Chapter Nineteen

Dim, Whit, and Fluffy the Near-sighted Sea Monster

Fluffy wished he had better eyesight. He wanted to see the love of his life a little clearer so he could save her from the storm. Unfortunately, his sea monster health insurance did not cover vision.

Fluffy suspected sorcery to be the cause of the sudden storm. Having once been the pet of Queen Hillary, he knew all about sorcery. If it hadn’t been for her sweet daughters, Abigail and Elizabeth, he would still be suffering from the evil antics of the Queen and her other daughters.

Fluffy rushed to the object of his affection as a huge wave threatened to smash against her. She was infested with those fragile, bad tasting humans again. Standing on the top of the future girlfriend was a small child. No, Fluffy cursed his bad eyesight. It looked like- it WAS Elizabeth, his childhood playmate, and rescuer. He blinked once, twice, but it was her. “It’s amazing; she hadn’t aged a day since she rescued me when she was 13. She must be a very powerful sorceress.” This left Fluffy with a terrible dilemma. Should he save his dearest love from the storm, or should he save the person that had saved him from the terrible fate the Queen and her twin daughters had planned for him?

“Shiver me timbers, mates. This be one nasty storm. All ye landlubbers best be tying yourself up to anything that’s taped down, we will be riding this storm out. Pray to the powers that we don’t get crushed by the….” Percy stopped giving his distress orders as he looked towards Sara, actually behind her, his face eschewed in fear and terror. “Avast, Sara me hearty, don’t look behind ye, looks as if we have company.” Clammy tentacles rose from the churning ocean. Sara’s eyes widened only moments before the ten-foot, slimy tentacle wrapped around her midsection tightly. She tried everything humanly possible to wrench free from her captor, but there was nothing she could do. The tentacles wrapped tighter and refused to let her go. Pleading for help with her eyes and with a despairing look on her face, she managed a weak wave good-bye with her pinky finger as she was pulled into the briny deep and to her impending doom. Banned from crying by the pirate code, the water flowing from Percy’s eyes was merely rain from the storm.

Cedric, duct taped to the mast, watched in horror as his meal ticket disappeared into the abyss of the ocean, clutched by those horrific tentacles. He would have been paid handsomely when he presented Sara to them, but his dreams of fame and fortune had just vanished into the ocean. He had managed to steal a small article from her backpack. If he survived this cursed storm, he would rush to his employers with the stolen article. Hopefully, it would convince them of Sara’s untimely demise, and he would still get a healthy compensation for his troubles.

Chase screamed as he saw Sara sink beneath the waves, remembering the time he had nearly drowned at the age of eight. Aware he was about to die, he thought of the day he came home from a job and found his wife and five-year-old daughter gone. His eyes welled up with tears. Chase didn’t know about the pirate code forbidding tears.

She was a goner. All her hopes and dreams for saving her mother vanished when the tentacles wrapped around her. Her only remaining question was whether she would die from drowning or as the sea monster’s dinner. She wiggled and writhed and tried to free herself, finally stopping her struggle as she gazed into the gentle, affectionate, puppy-like eyes of the sea monster.

The sea monster was not eating her. He was talking with a couple of brightly colored dolphins

Sara had seen dolphins before, at Sea World. They were charming and brilliant, but none of the ones she had seen were red or midnight blue as these dolphins were. The red dolphin looked at Sara and then continued his conference with the monster. Finally, the chatter ceased, and the Dolphins turned to look at Sara.

The midnight blue dolphin looked at her and said, “He tells me you're Elizabeth. He is sure about it.”

Surprised the dolphin could talk and that she could understand him, Sara was speechless for one of the few times in her life. She could only stare at the dolphin and hope it would not be considered rude.

“Pardon my friend’s impoliteness. I am Dim,” said the red dolphin. “My rude friend here is Whit, and this big galoot standing next to us is Fluffy. Please allow me to continue where Mr. Rudeness here left off. Fluffy had mistaken you for a young girl he used to play with when he was a young chap, at least twenty years ago. We have been attempting to convince him that you could not be the same girl because you would have aged in twenty years.”

Whit chimed in, “Fluffy will not be swayed. He is convinced you are Elizabeth. He is very stubborn, as are most sea creatures- except dolphins of course.”

“Well, my mother’s name is Elizabeth, but she never mentioned playing with a sea monster when she was a child. Come to think of it. She never mentioned anything about her childhood.”

Whit and Dim returned to Fluffy to confer, both of them glancing over their dorsal fins at Sara.

“We are sorry, but if you don’t mind us prying into your background, we really can’t find another way around it. Fluffy is insistent. Is your mother, Elizabeth, any relationship to that evil Queen Hillary?” asked Dim.

 “I regret to say. I am Queen Hillary’s granddaughter.” Whit and Dim moved away from her. “My mother is the Queen’s daughter, but she isn’t mean like the Queen. Neither am I.”

Dim and Whit conferred with Fluffy again. Fluffy came up to Sara and rubbed his tentacles in her hair. “Fluffy is very happy to meet you if you can tell.”

As a sea horse the size of a refrigerator swam by, Sara smiled at Fluffy. “I’m happy to meet him too. Do you know why I can breathe underwater? I’ve never done it before.”

Dim answered, “All sea creatures can breathe underwater.”

“I am not a sea creature, see, no webbing,” she said as she held up her hands.

Dim and Whit swam around her, “You are right, you are not a sea creature.”

“What is that on your palm, Sara?”

She hid her hands behind her back, “It’s nothing, just a scar.”

“Please let me see your palm again, Sara,” asked Dim. She reluctantly showed him her palm. Dim peered at her palm with great interest. He turned her palm over and over with his dorsal fin. “Whit, come here and see this, come get a load of the star on her palm.”

“Come on Dim. It’s not as if we haven’t seen a starfish before.”

“Not starfish, you dim-whit. I said star. I swear you never pay attention to me.”

“Ok, don’t get your flippers in a tizzy. May I please see your palm, Sara, before Dim gets all upset? He overreacts to the simplest of things.” Sara placed her palm straight out so Whit could see it. “Oh, my, it’s true, she is the one.” Fluffy continued stroking her with his tentacle.

“What’s wrong with the star on my palm?” She looked at her palm. “It’s red. I’ve never seen it red before, what does red mean?”

“There are stars, and there are STARS. Technically there is nothing wrong with your palm, your grace. Whit and I are humbled to be in your presence, that’s all.”

Sara exclaimed, “Okay, so now you know the truth, but I’m not bad, I promise.”

 “Dim, you should explain to Her Majesty about the prophecy,” said Whit, “I never paid attention to Sea Creature Prophecy Class 101.”

“Yes, Sara, you see all of us sea creatures are under a curse, an evil spell. We used to be able to breathe on land and in the sea. Many had homes on land, and a few were close friends to the royal family. When Queen Amelia married Count Doldunt all that ended. The Count, being very evil and jealous of the friendships between Amelia and the sea creatures, convinced our dear Queen to turn against us, her loyal subjects, and faithful friends. An ancient prophecy suggests, let me think, oh yes, ‘Two thousand years alone in the Sea, but a scarlet star will make them free.’”

“We are so honored to be here Your Majesty and witness this momentous occasion.” Whit bowed to Sara.

“Well, that is all cool. But, I’m not the person you think.”

“It would explain why you can breathe underwater.”

 “Well, even if I were the prophecy person, which I don’t believe, what I need right now is to get to Tenebrae. My mother was kidnapped, and they are holding her there. Can Fluffy take me there? That is where the ship was headed when Fluffy rescued me.”

The Dolphins spoke with Fluffy.

“Fluffy refuses to take you to the Queen’s land. He is afraid the Queen will capture him again. The Queen’s law prohibits sea creatures from nearing her lands.

“We can take you to an island. From there you can continue your journey.”

 “I’m not sure how I will do what you ask, but if the opportunity ever arises, I will certainly release you. However, I’m not sure you are right about me being the prophecy child, though.”

“Well, we are convinced. Are you ready Your Majesty?”

“Yes, I am.” She put one arm around Dim’s dorsal fin and the other arm around Whit’s. The two dolphins were speeding towards the southwest. Sara’s exhaustion finally overcame her, and she was fast asleep before they had traveled a few hundred feet.

She woke up as Dim prodded her with his bottle shaped nose.

“Sara, we have arrived. The beach is only a bit further. You must swim the rest of the way.”

 “We have tried to keep your pouch dry,” chimed in Whit as he handed her the backpack, which had been transported inside a giant clam.