Paradise

I swam towards the glass, hitting it in a weak attempt to free myself. It hurt enough to knock some sense into me and I didn’t plan to do it again. I retreated behind a large reef in the tank. I was embarrassed, but also tired of all the people eyeing me. The other’s liked the attention, but I am an introvert. I missed the randomness and vastness of my home.

I’m an idiot, I thought to myself. I had gotten myself into this predicament. I didn’t appreciate what I had while I had it. Dumb Maverick, he had sold me a lie! I remembered that day when they tossed Maverick back into the water. The little people and their little fins. They put Maverick into the water and then swam away above the water. I was worried, was this really Maverick? He had been missing for weeks after that Orca had attacked and gotten a nice bite out of him. I thought he was a goner for sure, especially because I haven’t seen him since that day. Now I was staring him up and down and he looked great.

“Where have you been man?” I asked him with a flash of my pearly whites, “You’re looking good!”

He swam around quickly as if he was stretching his fins. “Man, I’ve been living like a king!” he exclaimed.

“Tell me more,” I said.

“After getting hurt, I thought that it was the end for me, so I swam over to the human area. I figured watching them would give me a little entertainment before I passed away. There was a commotion and I saw a boat with people coming over to me. I was too weak to swim away and they grabbed me. Next thing you know I wake up in a smaller home with other sharks and fish. They were so cool there. The best part is, no Orcas, nobody trying to eat me. No, actually the best part was the food! It came to me. A couple times a day it fell right down to me, nice and fresh and tasty. I was living the life. Plus, I was watching all the humans I wanted to without them screaming and running away”

“Wow, that sounds cool,” I said, “I wish that I could be there, especially with no Orcas, that would be a dream.”

“Yeah, I wish they’d take me back, I have to figure out a way to get back, I hate it here already. See you later though, I have to figure this out.” Maverick said swimming off.

I told all the other sharks about it and they just laughed. “One day I’m going to go there,” I said. I know I was all talk, I didn’t really plan to go there, but it was a nice fantasy. A couple weeks later, I saw Maverick again. I had smelled blood and followed the smell to a shark feeding frenzy. There were a bunch of us there. Maverick looked skinny and sickly. We all ate and left the rest for Maverick. We were making jokes about him and laughing so hard that we didn’t see the Orca until it had Maverick in his mouth. Maverick looked over at me desperately before his blood filled the water. I swam off as fast as I could, knowing that there was no saving Maverick this time. I cried so hard when I got far enough away. The image of him played back to back in my head. The desperation in his eyes. He wanted to get back to his paradise, not die here… like that.

I needed to get out of here. I needed to go to that place that he had been to. I was tired of watching my back and tired of hunting tirelessly for food. I have to get hurt and go up to the human area, I decided. The next day I stared at a jagged coral reef. It was close to the human area, so I wouldn’t have to swim far to get there once I was hurt. I imagined myself running into the reef, but my body wouldn’t let me do it. I closed my eyes and imagined Maverick’s face right before he died. This is for you Maverick I said swimming into the reef as quickly as my fins allowed. I scraped up my fins pretty badly. I could smell and see the blood spread. I had to get out of the area fast or the other sharks might make me a quick dinner. Even worse if an Orca was in the area, I’d be a snack. I started to swim towards the human area, but I was moving so slow. Slow and steady I thought. Thoughts started running through my mind about what I did and what if the humans don’t take me with them. The thoughts were quickly replaced when I saw a large shadow swim over me. An Orca! It made eye contact with me before it’s body shifted into my direction and shot towards me. I could have lost all my fins, but at that point I was swimming my heart out and as fast as I could. I could feel his hot breath behind me on my tail and I kept swimming quickly. I don’t know what happened next, but I felt hot sand under my body and the sun beaming on me. I think I swam out onto the land. I was on the beach gasping for water. I couldn’t breathe. Before I could take my last breath I saw humans surrounding me. I laughed at how funny these little creatures looked up close. I would have to joke about this with Maverick once I passed over to the other side. Suddenly buckets of water were poured over my body, over and over. People finally came and they took me to the paradise Maverick had told me about.

Except it wasn’t paradise. I had been there for weeks. It was so little and the people’s faces and voices had grown annoying. The laughing and pointing constantly for hours was tiring. And worst the food was not as fresh as Maverick made it out to be and I couldn’t hunt for more if I was still hungry. I was locked in glass with no way to escape. The other sharks weren’t cool, they were uppity. They thought they were better than me and made fun of where I came from. They made fun of me daily, jokes about me having to run and fight my whole life. I would rather be out there with the other sharks, the ones that didn’t really rely on humans to bring them the same food all the time. The ones that hunted like real sharks and swam wherever they wanted to swim.

Miles was the only cool shark there. He was missing teeth and had to be on a special diet. All the other sharks called him Smiles to make fun of him. He missed home just like me. We would spend our days talking about our adventures in the past. He had far more than me, but he was quite older. He told me that this was my life now and that I should just make the best of it. He had been there for years now and got used to this life. The people pointing and staring didn’t bother him anymore and he was very comfortable. I followed his advice and started to give the people a show. I was always on time for feedings and I got very comfortable.

The day that I noticed my fin had started to feel and look better was a sad day. Sad, because the humans noticed as well. They wasted no time throwing me back into my home, the Ocean. “Where have you been TJ? By the way, you look good!” Norman exclaimed when he saw me. I told him about the paradise that I had just come from. He said he wanted to go and how cool it sounded. That night I didn’t sleep well. It was so loud and the fear of being eaten was on my mind. The next day I went hunting for food. The fish were much faster than I remembered. I couldn’t catch anything. The sleep deprivation didn’t help. I was so used to being pampered now that I forgot how to be a real shark.

“Wow, you lost a lot of weight TJ!” One of the other sharks said a couple of weeks later.

“He’s on a diet, trying to get ready to steal all the ladies in the summer.” Another said.

“Watch out mating season here he comes!” They all joked, laughing at me in my fragile state.

“Here, take this.” One shark tossed me a piece of food and I grabbed it and ate it quickly.I hadn’t been able to catch much on my own lately. Food coming to me gave me a flashback of how good I had it in the aquarium. I need to get back, back to the humans, back to Miles. I didn’t want to live like this anymore. I stared at the jagged coral reef the next day. This time I would have to do more damage, this time I would hurt myself so bad that they would never be able to put me back here. I closed my eyes and rushed towards the jagged reef.