# <center>Luna</center>
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Jets of water broke the surface five hundred yards away. The strength of the spray told Luna it was an adult orca, a member of his pod, maybe even his mother, Splash. Someone had seen him wander off.
Luna sped up. No doubt, his pursuer wanted him to return to the pod. He was young and Splash had warned him about straying too far. She spoke of dangers: sharks, giant squid, wolf whales, and of course, the biggest danger of all—snarlers. Everyone spoke of snarlers in hushed and strained tones. Surface sharks, they could tear you to pieces. They came in all sizes, dragging their razor-like, revolving teeth behind their rigid bodies.
The largest were hundreds of times bigger than the biggest of the male orcas, but even the smallest were dangerous. They’d come upon you with great speed, or lay in wait, a shadow floating in the near surface waters, their teeth still, only to lash out in a circular fury of sound and sharpness.
Despite the dire warning of snarlers and such, Luna often ventured out on his own. Really what had he truly to be afraid of? He’d never seen the tail fin of a shark, never mind a snarler. He was curious about this new world he found himself in. He couldn’t help himself. He wandered even when he should stay put.
Puloonai, the supreme elder, said it was because he was a searcher. He had lost something before he was born and would always question and search until he found it. Luna didn’t know if this were true or not, if he had lost something. All he knew was that he had so many questions.
He wondered about other animals who shared the sea with him. He wanted to talk with them, to learn what life was like for the seals, dolphins, and other whales. If the world was full of dangers, he’d never seen them. His world was full of wonder. Today he wondered about the mysteries to be found in the abyssal waters of the Nether Sea, deeper than he, or any member of his pod, had ever gone. No, he couldn’t bear it any longer. He’d made up his mind to swim to the Nether Sea—today.
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Luna held his breath and dove down deep. Splash called for him to return. He heard her but continued to plummet, his tail waving madly powering the dive. And disobeying his mother? He liked that too. It made him feel older. It never thought on how Splash felt and the deeper he dove.
The surface water was his friend. Luna rode its currents to food and fun. At night he lay surrounded by the security of his pod. The sound of murmuring waves lulled him to sleep. The water was his home. He was as comfortable in it as a human on land. But the deeper waters? Well, they were different. He descended; the green of the Northern Pacific deepened to an ever-darkening blue. The light dimmed with every meter. Luna didn’t like the dark, but still he powered on.
Deeper and deeper, he went. The water above him became heavier and heavier, colder and colder. Layers of waves folded upon themselves, pressing down further and further into the now frigid, black volumes.
Luna had gone very, very deep. Too deep. Now, even if he’d wanted, he could not have swum toward the surface. Confused by the darkness and pressure, he forgot which way was up. He twisted and turned in the water, trying one direction and then another. He was in miles and miles of open Nether Sea, but it might as well have been a box of black octopus ink.
He lost track of time. He couldn’t have been below for more than a few minutes, but trapped in the deep, dark Abyss, it felt like hours had passed. He began to run out of air.
And now, something strange was happening. Light appeared in the inky water below. Or was it above? Luna wasn’t certain.
Deep down in the dark Abyss, and finding it difficult to breathe, he gave up his struggle and peered at the glowing specks. Growing larger and brighter, the lights came up out of the depths and approached. Luna wondered if he’d swum toward the surface, and these were stars. Was the night sky rising from the icy, deep chasm of the ocean?
But then these stars were paired like eyes. He strained his own to see more. The stars did indeed become eyes, shining orbs in the dark. Attached to the eyes were fish, lit by the glow of their own gaze. They were opalescent white and no bigger than a salmon, but attached to their small bodies were humongous jaws, with rows of pointy, razor-sharp teeth.
Dozens of fish were closing in. Enormous jaws opened wider …
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Words and Images are my own.
Luna is making its debut on the HIVE blockchain. This is part of a larger work and I intend to release the whole work in instalments. However, in the interest of transparency and with an eye to protecting future publishing rights, the writing portion of the post will be deleted around the 7th day mark. The photos however will remain. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.
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[]( https://www.amazon.com/Pryde-Foltz/e/B00N84TZDS?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000)
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[]( https://www.amazon.com/Pryde-Foltz/e/B00N84TZDS)
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