Shawn was preparing for his first summer trip across the ocean by himself. Daddy and Mommy Shark swam up to Shawn to see how he was feeling.
“How’s your fin feeling, Shawn?” Mommy asked. She looked over Shawn’s dorsal fin. It had some odd indentations and was jagged near the top. These were malformities he’s had since birth.
“I’m fine, Mom. I don’t feel anything!” Shawn replied enthusiastically.
“See?” Daddy stated. “Nothing to worry about! We’re not called Great Whites for nothing!”
“Thanks, Dad!”
“I’m just worried is all,” Mommy said.
“He wasn’t born yesterday!” Daddy laughed. Mommy rolled her eyes. Shawn swam around and came up between his parents. He nudged each one and started his journey east.
Shawn swam for some time, watching all the other fishes give way which helped him admire the edge of the coral reefs below before heading further into the ocean.
“Heya, Shawn!” someone greeted. Shawn looked around but didn’t see anyone until the sand kicked up and Otto the Octopus changed his skin shade and textures.
“Oh! Hey, Otto!” Shawn replied happily. “I didn’t see you there. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing great!” One of Otto’s many arms gently grabbed one of Shawn’s fins to pull himself up and around. Each arm would descend onto Shawn while he swam forward so Otto wouldn’t be left behind.
“That’s great to hear! I’m sorry to say we probably won’t see each other for a while.”
“Oh, you going somewhere, buddy?” Otto asked. Three of his arms wrapped around Shawn’s dorsal fin to hang on while the other arms lazily dragged behind.
“Yup! I’m finally heading east!” Otto was measuring Shawn’s size with one tentacle reaching forward and another behind.
“East you say? Yeah, I suspect we won’t see each other for a while. You’ll probably be even bigger by then, too!” Otto almost seemed disappointed. “Don’t let me hold you up, buddy!” Each of Otto’s arms released and he gently fell behind.
“I’ll see you around, Otto!” Shawn called back. Several of Otto’s arms waved in return before he jetted back to his previous location.
Shawn continued swimming for many days and was well on his way to his destination, stopping for food every so often. One day, the sun slowly became blotted out. Shawn looked up to see a long, dark oval above. Curious, Shawn swam up to it and a long droning sound rippled through the water.
“Hello?” Shawn asked.
“Ahh!” the whale screamed unexpectedly but still tried to finish yawning. Shawn ducked under her tail and came around to her side. “Geez, I didn’t see you dear.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve never seen your kind before.”
“Not surprised, honey. I don’t see many like me. My name’s Wilma the Whale. What’s yours?”
“I’m Shawn the Shark! Do you really not see many other whales?”
“Not blue ones, no.”
“Why’s that?” Shawn swam to Wilma’s other side.
“You ever run into a man before, Shawn?” Wilma inspected Shawn’s dorsal fin. Shawn followed her eyes.
“Oh, no. I was born with this. Are they bad?”
“I’ll just say you should avoid them if you see them. Where you headed, Shawn?”
“I’m going east! My first time alone!”
“East? Why, I’m headed that way myself!” Wilma drifted to the surface and exhaled. She took another deep breath and came back down to Shawn. “I’d travel with you but I’m not as fast as some of you whipper snappers.”
“That’s alright,” Shawn replied. “It was nice talking with you, Wilma!”
“Okay, Shawn. Swim safe out there!”
Several days later, Shawn saw something that looked a bit odd. There was a school of tuna jumbled together. Shawn swam closer to investigate. The first tuna to notice Shawn freaked out but couldn’t swim away.
“Here it comes!” the tuna screamed. “The end is nigh! Please have mercy on us!” The tuna’s eyes were tightly shut as he cried out loud.
“Whoa,” Shawn tried to calm him down. “My name’s Shawn. What’s going on here?” The tuna’s eyes popped open.
“Shawn? Shawn, was it? Can you help us, Shawn?”
“Help with what?”
“You can’t see the net? This giant net! It’s captured us! You can let us free. You should let us free! You’re a pretty great guy, right?” The tuna spoke quickly. Shawn now saw the netting that was encasing the school. He’d never seen anything like it and wasn’t sure what to do.
“What’s your name?” Shawn asked while he swam around the netting. The tuna tried to follow him through the other fish inside.
“I’m Tom! Nice to meetchya! So, you’re gonna help, right? You gotta!” Tom wrapped his fin around a nearby tuna and pulled them in. “I’ll give you my cousin Timmy in return!” Timmy pulled away from Tom.
“I’m your brother, Tommy!” Timmy exclaimed. Tom grabbed either side of Timmy’s face. “Stop panicking!” Tom screamed. “Sacrifices must be made! I’ll even throw in my sister Tina!” Another tuna’s eyes widened, and she wiggled deeper into the school and out of view.
“I think I see an opening,” Shawn swam to the top of the net and nudged some of the roping aside. He was starting to create an opening. Tom swam up to him.
“You’re doing it!” Tom tried to squeeze by Shawn’s face but couldn’t fit. “If you… just… move…” Tom desperately tried to push out of the netting.
“Just be patient, Tom! You’re getting me stuck, too!” Shawn replied.
“Hey, watch the chompers, you,” Tom swatted Shawn’s nose. Shawn stopped moving and stared into Tom’s soul. “I’m sorry.” Tom stated quickly.
A clunking noise sounded. The net loosened for a moment and Shawn slipped in, taking Tom with him. The whole net started to move, and they were drawn to the surface.
“No, no, no!” Tina exclaimed. “This is how papa said Uncle Teddy went!” Shawn tried to push through the top again, but it was even tougher now and before they knew it, the whole mess of fish breached the surface. Shawn, nor the tuna, could breathe.
A small, rusty boat floated beside them. There were two men looking at their catch of the day. The fat man took off his hat while he smiled ear to ear. The skinnier man hopped around with joy.
“Would you look at that?” the fat man gazed at the shark. “Tuna and a prize! Finally, we get something for all our hard work!”
“Finally!” the skinny man agreed.
“Oh no!” a third man called out. “We have to dump it!”
“Not again, Manuel!” the fat man stood between the device holding the fish and the third man. “I’m not ditching this so you can feel better about yourself!”
“We don’t keep sharks!”
“We ain’t caught nothin’ on this floating trashcan! When we finally do, you dump it for some shark?” the skinny man joined.
“It’s my boat. Stand aside!” Manuel pushed passed the fat man and tried to lower the net. Shawn and the school of tuna slowly turned in the netting. They were helpless. The net dropped a couple feet, but the device locked up.
“See! It’s a sign!” the fat man stated. Manuel pulled out a knife and reached over to the netting. Manuel noticed Shawn’s dorsal fin before beginning to cut the net. “What are you doing?” Manuel made more cuts. The boat suddenly rocked on the waters and Manuel accidently cut his own hand, but he kept working on the net. The decisive cut was made and the tuna, along with Shawn, slipped back into the ocean. A couple drops of blood hit the water and Shawn took the smell in. Manuel the Man.
“Freedom!” Tom screamed. The tuna scattered and reformed their school off in the distance. Shawn put distance between himself and the boat as well.
“We’re heading back,” the fat man demanded of Manuel. “No wonder you can’t get any help.”
“Fine by me.”
It wasn’t long before Shawn found the coast and could spend his days looking for fresh delicacies. Eventually, he came across another shark: a hammerhead. He was scarred up and down his body and his underside had scars in a pattern not unlike the netting Shawn ran into before.
“What are you doing here, kid?” the hammerhead growled. He prowled the shallower waters and inspected Shawn; his eyes being drawn to Shawn’s dorsal fin.
“Hello!” Shawn replied happily. “I’m Shawn. I’m just shopping for food. What about you? What’s your name?” The hammerhead looked at Shawn for a moment in silence.
“Name’s Hamlin. Shopping, eh? You want to know where the best stuff is, kid?” Hamlin grumbled. Shawn readily agreed and followed Hamlin towards the coast. “What you want is something that doesn’t belong in our water.”
“Oh? Well how do we get that then?” Shawn inquired. Hamlin smirked and nodded ahead.
“Because they don’t know better.”
Shawn swam forward a bit more and came closer to the surface when he finally saw it. Man. Countless men and women swimming on the beach. Some were somehow standing on the water on the way back to the shore.
“I don’t want to mess with them, Hamlin. I don’t think—”
“You’re going to let them win?” Hamlin swam up to Shawn’s face.
“Win what?” Shawn asked in confusion.
“We can’t let them do this to us and get away with it, Shawn!” Hamlin motioned to his scars and Shawn’s fin and turned aggressively to the shoreline.
“You’re still here, Hamlin. You shouldn’t live with such hate!”
“You’ll learn one day, kid. You’ll learn...” Hamlin shook his head disappointedly and left Shawn.
On a dock, Manuel was easing into the water with a floating basket. He worked his way through the waters collecting trash. Before long, Manuel accidentally got caught in an undertow current.
“Shoot,” Manuel uttered to himself. He was swept away from his basket and tried to swim back which quickly tired him out. He soon found himself struggling to stay afloat. His arms flapped in the water and drew the attention of more than a just a few people on shore.
“What is all that racket?” Shawn thought aloud. He could see Hamlin in the distance had sharply turned for the sound, but Shawn didn’t want anything to do with it.
Manuel couldn’t stay afloat. He started to dip below the surface. When his feet touched the bottom that he was hoping to kick off, he didn’t meet sand but broken glass. Manuel’s foot was cut open and blood tainted the water as he struggled to find the surface again. Shawn’s nostrils flared. It smelled familiar. Manuel the Man? Shawn turned to the scent. Hamlin was headed right for him.
Shawn swam faster than he had ever swam before. People above water were screaming when they saw a scarred dorsal fin breach the surface. People brought flotation devices, but Manuel was too far out. The fin swam closer, straight towards Manuel. More screams as a second, partly jagged fin breached the water and headed for Manuel at nearly twice the speed as the first. Hamlin was nearly on top of Manuel when Shawn came crashing into Hamlin’s side. Hamlin nearly bent in two from the impact and was pushed away.
“Don’t touch him, Hamlin!” Shawn yelled.
“It’s us or them,” Hamlin grumbled before limping away.
Shawn came around and gently rose underneath Manuel. Manuel wasn’t sure what was happening but grabbed onto Shawn’s dorsal fin while Shawn gently swam closer to shore. Manuel recognized the unique fin that was Shawn’s and smiled to himself. While swimming, Shawn noticed all sorts of junk basking on the seabed. It was nothing like the coral reef. A floatation device was tossed to Manuel, and he transitioned to that. He patted Shawn on the head and was pulled to the dock.
“We’ll call it even,” Shawn thought. He went back to what he knew and decided it would be best if he left man alone.
About the Creator
Zachary D. Sajdera
I work on my written projects in my free time and whenever something comes to me. I'm a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction.
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