The Deep Sea

It's cold and dark: black even. The floor is speckled with small pointed shells, sharp underfoot, crushed and broken by the hands of sailors, sparkling in the dim light. The air is different down here, of course, and although the light is murky and sound is muffled my senses are more entertained than ever.

 

A delicate fish gently brushes by my leg and I jump, not knowing what it is that tickles me. Just in front a dark foreboding shadow drives its way through the depths- a shark, leaving nothing but fear and bubbles behind. Colourful schools of fish dance and twirl around each other in playful jest. Multi-coloured clouds of blue, white, green and red frolic in and out of sight in the dull light, going in-between the fingers of seaweed and underneath ledges of rock jutting out of the sea floor. They dart, they play, they dance, and flirt away as the shark comes close, trying to blend in amongst green seaweed or the red and pink coral. Enormous whales dominate as they brush passed the sea plants, trailing broken bits behind as they swim peacefully through the darkness.

 

Above, I can see dolphins dancing playfully in the calmer, lighter waters. They jump, dance and twirl through the waves above. The fish appear even more colourful here as the light reflects off them and allows their glistening beauty to sparkle through the water. I begin to make my way back to the surface, no longer edgy about the fish brushing my skin. As I pull myself upwards I am amazed by the sights around me and I smile at the clumsiness of the crabs that scuttle across the coral covered rock ledges to bury themselves in the soft sand below.

 

As my head bursts through the water I no longer feel a pressure pushing against me. The blue and white waves crash loudly around me, battering the shores with their ceaseless, angry pounding. The sea floor below is dim and dark with the occasional flashes of colour that show where the fish and small shells are. Who would know of the magic and wonder that lives below?

 

The sharks below now seem haunting and sinister as their shadows flicker and creep under the water but the fish still amaze me: like living rainbows- red, green, blue and gold, moving as one. This aqua spectacle continues to entertain me as I am lucky to see dolphins leap and dance in the waves, flying gracefully through the air with an elegance every gymnast or dancer would envy.

 

I notice a few other little boats bobbing away in the distance and I become aware that mine has floated away a little further than expected. I emerge my body in the mystical liquid once again but this time I don’t keep my head under for long. The light seems blinding and the heat searing compared to the underwater world. As I clamber aboard I observe that even the sand which carpets the beach looks like it has been bleached white from the powerful rays.

 

I look up to the sky while I start to row my boat and I see only a few delicate clouds drifting in the pale blue. Now I look down and the sea has changed to hide its mystery from the passer-by, becoming a blue-green, shimmering in the fading light. There are darker patches as the sea gets deeper and some occasional lighter patches where it gets shallower, in some places sand even breaks the surface of the waves. I feel lucky to know the secrets of what lies below.

 

As I reach the shore and step out of the boat onto the gritty sand I pick my way over dead branches, dry and crispy seaweed and careless litter to make my way home. I ponder on the destruction we cause to nature and recognise the need to keep the pleasures of the deep to myself. I pause in the doorway of my house to take one last look at the evening sky the close the door behind me knowing that even the best of dreams could not compete with the magnificence and beauty that lies beneath the sea.

Author's Note

if you have any ideas that could be added in please comment and if you notice any mistakes please point them out.

Thanks,
Jynx

Reviews

[Matty Bosox]

I have read many works in my time on here so far...This is by far the most descriptive, and best picture drawn canvas I have read...You make the sea practically BURST off the page....I was so amazed by how descriptive you were about the underwater depths that I almost forgot about the story itself...As far as writing and using very focal viewpoints you are TOP NOTCH...Definitly keep up the good work...

[Jynx]

thanks :) i wrote this when i was 13

[Anna P]

Excellently descriptive.