Children of the Tide

By Theo Shapiro

Children of the Tide is a short anthology of stories about different creatures of the sea. In each of these stories a unique sea creature faces some daunting task. Some are looking for a way to fit in in its community, some are looking for adventure or a new life, others are looking for a purpose, and some are looking forward to the end. This book shows that even though the ocean is so vast and still one of the greatest mysteries, even the smallest fish can leave a lasting impact on other creatures. The book is inspired by real life sea creatures. Each story contains elements of truth about the nature of these beautiful creatures of the deep.
The stories begin with a mysterious predator that doesn’t have the aggression that others of its kind had. It doesn’t fit in and fears it will never live up to the high standards its father has for it. When an unlikely associate takes this creature on a trip it may find out there is something it has been missing its entire life.
Then a jellyfish wants more than just to float around and finds a unique friend. The jellyfish is sick of the same routine day after day and wants to break its monotonous routine. When the jellyfish goes off in search of adventure it may have taken off on a search that will reveal something the jellyfish never realized. The question is will the jellyfish survive to make live out its realization?
A small puffer fish goes on an adventure hoping to find there’s more inside than just air. Scared of everything this little fish can hardly swim a couple feet without expanding to the size of a balloon. When presented with a chance to impress one of the most popular fish at school the puffer fish volunteers to go explore a wrecked ship. On the adventure the puffer fish will be tested like it never had been before and must quickly find the courage inside that none believe exist.
A strange eel looks for a new challenge and goes to the unknown. The eel does not enjoy the aggressive, stuck up, and grumpy lifestyle of a typical moray eel. Instead this eel has the curiosity of a cat and wishes to find what lies out in the ocean. The eel leaves its family and home to explore the ocean. While exploring the eel meets a young fish that may lead the eel to its greatest adventure.
An octopus spent most of its entire life on its own fending for itself. Then the octopus finds itself in a dangerous situation and must rely on the help of another. Still unwilling to rely on others the octopus continues on its own, but problems and dangers continue to present themselves in its life. As much as the octopus tries to refuse accepting any help, it might have to accept another’s help.
Finally, a man seeks out his greatest passion on a scuba diving trip. He is on his honeymoon in Hawaii and has several dives plan. A problem occurs when the dive trips are forced to be canceled. Unwilling to miss the dive of his dreams the man hires the help of a shady boat captain to take him out on a dive. The man sneaks away from his wife to go on this dive, but there is more than just a typical dive waiting for him on this exploration.
Each story shows a connection between the creatures. Filled with adventure and a thirst for the unknown each creature will find something inside itself that it never knew. The question is if this is something will be something that the sea creature will be happy to learn or will it be something that leads to a fate they never dreamed.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Theo Shapiro
• Release date: Dec 2, 2013
• ISBN: 9780988700949

Theo Shapiro

Theo Shapiro lives in Towson, MD with his beautiful wife Krista and frisky feline Minx. Theo teaches English at Lincoln College of Technology. He graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor's in History and Master's in Special Education. Other than reading and writing Theo's favorite activities involves anything in the water, especially scuba diving. Along with Children of the Tide he is also the author of Charm City Triathlete.

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Children of the Tide

Theo Shapiro

Copyright © 2013 by Theo Shapiro

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Contents

Foreword

Part I: Fit Tún

Part II: The New Nothing

Part III: The Wreck

Part IV: The Hook

Part V: Dinx and Orb

Part VI: The Dive

About the Author

Foreword

Over the summer of 2013 my wife and I went on our honeymoon to Maui. Of course the island was gorgeous, but it wasn’t the land that was the main attraction for me and my wife. Instead, it was the ocean and the mysterious creatures that dwell beneath its glimmering surface. I am avid scuba diver and am lucky enough to be married to someone who shares my passion for the sea and the adventure of scuba diving.

Ever since I was born I have felt the most peace and comfort when I am in or near the ocean. The smell of the salt air, the gentle rhythmic sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the feeling of your skin as it absorbs the ocean air and the sun, and finally the love for every creature in the water. Everything about the ocean brings about a kind of serenity in my life that nothing else can.

Let me get to the point; this book was inspired by our honeymoon. On the trip my wife and I went on several dives, each one bringing about a sight of creatures and coral formations that neither of us had ever seen before. Though we both love to dive we are very different divers. When I am in the water everything slows down to me. I imagine that I am in my real home and swimming in a place where I belong, instead of the alien that I truly am in this different world. I am so calm that my breathing and heart rate slow down to nearly nonexistence. My wife on the other hand encounters a rush that is similar to a child’s on Christmas morning. Every creature excites her; from a lurking barracuda to the tiniest cleaner shrimp. You could set her on a single coral formation with several brightly colored fish and she would be pleased for hours. She becomes so excited by the little creatures that she literally squeals with joy as these dwellers of the deep swim, crawl, and float by her. She becomes so excited that I need to hold her hand throughout the dive to be sure she doesn’t try to catch one of these little fish and try to keep it for a pet.

One morning my wife and I went for a walk on the beach and came upon a bunch upon a large formation of rocks. The rocks were at the edge of the water and we watched as gentle waves crashed against the rocks and receded back into the ocean. Attached to the wet surface of the rocks were several shelled creatures. We took some time to scour the ocean’s edge looking for some sea shells to take home with us. As I had my back to the rocks I heard a shout of joy come from my wife. I turned around to find her perched atop a rock holding a little hermit crab.

I went over to her to see her discovery that excited her as much as an old pirate finding buried treasure. She looked up from her new friends and looked at me with large eyes that would melt the Grinch’s three sizes too small heart and asked if we could keep it. When I said no and said she should let it go she reluctantly went over to the edge of the water and set it down. Even though she only had to take three small steps to go from the rock to the water to the hermit crab it had traveled the equivalent of a trip from Baltimore to Los Angeles.

When I told my wife this thought she looked at me as if I was insane and said she was probably doing it a favor putting it back in the water. My mind was racing. How could we be sure? Maybe there was a reason that the hermit crab was climbing on those rocks, maybe it was trying to get back to the water. The thing is we will never know. That led me to thoughts of how every interaction, no matter how large or small, will leave an impact on both parties.

As we concluded our incredible trip, the hermit crab event stayed in the front of my mind. In this book I took some of mine and my wife’s favorite sea creatures and showed how the unlikeliest situations can have an effect on other creatures. I hope that you get as much pleasure from this book as I did in writing it.

Part I: Fit Tún

What am I doing here? My parents would chew me up and spit me out if they knew what I was doing. It’s not the fact that I am out at night that would bother them. In fact I often go out with them at night with some of my friends to get food, cruise around, or just socialize. Well, I wouldn’t say friends. Most of the others my parents and I hang out with we don’t really like, but my mom insists we be active in the community. It’s in our nature to stick together in groups, my mom always says. I always argue that there are plenty of others that go off on their own, but she insists that they are different and likely to get in trouble. Not us though, she would say, We are different from them and stronger together. Stronger against what, I asked myself. I think my mom is just one of those parents that are afraid of every dark shadow and assumes there is danger around every corner.

That makes what I’m doing all the worse. By being out here I am going against everything my parents have taught me. God, I feel alive. I’m so pumped with energy and endorphins I’m surprised I don’t have every female from school swooning over me right now. Even though I’m so far away from any girls I have no doubt they can smell me now, I reek of so much testosterone.

Up ahead of me is Khan. Khan isn’t his real name, I don’t know his real name to be honest. I don’t know if anybody does. Khan is three grades above me, but he is much older. He’s failed classes so many times that it could be considered illegal for him to even show up at school, but no one says anything. Teachers don’t say anything to him, the Principle doesn’t talk to him, and most everyone in school avoids him. There are those select few that try to hang out with Khan, but those who manage to survive talking to him for more than a few minutes are more afraid of him than anyone a day later. Of course this makes him all the more appealing to the girls at school. His scar doesn’t hurt either. Khan has a long scar that wraps around is body; starting at his eye and running down the length of his body. His left eye doesn’t open all the way because of the scar.

If anyone else had a scar like that they would be considered hideous, a freak, Frankenstein even, but not Khan. Khan wears that scar like a prize. The scar only adds to the mystery that is Khan. I asked him if his parents knew this is where he went when he went out at this time. Khan just turned, looked at me with that scarred eye, and smiled. His smile showed bone white teeth that looked like they could send a vampire running. Khan turned back without saying a thing. He knew what I was doing. I was fishing for information on him. Khan’s parents were as much a mystery as his name. No one had ever seen his parents. Hell, some people doubted he even had parents. There are several theories as to what happened to his parents. Some say that when he was born they were so scared of their child they ran away and never returned. The popular theory is that Khan killed them, but how is the real question. I had heard every theory from poisoning them to eating them. I really doubted the whole eating them theory, but I’ve heard it more than once.

Clearly Khan wasn’t going to answer any personal questions and wasn’t in the mood to talk, but I couldn’t help myself. I was filled with so much excitement that I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. I don’t know about yours, but if my parents found out where I was they would kill me. Do you come out here often? Have you ever been caught? I can’t believe we’re doing this.

Khan was still ahead of me and not speaking. For a second I wasn’t sure if he even remembered I was there. I quickened my pace to catch up with him. I was moving alongside Khan when he glanced over at me.

You’re not getting nervous on me are you Shrimp? Khan asked.

What? No way! I’m just excited…and I’m not a shrimp.

Khan let out a sound that was a mix between a chuckle and a sigh. It’s true though, I’m not a shrimp. In fact I’m one of the larger guys in my grade. The problem is with my size I’m lacking all the other tools necessary to make myself one of those imposing, popular guys at school. I don’t have the strength or coordination that the other guys have. Going hunting is one of the most popular things to do after school. At first everyone wanted me to tag along. With my size and look I must be a great hunter, right? Not so much. I don’t have the endurance or speed to keep up with the other guys, I don’t have the stealth to sneak up on whatever we’re hunting, and I just don’t like it. If anyone knew I didn’t like to hunt I would be the laughing stock of the school and entire community.

I’m not sure why I don’t like to hunt like the others. It’s not that I’m squeamish even though our style of hunting ends in a bloody battle. Everyone has a different way to hunt, and our society has its own way as well. Others like us typically live and travel together, but prefer to do their hunting alone. In our society though, we are a community that does everything together as one. We live together and hunt together. At night a hunting party will gather together and go out in search of prey. Then there is the way we kill. When we kill something it is a personal, ritualistic event. I’ve seen and heard of many different ways that others hunt. I’ve heard of killing things with electricity, poison, stealth, rope and traps, sharp objects, even the terrible devices known as guns. Our society believes in the ancient way of killing something; with only the weapons God provided us with. We do not hide behind weapons, but use that with what we are born with to hunt. It may seem bloody and barbaric to some, but to us it is natural and elegant. The only real way to prove one’s worth.

As I said, the blood is not what deters me from the idea of hunting. The hunters in our society thrive off the sight and smell of blood. My father has told me that those raised in our society have an extra sense that can pick up the smell of blood like a Great White shark. When I see or smell blood I feel nothing. Even the sense of disgust would be preferable compared to the empty hollow feeling that I’m left with. I was taught to believe that the thrill of the hunt is what truly feeds us, and the prize at the end is just the icing on the lobster (whatever that is supposed to mean. I heard someone from school say that and for some reason it stuck in my head). If presented the choice I would prefer my meal be served to me on a silver platter without having to go through all the hullabaloo of hunting, catching, and killing my meal.

Instead I pretend I love to hunt as much as anybody else. Luckily, I don’t have to put up much of a show. After screwing up several hunts the guys try to leave me behind or go off hunting without me noticing them. They don’t care too much about sparing my feelings. Their attempt at avoiding me is gathering in a large group after school, wrestling, talking about what they were going to go kill, who is going to get the target first, and talking about past hunts. When I come around the topic quickly changes and I feel their eyes on me as they chuckle and mutter under their breath. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they’re laughing at.

That’s ok though. I just play my part the same way I always do. I move into the group, look