Something Moved In The Distance

Sally squinted.

She could have sworn something below her had moved.  Silently, she cursed her nearsightedness and her decision not to pay the extra fifteen bucks for the prescription mask.  Everything was a dark murky blur.

There it was again!

Sally windmilled her arms in a futile attempt to swim backwards.  She never trusted the open ocean.  No matter which way you swam, your back was always exposed.  And these damn fish never made a sound.  They just came darting around the rocks as silent as ghosts.  No, that large blurry rock was definitely moving.  Toward her.  Sally jerked her head out of the water and found the shoreline just a sandy blur in the distance.  She was much farther out than she thought.  Justin was nowhere in sight either.  With her head out of the water, she had no idea what exactly was taking shape under her.  Her mask was totally fogged and the sound of her frantic breathing echoed eerily in her snorkel.  She dropped her head under again.  The shape was rising from the depth below her slowly but steadily.  It was most definitely not a rock.  Rocks sank.  They did not float.  Her frantic strokes became frenzied as she tried to swim backwards away from the large grey blob heading straight up under her.  As it approached, her wide eyes began to see details.  First flippers, then a large dark head, a sharp beak, and a scared shell.  The giant sea turtle surfaced right next to her.  She could have reached out and touched his thick flipper if she tried.  She followed his silent rise to the surface and, as if on cue, both woman and sea creature raised their heads out of the water together.  The turtle blew out a hard breath and Sally tried to catch hers.  Treading water, with her head in the air, she somehow felt better.  She ripped off the fogged mask and stared at the wild animal before her.  It was immense.  As big around as a school bus tire, it floated effortlessly on the top of the water.  The waves and current pulled Sally toward it but she fought the tug of the water, trying her best not to flounder into the creature.  It must have known she was there because it turned its head and its black eyes stared straight into her.  Sally felt each beat of her heart.

One.  Two.  Three.  Four.

Then, just as silently, the turtle's dark eye turned and it dove back under the water.  Sally pulled her mask on and looked down.  She  watched it descend, each swipe of it's fins drove it deeper and deeper.  Slowly, silently, effortlessly, the turtle disappeared back into a dark grey blur on the bottom of the ocean.  Only after she lost it among the rocks did she realize it only had three fins.  One of the back ones was just a jagged stump.  Probably caught in a net.  Or bitten off.  But what could harm such a giant?  The thought made her heart race and she whipped around in a circle, peering behind her.  A shiver ran down her arms and the water suddenly felt cold.  Forget it.  She was done.  Justin could find his own way back to shore.  Sally turned and began kicking with all her might.  This was no zoo or tame pet store.  There were far too many shapes moving in the distance for her taste.