Ocean Blues by K. Leigh

I raised my arms upward, praising the sun which was warming my skin as my feet sunk into the sand with each step. It was finally summertime and I couldn’t have been happier. The shore felt like home. The smell of sunscreen and salt water were better than the scent of cookies baking in the oven. No one could ruin the next five days in paradise.

I set up my spot and settled down. After applying tanning lotion, I pulled out my book and began to read while allowing the sun to kiss my flesh. Every so often I glanced away from the pages of the novel to check out some of the guys walking by. A smile from time to time when they met my eyes, but nothing coming out of the exchange.

I continued to lay on the beach, eating from my packed cooler when needed. My phone started to ring. An irritated breathe huffed out when I saw the caller ID. It was work. I let it go to voicemail, but then shut my phone completely off. If it was an emergency, they could call later when I was back at the hotel room.

After a couple of hours, it was time to cool off. I got up and headed towards the water. I brought nothing of value except my cell phone, so I wasn’t too worried about leaving my spot unattended.

The ocean was like a giant bath. It was was warm, but cooler than the air and humidity. I floated on my back letting the waves move me closer to the shore, but the current take me further from it. I drifted to an area that was still inhabited by other vacationers, but only here and there. And I was still well within the lifeguard radius.

I took in the scene. All the kids and their parents, the teenagers and their friends, the boardwalk  that was so far away, but so close and the shops that lined it. I was a little upset none of my friends could not get off of work to accompany me, but I was fortunate enough to have a couple of them come around for a day.

I was lost in my thoughts when I felt something brush against my calf. I instantly pulled it away and paddled a couple of times from the spot. I something again on my hand, but only briefly.

I looked about. I didn’t see any fish, sharks, or jellyfish. I shrugged thinking it was probably just a little bit of seaweed or some trash floating by. I continued to tread water, but I did start making my way back slowly to the sand. I noticed that I was a little further out than I wanted to be.

Just as I was about 30 feet away from the closest person, another encounter happened. This time, it felt like a thick, slimy rope winding around my left leg up to my mid-thigh. I reached my hand under – since I couldn’t seem to pull my leg up closer to my body – and went to free myself. But this wasn’t a rope. It was soft and squishy. I started to panic, but calmed myself, because had this been a jellyfish I would have been stung by now.

I continued to work at the binding, but felt pressure around my wrist. I was now being pulled under! I took a deep breath before my head went under, starting to kick at whatever was holding me with my available leg, but soon that was also rendered useless.

I knew I had to get away, but how? I opened my eyes, but that was a huge mistake. The salt in the water burned my eyes, but I was able to push through the pain for a few seconds. Tentacles! I was being held by tentacles.

The scariest part was that they belonged to a creature with red eyes and a long head, but not just that, it was huge! I couldn’t tell how big, because I could not keep my eyes open any longer. I had to shut them, but from what I was able to guess, it was bigger than any creature I had seen in an aquarium.

I continued to fight until I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness.