Underwater Creatures

Underwater Creatures

     Madda almost ran into her front door as she raced into her residence. The sliding door barely slid open wide enough for her to slip through it sideways. She did hook her foot on the door frame though. That sent her to the floor. Her cupped hands still held what she had in them.

     Jackan came running into the front hallway when he heard Madda yelling, “Look what I found.”

     “What are you screaming about?” Jackan asked as he tripped over Madda.

     “I wasn’t screaming. Was I?”

     Jackan got up. Then he helped Madda get up after she tried to do it on her own. “What do you have in your hands? Whatever it is, it must be pretty important. You could have gotten up on your own if you didn’t have that.”

     Madda looked down at her hands as she opened them slowly. Peeking within them as she did it. A small ball of light blue fur uncurled in Madda’s hand. It barely fit within that hand. “Can I keep it?”

     Jackan cautiously stepped closer. He got down on one knee, bending forward slightly, to get a better look at it. Then jumped back when it moved. “What is that? Where did you get it?”

     “I was hoping you would know what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you?”

     “You shouldn’t have brought that in here. Why did you even pick it up? It could have bitten you.”

     Madda lightly stroked it with one of her fingers. “I tested it carefully before I picked it up. It didn’t bite me. I’m not even sure it has teeth.” Madda stopped stroking the creature. She grabbed a hold of one of Jackan’s fingers. And guided it to the creature.

     Jackan started to pull away. But then he let Madda finish what she was doing. His finger still hovered a little above it for a few seconds. Then he barely touched it. After about a minute he started stroking it gently.

     “You didn’t find it in the city. It must have been in the kid’s garden. I’ve never liked you kids having your own gardens – especially since they are just outside the underwater cities. I know every city has one, but I don’t have to like it. It’s too dangerous outside.”

     “There isn’t any danger. I go out there three times a week to work in our garden. And I have never had a problem. The only creatures on Kaasom are in the cities.”

     “That may have been true. But it’s not anymore. It could be very dangerous out there now. I don’t want you to go back there – especially if this is what I think it is.”

     “You know what this is. What is it? Is it really dangerous?”

     Jackan only stroked the creature a few times. Then he broke contact with Madda. Once he did that she took over stroking it again – until now. Madda not only stopped the stroking she put in on a nearby table. Then put an empty vase over it. Jackan quickly removed the vase. “You don’t want to kill it. That creature might be the only one of its kind still alive.”

     Madda looked at the creature then at Jackan. “You don’t think it is though.”

     “If it’s what I think it is, no I don’t. I’ve only seen it in images. But it looks a like something that used to live on the surface of Kaasom several centuries ago. If it is the same thing we could be in a lot of danger. That’s an infant. When it grows up, and they do within weeks, they can get very big.”

     “How big can they get?” Madda eyes practically popped out of her head. She kept darting her head between Jackan and the creature.

     “It can get to be about half your size. And they are very mean. They also like to eat live flesh.”

     Madda put the vase back over it. “I think we should kill it before it kills us.”

     “I think you need to show me where exactly you found it. We need to know for sure if there are any more of them. According to myths these creatures are the ones who almost killed us off and drove us to learn to live underwater. If there are any others out there we have to know about them.”

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     Jackan and Madda walked in the water like they were walking on land. Only they weren’t touching the bottom. Suddenly, Jackan stopped. Then looked back at the underwater domed city. They were only a few hundred feet away. But it was already very hard to see the buildings, and the other Vaasoms, because of all the water within it.

     After another minute of looking at Vaasom Jackan and Madda continued on. They walked in silence for several minutes. Then they heard the screaming. A few seconds later two kids, a male and a female, about Madda’s age, ten, came running toward them. Bits of their flesh already missing.

     “There are a bunch of monsters attacking us in there.” The male said as he ran past them.

     “There’s about a million of them. And they are as big as we are.” The female said while running next to her friend.

     “How many are there really?” Jackan turned toward them.

     “Not that many, but there are several thousands of them though.” The female glanced back as she continued running. She could barely be heard.

     “They came from deeper within the caves. We didn’t even see them coming until it was too late.” The male said.

     Jackan turned toward Madda. “How many kids are there on average?”

     “About a hundred. We have to go help them.”

     “I think it’s too late for them.” Jackan and Madda both turned back toward Vaasom. “If there are that many of those creatures, we are probably all dead. Maybe even everyone on Kaasom.”