I paced around the large room, thinking to myself. A frown caused my eyebrows to crease inwards as I hummed a bit. I stopped abruptly, not because I had an idea, but just because I didn’t want to pace anymore. I looked around the cavern suspiciously. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched.
“That’s preposterous…” I muttered to myself. No one would be able to find my lair, and even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to enter. At least, not without some diving gear. Besides, it was the dead of night. At least, it was the dead of night when I had entered…
I glanced up at the clock on the wall and saw that it was one o’clock in the morning. I clasped my gloved hands behind my back as I looked around again. My lair was roughly hewn from a coral reef by nature itself. I had made slight modifications to improve living space, but it was almost exactly how nature had left it. Well…it was mostly the same as how nature had left it…
I had added lights and a few computers, all of which were powered by the water outside my lair. The current was not always moving very quickly, hence the dim lighting. I didn’t mind it, though. It added an air of mystery to my hideout.
There was also a large window along one of the walls that looked out to the sea. I could easily cover it with a push of a button, concealing the window to look like the coral around it. However, at this time of night, the window remained open so that I could see the night life that happened along the ocean floor.
I walked towards the window and my boots clicked against the smooth rock floor. I sat down in the chair in front of the window and watched the water move for a few minutes. My gaze slowly drifted to the passage to my right. It was almost completely dark down that corridor, because none of the lights led that way. It was the only entrance to my lair, but there was an emergency exit, just in case…
Just then, I heard something fall to the floor behind me. I gasped and spun around in the chair, clutching the armrests while peering around me carefully. I looked up at the high ceiling and saw nothing but the jagged coral that made up the roof. I stayed in this tense position for a good three minutes without hearing another sound. Finally, I turned around again.
I looked back up at the window and let out a frightened yelp at the sight that met me. A large shark was swimming sleepily by the window. I sat perfectly still, petrified by it. Normally, I wasn’t this jumpy, but something about today had left me on edge. I watched the shark swim past the window, but it didn’t watch me. It wasn’t out hunting tonight…
Once the shark was gone, I let out a heavy sigh. I ran my hand through my hair and closed my eyes. I thought about going to bed, but I really wasn’t tired. I was just feeling…scared.
I decided to think about something else, so I turned my mind to my little sister in the zoo. I looked up at the window again and saw nothing but the dark water. Soon, however, I would look out that window and see her swimming by, free and happy. She might be scared of the idea now, but once she was here--once she tasted the natural, salty water!--she would know that this is where she was meant to be. She would realize that the people at the zoo were just keeping her there to make a profit; that they no longer wanted to help her; that they just wanted to use her.
I had decided long ago, though, that I wouldn’t let them decide when she was well enough to leave the zoo. I had brought her in, so I could take her out.
A few years ago, I had been diving a short distance from this reef. As I was swimming, I noticed a miniscule dot making its way slowly through the water. I swam closer to observe it and saw that it was a tiny little octopus. However, it had been injured and was missing a tentacle. I took pity on the baby octopus and knew it would not survive in the wild, so I scooped it up and gave it to one of the park’s employees.
I checked up on the octopus regularly and was pleased to see that it was growing well and appeared to be healthy. I learned a great deal about that octopus, but not all of it was from the employees.
I made a habit of sneaking into the zoo after hours to check up on the octopus. Somehow, through all of our time together, we learned to speak the same language, and we have many conversations today. Whether the language we speak is an octopus language or English, I don’t think either of us will ever know. However, we both know one thing:
She’s my little sister, and everything I do is to protect her.
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