Escaping Undersea

No one saw Mama when she went missing. It was 4 days ago when she told us she needed to go to the water to take her mind off things. Maybe she was going to think about how hard life would be now that Dad abandoned us. Maybe not. Either way, she left us high and dry, without a note.

"Corrinne, what are we gonna have for dinner?” Oliver asked.

"I dunno. Maybe tonight Mama will come back and cook dinner,” I replied though this was unlikely.

Last year in 1973, my family was picture perfect. We had a house near the ocean in Newport, Rhode Island. Mama and Dad loved each other and loved Oliver and me. It wasn’t until Mama was fired from her teaching job, and we were nearly homeless that everything went wrong. Regardless of the cause, he and Mama were gone, and in due time, CPS would surely come for us.

“Can we look for Mama, Corrinne?” Oliver inquired before I lifted my head his way.

“What?”

“Can we look for Mama?” he repeated.

“We can’t go much longer without her. We’re both not old enough to get a job, and nobody wants us,” he continued.

It was already hard enough looking after a 12-year-old, especially being 2 years older, but I couldn’t resist his convincing puppy-dog eyes.

“Fine. But you need to stay by me. I can not lose you too,” I gave in.

It was 9:30 AM time when we left the house. We brought swimsuits, snorkels, and a couple packets of Fun Dip. The salty, tear-like smell of the ocean reminded me of when Dad took us fishing. His strawberry blonde hair flowed in the wind as he handed us our fishing rods.

“Daddy?” Oliver started. He was 6 then.

“What?” Dad replied, clearly annoyed because Oliver was interrupting his focus.

“Where is mommy?” Oliver asked.

Mom was at the beach on the other side of town, fuming from their last fight, but of course, it was not known. He told us to “forget about your mom.” He said he wanted to give me and Oliver a “real-life experience” so we can teach our kids how to fish. If it means that they have to forget about someone they love, I won’t ever teach my kids to fish.

We ended up in the ocean where Mom was last seen, when all of a sudden, something pulled us beneath the water. It sunk us down into the depths of the ocean- further and further- until our knees were scratched by sand and our faces were red from asphyxiation. After 15 seconds, the water stopped and we could finally catch our breath. We were taken to a place that looked like a mixture of Orbit City from Jetsons and Newport. There were buildings high as the eye could see connected by an inadequate rod, and flying cars, but the ground was just like Newport. I first took notice of how this underwater Atlantis, everyone walked with a mysterious black notebook in their hands and a dead, empty look in their eyes.

“Oliver?!” I realized we were no longer together.

I began running around, scanning for a tan boy with his father’s same strawberry blonde hair. I barged into every house for my brother. Before I could think of a plan, a beast with 4 eyes, 40 fingers, 3 hairs, and a 50’s-esque yellow tuxedo, approached me.

“Are you lost?” It whispered.

“Yes, I need to find my brother, and I don’t know where I’m at,” I cried.

“Oh. What did he look like?”

“He was ta-tan colored. He had brown eyes, and r-red striped shorts,” I fumbled.

“You have to come with me then,” It said seriously.

We walked silently until we approached his house. He took my hand and guided me to a hidden compartment under a rug.

“You have to hide in here. I know I didn't tell you this, but if Boss sees you,” he snarled, “they’ll take you to their higher up for money. I’ll be back, I'm going to find your brother.”

Despite being confused, I asked no questions.

The compartment was stuffy. It was kind of like a bedroom, with concrete walls and a modest cot in its corner.

Two hours later, the beast came back to his house, with a small boy in his hand.

“Oliver!” I exclaimed, elated from his presence. I turned around back to the beast. “Thank you so much for finding him! What is your name?”

“You’re very welcome. My name is Varstne,” he replied, “We aren’t done. I’ve got to get you out of here. Humans who don't escape are going to be cashed in for money for a contest."

Unexpectedly, a booming sound met Varstne's door.

"Oh no, Boss is here! Hide now and don't make a sound!" He didn't want to scare us, but the way he stressed "don't" reeked of fear like a rotten banana does in a sewer.

Boss was a very tall woman. She wore a fashionable baby blue shirt and skirt. And Boss was very demanding.

Varstne ran to each of Boss's needs, like getting a glass of water, deviled eggs, and carrot cake. Whenever Varstne messed up- whether the water was too hot or cold, there was too much paprika on the eggs, or the carrot cake was simply "decent"- Boss insulted him. But Oliver and I stayed in the compartment silent as jellyfish.

"Did you lure any humans?" she snarled.

"No,"

"I can tell you're lying. Your irises are changing colors,"

"I'm sorry boss, I found 2 kids today," Varstne put his head down guiltily.

She wickedly smirked before saying, "Give them to me."

"No!" Varstne protested.

"Servant," she bitterly emphasized, "I am going to win the contest. I will win $20,000. Give me the kids. Now. GIVE THEM TO ME!" She shrieked when he refused. She slammed her black notebook onto the table and flipped to the first page that said in bold letters:

CONTEST:

Objective: Collect the humans above water

Prize: $20,000 and a chance to go back to the surface

EXCLUSIVELY FOR BOSSES

Closes: Oct. 31, 1974

"Kids, come out!" She switched her tone, and gingerly spoke aloud.

"What should we do Corrinne?" Oliver whispered.

"You can come out," Varnest said defeatedly.

We both walked out scared of Boss and what she might do to us.

"Corrinne? Oliver? What are you doing here?" She then turned to Varstne. "What are our kids doing here, Servant?"

"Mom?!" Oliver and I spluttered at the same time. In the compartment, we couldn't see Boss very well.

"Why did you leave us?" I managed to say through sobs.

"Oh," Mama sighed. "When your dad left, I felt so hopeless. I wanted to end it all; you guys are old enough to know what I'm talking about. I wanted my last day to be spent at the ocean. I walked further and further into the water. Then, I felt something pull me down. I ended up here. I pretended to be a boss, and got assigned Varnest, which is an anagram for 'Servant'. We started to talk, and I found out that Varnest was actually your dad," she continued despite my loud gasp, "When you are a servant, you become hideous and lose your memory of important things like kids, wife, and hobbies- which is why he doesn't remember you guys- but he remembers vague things like what he used to look like and his house. I was so angry at him for abandoning me -I know, it's hypocritical- until I realized, he never abandoned us. He went fishing again and was trapped here. Even though we occasionally fought, we both understood that we had to win the contest to get back to you two. Undersea has a contest annually, and I knew it could save our family. I started to work until I became the best at luring people down here, but never in 1,000 years would've guessed we'd capture you." She concluded.

"Let's escape," Oliver suggested so quietly, the words barely left his mouth.

October 31, 2 days after we arrived, came quickly. We’d spent all day making wax humans in place of real ones to spare human lives. That day, Mama went to her overseer's palace and presented him with 10,001 wax humans. Her overseer’s eyes popped out looking at our 10,001 people in comparison to the other bosses, who’d captured at most 25 people.

“I think we all know who the winner is,” the higher-up shouted. He handed Mama the check for $20,000, without noticing how fake the humans were. He created a staircase of sand that led Mama back to our house in Rhode Island. In her 3 suitcases hid Daddy, Oliver, and I. My heart pounded anxiously at the thought that our plan wouldn’t be successful. She was halfway up the stairs to freedom, when Oliver went into a coughing fit.

“What was that Hilda?” he asked Ma.

“Sorry, I’m allergic to s-sh-shellfish, so I’m coughing,” she fibbed.

“Show me your suitcase.” demanded the overseer.

“No, sir, I can't do that.”

“SHOW ME YOUR SUITCASE NOW, HILDA!”

“No!”

Every time the Overseer's ego gets cracked, his brain-washing, memory forgetting spell become less effective. There were murmurs across the other bosses, who were slowly realizing how evil he was. The first person freed from his spell said, “RUN!” One by one, each of the 100 bosses and their servants conquered their overseer, giving Mama more time to take us home.

When we officially left Undersea, Mama unzipped the suitcases we were in and we swam to the surface.

Oliver put his ears to the water, waiting.

“What are you waiting for Oliver?”

He motioned “5...4...3...2...1” and on cue, Mama’s old overseer wailed, “NO!!!” because not only was his ego crushed, but he discovered that our humans were in fact, forgery, and wouldn’t be carrying out his nefarious plan of eating people for the Feast of Royale.

We’d been home for 15 minutes when someone knocked on our door. I opened it, smacking on the Fun Dip I'd packed at the beginning of the journey.

“Hello. I’m working with Child Protective Services-” The young man begins.

“It’s alright,” I interrupt. “My family is back and we're $20,000 richer!” I say, grinning ear to ear.