. Trapper had a feeling that if he brought up the idea of going home, b
ut for some reason he didn’t want to. Trapper wanted to know what was down there. He knew that if he left now he would spend the rest of his life wondering about the light. Also he felt something changing inside him. In the past several minutes he had experienced more fear than he had his entire life put together, but he had also been braver than he had ever been in his life.

  This bravery was entirely new to him and he didn’t want it to stop. If he pushed on he felt in comparison to this nothing back home would scare him again. “Come on, let’s check it out.” Trapper said. Without waiting for a response Trapper went into the doorway and was swallowed by the darkness.

  Sole took off after him and Corsair lingered behind a moment longer then slowly started to follow. When they reached the bottom of the stairs it took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Being a squirrelfish Corsair had great vision in the dark and he could see best among them. For this reason he had to lead the way even though it was clear he didn’t want to. He led them into a large open. There was Fit Tún belongings scattered all around the place. Near the back of the room was an open hatch that went deeper into the ship.

  Cautiously Corsair swam up to the latch and looked down. Trapper swam beside him and looked as well. He saw all kinds of machines, gears, and bolts. Sole said, “I heard about these things. I think they’re called engines. It’s what powers the ship. There’s something down there.”

  “She’s right.” Corsair said. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not part of the machine. It…it looks like fins.”

  “Fins?” Trapper asked.

  “Yeah, but not like ours or ones that belong to any sea creature I’ve ever seen before. The fins are bright orange with Fit Tún markings on them. Let’s get out of here, I’m done. I’ll admit it, I’m scared now.”

  Trapper was starting to feel more scared than brave now and less brave and was about to agree with Corsair when Sole swam into the engine room.

  “Sole don’t!” Trapper called, but it was too late, she was already swimming around the strange fins. Trapper took a deep breath trying to muster all the newfound courage he could and took off after her. When he reached her he saw it looked like all the color had faded from her. She almost looked like a ghost. Trapper followed her gaze and saw what she was staring at.

  The orange fins didn’t belong to any sea creature, or at least one he had ever heard of before. The creature was as big as some sharks. It had black skin with blue stripes running down the side and more Fit Tún writing on it. Attached to the fins were two long legs. Its face was a different color; it looked to be the color of sand, with brown hair flowing on top. Its eyes were closed and protected by an outer clear shell that was strapped to its’ head. On its back was some type of vest with a metal cylinder strapped to it. From the top of the metal cylinder were several cords. Three of them were black and one of them bright yellow. At the end of three of the cords were strange devices. The last thing Trapper noticed was a shimmering red mist was coming from the creature’s head.

  “What do you think it is?” Sole asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  “I do.” Corsair said. His voice was faint and trembling. It sounded like he was fifty feet away instead of right next to them. “Mad Mandln explained them to me. It’s a Fit Tún.”

  “There’s no way that’s a Fit Tún. They can’t stay underwater. And they don’t have those things on their back or eyes.”

  “I’m telling you, Mandin explained them to me. He said he’s seen them several times and looking just like this one. He told me that they wore those suits to protect them from the water. Those things over its eyes are so it can see underwater. Those fins help it move and that thing on its’ back somehow gives it air to breath so it can stay down longer.”

  “I can’t believe it.” Trapper heard himself say. He was actually in the same room as a Fit Tún. The three of them stared at the body for a few minutes when Trapper noticed a bit of light. It wasn’t the light they had seen earlier, but a natural light coming from the outside. It was another hole in the side of the boat. This one was much smaller, about the size of two of Corsair’s eyes put together.

  Corsair saw the hole too and swam up to it. He was about to look through the hole when a massive shark’s eye appeared in the window. The eye had a long scar running down it. Corsair let out a scream and took off swimming.

  Corsair rushed past Sole and Trapper and hit the latch as he exited the engine room. As Trapper stood transfixed on the shark’s eye, which was searching the engine room, he noticed that the latch was slowly closing. He realized Corsair must have bumped the latch, which was slowly shutting. He took off toward the latch as fast as he could.

  As Trapper swam he wasn’t thinking. In fact he didn’t even remember moving. To him it’s like he teleported from one place to another. When he reached the latch there was just two inches before it shut and sealed them in there with the Fit Tún for the rest of their lives.

  Trapper realized there was enough space for him to squeeze through and he could escape, try and get by the shark, and be home in a couple hours and never leave his mom’s side again. But that’s not what he did. Trapper noticed that Sole was swimming as fast as she could to reach the latch, but she was too far back and wasn’t going to make it before it closed.

  Still without thinking Trapper stopped in between the latch and the hinge before it sealed shut. The latch was heavy and smushed him between the latch and its’ metal frame. Thanks to his chubby body the weight didn’t crush him, but it was too heavy to lift. Trapper was stuck.

  When Sole reached his side she knew what he had tried to do for her. “Oh Trapper, you should have just kept going. You could have made it out of here and been halfway home. Why did you do that?”

  The latch was pushing the air out of him and he found it difficult to speak. “Couldn’t…leave…you. Not…much …help…though.” Even with Trapper’s thick body in between the latch and its’ hinge there wasn’t enough space for Sole to swim through. Sole was just as stuck as he was.

  Trapper could see Sole was close to crying. “I always knew how brave you were.” Sole leaned forward and kissed him on the side of the face.

  Trapper was surprised to feel anger over anything else. His whole life he had been picked on. Now that he was getting some bravery, done something worthwhile, and been kissed by the girl of his dreams but he was about to die. It wasn’t fair. Trapper’s life ran through his eyes, each scene more pathetic than the next, but he knew if he could make it out of here everything would be different. He would learn to control….That’s it! Trapper thought to himself. “Sole, move back I’m getting us out of here.”

  Sole moved back and Trapper closed his eyes. He concentrated and thought of one thing; Sole. He felt the internal pressure rise up in him. He could feel himself starting to expand, and then he felt the block of the latch. He felt the pressure increasing, but there was still no movement. For a second he was afraid he would pop like a balloon being squished, but it was the only thing he could do. He kept thinking of Sole and just when he thought he couldn’t build any more pressure he felt the latch move just slightly.

  “You did it!” Sole exclaimed. “Just a bit more!” Trapper continued to expand and felt the latch expand a slight bit more and then a bit more. Trapper couldn’t grow anymore, but there was enough space for Sole to squeeze through. He told her to go through and once she did he said his calming phrase over and over. Once he felt the pressure deflating he moved from between the latch and the hinge, getting out if the way just before it locked in place.

  Sole swam up to him and gave him another kiss, this one much longer and on his lips. Trapper blew up again and Sole started to giggle. “Come on Trapper we still need to get by the sharks and go home.”

  Once Trapper was back to his normal size the two of them swam back into the cabin looking all over the place for any sign of the shark or Corsair. They didn’t see either. Once they were sure they were safe they rushed out of the cabin and
, thanks to Sol’s navigation, rushed home fin in fin.

  When they got home Corsair had already spread a fake story about how the three of them went to the wreck and he had tried to save Sole and Trapper but there was nothing he could do. When Trapper and Sole showed up they were quick to tell the true story. Trapper thought his mom was going to be furious, but instead she said she was so proud of him. Any doubts people had about the telling of their adventure didn’t matter to Trapper because he had Sole. Not only that but his courage continued to grow and he was starting to expand on command only. When others couldn’t stare him anymore they lost interest in picking on him and a few even became his friends.

  Immediately after the adventure Corsair was mocked at school for making up the story of how he tried to save Sole and Trapper by taking on a shark in a Fit Tún wreck. Trapper never said one insulting word to him and the two actually became close friends. In Trapper’s opinion he never would have found his courage or won the love of Sole without him. Corsair doesn’t mind reminding him of that as well.

  Trapper still lost control from time to time, but this is usually caused by a kiss from Sole and Trapper never minded it anymore.