There, In the Depths
Sari placed her mouthpiece in her mouth and looked over at
Homer, who was so terrified of the dive his face had turned white. She gave him a reassuring nod and placed her
mask over her eyes after she checked her gauge one last time. She then gave a thumb's up as she climbed to
the edge of the boat. Tiny, the boat's
captain and Sari's best friend, called out, "Good luck - don't spook any
sharks, now."
The last comment caused Homer to look back, wide-eyed. "Thhh uhh shuhhhk daww theya?" he
said, pointing toward the water. Tiny
looked up - his big, hairy belly bouncing to the rhythm of his laughter.
"Yeah, so you better be careful! Good luck."
Sari, who was looking back at the pair, squinted her eyes -
the only indication that she was laughing.
Then, without warning, jumped in.
Homer remained, looking into the water with eyes wide, praying and
cursing at himself for agreeing to do this.
And for what? To impress a
girl? He put his mask over his eyes and
climbed to the edge. In his terrified
state, Homer forgot to check his gauge before closing his eyes, taking a deep
breath, and diving in.
Tiny laughed to himself and then walked to the stern to look
over and watch the new couple's descent into the deep. As he leaned over the edge, he saw what could
only be a massive great white pass far below, out of the view of his two
friends. It was the largest fish he had
ever seen. Instantly , Tiny screamed to
warn the two, but it was useless. They
were encased in water, like a cherry inside a mold of Jell-O. He ran to the chest to see if he could find
anything that could serve as a warning, but only found a flare gun. That wouldn't work - and he might need it if
something were to happen. Damn, he thought. I hope
the beast keeps swimming away from them.
* * *
Homer's eyes took a few seconds to adjust to the low light,
and he fumbled to light his lamp. He
could see Sari in the distance, deeper and farther out than he was, oblivious
to his location. He swam past several
fish, thinking the entire time how good the chill that burst inside him every
so often felt. It was the chill of
anxiety, of fear, of excitement. The
ocean looked so much more beautiful in person than it did on TV. It was also far more terrifying. For some reason, he always thought that scuba
diving would feel like being in a room. Maybe it was the way things were filmed
for TV and movies. The ocean felt
vast, scary, dark; but at every turn there was something magnificent to which
no TV could ever do justice.
After some time, he could see that he was drawing closer to
Sari. He didn't want to look up, fearing
that seeing just how deep he was would send him into a panic. As he closed in, he could see what looked like
a coral reef or some sort of rock formation in the distance. He knew that's where Sari was headed. He also knew that this type of thing was
where the scary stuff hid: octopuses, eels, and sharks. Damn the Discovery Channel. Shark week had just passed a week
before. He was an avid fan, but he never
wanted to encounter one in person. Now
all he could think of was white tips, makos, tiger sharks, and - of course -
great whites.
He tried to focus on something other than the thoughts of
sharks, but it wasn't easy. The silence
was nerve-racking, the only thing he could hear was the
"Darth-Vader"-like breathing and the occasional release of bubbles
from his tank. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Luke, I am your father. Ha ha.
The he could see Sari stop and turn around to wave him in
her direction. From the corner of his
eye he thought he saw a huge shadow pass behind her, which sent a chill down
his spine and made him colder than he already was. But he was sweating. He felt feverish. Be
strong, he thought to himself. He
continued forward.
As he swam, he felt something tug at his leg. Immediately he stopped and yanked his leg
close to his body and almost dropped his lamp as he felt his leg with both
hands to make sure it was still there.
He breathed a sigh of relief and focused again. Inhale,
exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Sari pointed two fingers at her eyes and then one to the
rock formation. Homer nodded in
understanding. He then pointed to
himself and then to her, asking if he should follow her. She nodded twice and turned to head toward
the rocks. Their lamp lights scared off
a few smaller fish, who scurried to hide behind rocks, but didn't seem to
affect some of the larger fish. Sea
anemones covered the rocks, their tentacles flowing in the water like
windsocks. Several animals peeked over
the rocks in curiosity, watching the two new creatures unfamiliar to them.
The rock formation was not a reef, but rather like a city of
rock. There were arches the two swam
under; openings that led to terrifying darkness; and cliffs. Homer was amazed at how much the topography
of the ocean floor resembled that of dry land.
The pair followed down the cliff, which went about 40 feet down. The explorers noticed that the city of rock
continued at the bottom of the cliff.
They followed. Inhale,
exhale.
At one point, Sari turned and tapped Homer to turn around,
too. What he saw was unnerving and
wonderful at the same time.
On the wall of the cliff was the entrance to an underwater
cave. The entryway was so massive he
felt he was standing at the gates of Hell.
Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Sari pointed at Homer and herself, then
pointed to the entryway. Homer shook his
head and tried to yell in opposition, releasing a massive amount of bubbles up
toward the now invisible surface. Just
as he was going to try and scream another protest, he noticed a shadow cast
over them. Both divers looked up and
released clouds of bubbles as they tried to scream. Directly above them was the horrifying shape
of a massive great white shark. The two
immediately scurried toward the cave without having to signal each other. It was the obvious place to go. Inhale,
exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.
Inside the cave, the Homer turned off his lamp. Sari tapped him on the hand and fumbled for
the switch to his light. Stupid, vision is our advantage. Don't you know sharks can smell you, ever
with the lights off? she scolded him with her eyes. He didn't understand. Homer's hands were shaking, he was colder
than ever - even colder than the time he was stuck outside his car for four
hours in the middle of a blizzard in Denver after the mall had closed; but he
was still sweating - profusely now. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale -
Homer froze in place as he saw the massive shark enter the
cave where they were hiding. It moved
slowly, as if stalking its prey. It
looked side to side to the rhythm of the fin that propelled it forward. The two lovers pressed themselves against
the wall as close as they could. They
held each other's hands. Hold your breath, Homer. Unable to hold it much more, Homer released a
bit of air, sending bubbles up with a 'glup'.
Hold steady, Homer. 'Glup', another small set of bubbles floated
up carelessly. Come on, leave, you fucking thing!
'Glup', went another group of bubbles.
Hold it, hold, it Homer, your life depends on this, man. 'Glup'. 'Glup'.
'Glup'.
Suddenly, he couldn't hold it anymore, and he released a
cloud bubbles so large it could have filled the sky. In desperation, Homer kicked and flailed his
arms punching Sari in the face stirring the bubbles into a chaotic storm that
blurred their vision and sent homer into shock.
Then, he lost consciousness. Sari
shook the unconscious man but remembered the shark. She looked over and flashed her light in its
direction - it was heading right for her.
Closer, closer, determined to devour both of them. Sari closed her eyes and prayed, then opened them. To her astonishment, there was no sign of the
shark. No trace of it ever being there,
just the remnants of a school of fish,
the rest possibly spooked by Homer's panic attack. Homer.
Sari looked over at her lover and grabbed him under his
arms, then loaded him on her shoulders.
She headed back up the way they'd come.
* * *
"Hey, welcome back!"
Tiny's words barely made sense to Homer, but slowly his
consciousness gripped him tighter and tighter until he recalled what had happened. "Sari!" he called out.
"Shh, shh, shh.
Calm down," said Tiny, helping Homer back to a lying position. "She's ok. You guys had a scare is all."
"Sh-sh-shark," said Homer.
"The medical crew is coming. Don't mention anything about no ghost shark to
them. They'll have you
committed." Tiny looked over at
Sari, who could not look either of the men in the eye. Her wetsuit was pulled down to her waist,
every hair on her body standing straight.
Her hands were shaking.
"It was a ghost, Tiny.
For fuck's sake," she said.
Tiny stood up and looked at her. "I saw the god-damned thing right after
you guys jumped in the water. It was
real, goddamnit."
"Tiny, I know what I saw. It was there one minute, and then gone the
next. Unless there's a fucking fish that
turns into the fucking Hulk to scare divers.
You're such a fucking asshole.
Fuck!"
"Ok, calm down.
We can't tell this to anyone else.
We all saw the thing. You say it
disappeared before your eyes. Fine. I believe you. But we can't tell anyone," Tiny looked
up as the helicopter passed them.
"They'll be over us any minute to pick him up, but
swear to me, Sari - don't say anything.
We'll be the fucking laughing stocks of the entire world."
"I need to find it again." But in a shark cage. Did you write down our coordinates?"
"The coastguard report will have them. Promise me, Sari."
"Fine, fine. I
promise."
The pulsating rhythm of the propellers became louder as the
rescue chopper descended toward the "Gone Missy", Tiny's pride and
joy. A rescuer climbed down the ladder
to retrieve the newly unconscious Homer.
On his climb down, he saw what could only be a great white below the
surface, circling the boat. It was the
largest fish he'd ever seen.
