An adventure to remember - Short, fictional story

     

    I thumped my tail on the ground as everyone packed their suitcase. Dad, Mom, and, of course, my favorite human in the world, Arya. Arya was only 11 years old, and she was my favorite partner in crime. I was especially happy as the summer holidays had started yesterday, and we were all packing up to go to a nature resort in Corfu. Arya picked up her clothes, binoculars, camera, and notebook, then dumped them into a suitcase. (She loved to draw all the wildlife she saw.) I had all of my essentials: my biscuit box, my jar of peanut butter, and my favorite smelly sock. Dad and Mom packed boring things like tissues, bottles, and emergency medicines. Really, they had to learn to live within nature.

    We all climbed into the airplane and sat in our seats. Mom and Dad had a thriving business, so we had a huge mansion with a big garden and a lot of grass. One of my favorite things about the house was that there were many expensive ornaments to break and lots of exotic plants to water (if you catch my drift). Anyways, while I was dreaming about swimming in the sparkling blue seas of Corfu, the private plane landed near the resort. 

    When I saw the hotel, my tail was almost too shocked to wag. Well, almost. It was beautiful! The hotel was painted green, so it almost camouflaged with the surroundings, and there was a huge garden out front. Beyond that garden, there were thick woods that stretched on and on until we couldn't see them. I could only imagine the wildlife and adventure in them. But that wasn't my favorite part. A huge, salty sea glittered in front of us invitingly, a bed of sand encrusted with colorful seashells bordered the rim of this sea, and schools of fish lay lazily in the water while sea slugs waddled around them. A little deeper into the water, stingrays glided, creating huge foamy waves.

    Arya shouted with delight, then jumped into the sea, without even changing into her swimming costumes. I barked and then ran to the sandy area, slipping at first but then slowly tumbling into the sea. 

    The experience was like none I had had before. As we swam together, many animals floated cheerfully around us, eager to explore the two strangers in their home. Different kinds of plants swung back and forth tantalizingly and coral reefs shimmered below. Arya and I were so engrossed in enjoying this experience that we were oblivious to Mom and Dad's frightened calls. Suddenly, I didn't feel so safe. And I was right to feel that way. A large, foamy wave was heading right towards us, and if we didn't get away fast, it would swallow us whole, and then we would go down into the sea like stones. Arya screamed in terror as she was dragged into the sea by a strange-looking plant. I had to do something! My doggy paddle was very strong. I could even swim underwater without being bothered. So, I dived in and bit the plant. It relinquished its grip at once, but that came with a cost. My tongue felt like it had been coated with sandpaper! And a strange yellow liquid was oozing out of Arya's ankle, where she had been grabbed by the plant. We swam forwards quickly. Unfortunately, that only meant that we were a few feet away from the wave. 

    As it rushed over us, horror seeped through me. I stayed quite still, waiting for the death I was sure would arrive. But it didn't. I felt Arya's hand on my back, a warm, comforting weight. If I was going to die, there was no place I would rather do it than here, with the best sister in the whole wide world. But the strange thing was, nothing happened. There was a great whoosh, and it felt as though my brain froze for a second. Then there was a blinding white light, and when I dared open my eyes, I saw that we were on a big lawn. Huh. You don't expect a lawn to be in a sea. There was a distant figure ahead of me, but I barely noticed because I was looking for Arya. I finally found her on the other end of the field and ran up to her, tail wagging. I was about to lick her, then decided not to, because my tongue was still rough and calloused from the plant. Arya saw me and called me. 'Skittles!' she said. "Come here, I'm so glad I found you!" After she hugged me and I settled on her lap, I noticed the shrouded woman walking towards us. Immediately I stood up and barked at her. She held up a withered hand in silence. 

"The king awaits you," she croaked. "You must see him immediately, for although he is kind, he is very busy." Arya, still sitting, said, "Is this heaven? Because all I see is a big green field." The woman smiled dangerously and said, "It's not heaven, but I guess it's the closest you can find to heaven in this world. I know that the two of you are hurt. Follow me and everything shall be fixed."

Arya limped forward while I trotted, with my tongue hanging limply out of my mouth. We walked towards the end of the field, and the strange wrinkled lady moved her hands about as though she was a lunatic, murmuring incoherent words under her breath. When she finished, she beckoned us forward, helped us step forward, towards the barrier, which seemed to be a stone wall, and walked right through it. Arya and me stared at each other, amazed. Then we gathered our courage and walked into the barrier. It felt like walking through a soft, fluffy towel. The old woman was on the other side, and she said with a grin, 'Welcome to the sacred land of the 'Bintue'! The name is very hard to pronounce, so you may call it the 'Land of the Lions.' Well, sea lions, but that's too long.'

    Her words barely registered in our heads. Lying majestically before us was a huge palace, which seemed to be made of flowing silk. It was a dazzling gold and rippled in every corner, exotic seashells and crustaceans glittering on every inch of the strange material. It looked like molten liquid, but seemed very solid, as there were windows on every few corners, with people peering out at us. Around the palace, another lawn glittered, while on a huge fountain, two marble sea-lions spewed pure, clear water from their mouths. And the people...They all looked just like us! Ordinary humans, except that the women and men wore long, comfortable dresses with something that looked like sand sprinkled on them. Colorful beads shimmered on their wrists, and each had a necklace of purple shells. 

    A man, who was the only person dressed in royal blue, wore a golden crown on his head, and a mini crocodile was coiled around his neck! He looked quite absurd. I whimpered and hid behind Arya. 'Oh, never mind Jaws,' said the King. He's as harmless as a stingray.'

How could I not mind something named Jaws? I shuddered and tried not to meet the creature's eyes, while Arya stepped forward and said bravely, 'You had wanted to see me, O Royal Highness?'

The King smiled and said, 'Yes, little one. Follow me.' He led us through many winding passages inside the palace, where the walls were covered with absurd portraits and there were aquariums with exotic creatures in them. Imagine that! Aquariums in the sea. We finally stopped in front of a large room, with a large desk covered in papers. There was a small, comfortable-looking bed, which Jaws clambered into at once. The King seated himself at his desk and pulled up a chair for Arya. I sat at her feet patiently, trying hard not to wag my tail too much. The floor was the perfect temperature for a nap.

When I woke up, I heard the King say, "Our home is in great danger, Arya. You, along with your loyal pet, are the chosen ones to lead this mission. Almost every day, our people find tonnes of plastic and even radioactive waste in the sea. Ships arrive and pour oil on us so that our fish die from asphyxiation. We are barely managing to survive in these difficult times. You need to tell your kin to stop! Tell them to love and respect animals, no matter how they look or what monsters they are rumored to be. Tell them that these creatures mean no harm, and all they want to do is reside peacefully in their homes without conflict.' His voice grew hard and angry. 'But if humans harm us, they cannot expect us to reside meekly in our habitat. There will be a war if they do not rise to the circumstances and accept our condition. We have stayed silent for much too long. It is time to take some action.'

I was speechless. Is this really what went on in the sea every day to these poor creatures? The King was right, they had done us no harm. But we just needed a place to dump our toxic waste. Arya seemed to be thinking along the same lines. A single tear trickled down her face. This must have been a lot to take in for an 11-year-old girl. I bounded towards her and licked her on the face. But for once, she pushed me away. There was a look of determination on her face that I had never seen before.

'We will accept your quest,' she said, and although her voice was trembling, she sounded braver than I had ever heard her before. 'It is terrible what these creatures go through every day. In today's world, there's so much we can do to raise awareness. We can write a blog, or make a catchy slogan, and spread it around.'

The King scratched his head. 'A blog? Is that a new breed of that wretched species iPhone? They throw a million of those in here!' He pulled out bags of perfectly new iPhones. We couldn't imagine who would throw them into the sea! 

'They are currently under observation. So far, they have been showing minimal behavior, so they seem fine. But they make weird vibrations.' Just then, a loud beep came from one of the iPhones, so that Jaws jumped out of his bed and fell into an aquarium. Have you ever heard a dog laugh before? Trust me, it isn't what you would imagine. 

Arya was giggling the whole time. 'They're communication devices! You can use them to send messages, call each other and even play games!' There's probably some sort of manual along with them. You never know, your city could put them to good use! There are enough phones in there for all of you.'

A few minutes later, after all the thank yous and farewells, Arya and I walked out with two small iPhones so we could communicate with the Bintuians. Our wounds were healed and we had a newfound confidence in the way we walked. We were going to change the world. It wasn't going to be quick, or easy, but as long as these creatures had a home in the end, it would be worth it. 

I am not going to say any more for fear of giving out confidential information, but let me tell you this : The player who has the highest score in Candy Crush just may not be a human!

Image credits - https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/cute-funny-purebred-dog-pool-animal-swimming-pool-cute-funny-purebred-dog-pool-animal-swimming-pool-puppy-181649637.jpg