The Shark
“I’m going to die.” Those were the first thoughts that came to mind as she saw the long, dark shadow that was swimming straight towards her in the clear, blue water.



All afternoon Mia had been enjoying the refreshingly warm water off the coast. Throughout the week, she had been having a wonderful time with all the activities that the resort had to offer. Mia Summers and her family were vacationing at the fabulous Beachcomber Island Resort on Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Among all the activities for the tourists, snorkeling and scuba diving were available. At 16, Mia had been diving for 3 years now. She was adept enough to be able to go diving in the waters just off the beach alone.

Mia was not disappointed with the underwater world she had entered. The water was crystal clear, like a bright blue aquamarine gemstone. The visibility of the water allowed you to see as far as the eye could all around. You could see all the colors and shapes that were present in the underwater world. The bright colors of the various fish seemed to jump out at you. There were bright oranges, flashy blues, eye-catching greens, and even heart-stopping reds. Almost any color you could imagine was to be seen in this relatively undisturbed world.

Mia’s lean, graceful body glided through the water like she was part of the ocean world. Her mane of red hair flowed about her head like fingers of fire dancing about her head. Behind the goggles, her bright blue eyes sparkled like twin sapphires. You could tell that in the years to come she would be a great beauty.

Mia was satisfied to spend the day swimming among the sea life while the rest of her family was running all over the beach having fun. It was almost as if she was returning home when she entered the water. She felt complete and fully relaxed with the creatures of the sea. Mia had nothing to fear while she was down underneath the water with these animals. The day had been spent watching and interacting with fish and other sea life under the ocean’s surface. She had with her the camera that she had talked her parents into getting for her the year before. With it she could take it underwater so she could try to capture all the brilliant spectacles that were to be found under the water.

By the time Mia saw the shark, there was no time to do anything. She was admiring the colorful oceanlife when she noticed the dark shadow. She turned to get a good look at it and that was when she saw the fin. As soon as Mia saw the large dorsal fin and realized at once that it was a shark. She also realized that it was a large shark that seemed to be swimming right towards her. Mia looked around for someplace to hide; knowing that she had no chance to make it to the surface before the shark was upon her. Unfortunately there was no place to hide, there was only an outcropping of rocks to her left to which she could take cover against. But the rocks would still leave her open to an attack from the shark. Mia swam over to the outcropping and could only hope that someone had seen the shark and help was on the way.

Meanwhile Mia watched the shark as it got closer and closer to her. All at once it was no more than five feet away from her. And amazingly is slowed down and did not rush in to attack her. She watched the shark and its strange behavior. From everything she knew the shark should have been attacking her. Sharks were supposed violent man-eating creatures, but this shark was not attacking. It was swimming slowly all around her, coming in close and then moving away. Like it was just curious and wanted to see what she was doing down below in the water.

While the shark was doing this, she was able to get a good look at the fish. Mia studied the shark as it swam around. It had a long, very long torpedo-shaped body, somewhere around 20 feet long she guessed. The shark was white colored on its underside, but the rest was like a metal gray. It looked extremely powerful to her eyes. The jaws looked massive and Mia thought “My God, those jaws could snap me in half with no problem.” She noticed the eyes, wide-set and very feral looking. They also had a glassy look to them. Mia then noticed on the dorsal fin a strange mark. The mark was white and looked remarkably like a horseshoe. That thought alone almost made her laugh. She thought it was odd to see a big killing machine like this shark with a dainty little horseshoe mark on its skin.

As Mia was inspecting the shark, it was inspecting her. It was swimming all around her, but was not attacking. Then suddenly the shark swam in close to her. It came within one foot of her. Curiosity made her reach her hand out and touch the shark while it was so close. She was surprised that it seemed to have such smooth skin. Mia thought it would be rough, like sandpaper, or worse. When she touched the shark, it suddenly turned and swam away from her. She stayed put, thinking about what had just happened to her. While Mia was thinking, the shark returned. This time it came even closer than before. Like it was curious; like it wanted to interact with the girl that it found in its habitat. The girl once again reached out and touched the fish. This time the shark did not dart away, but it stayed and let her touch him. Mia noticed that when she ran her hand down the shark it was smooth, but if she were to run her hand the other way, it would be rough and possibly deadly.

Amazingly the shark allowed her to swim next to it. The shark swam around and the girl followed. It was almost as if the shark wanted to be friends with the girl. It was truly an amazing thing. For the next while Mia spent her time swimming around with this huge, massive beast. It was the most amazing experience that she had ever had. It was truly breath taking and she knew she would never experience anything like it ever again.

While she was swimming with the shark, Mia remembered the camera that she had with her. Right away she started taking pictures of the shark. While she was snapping shots of the giant fish, she realized that she would not be able to show these pictures to her friends and family. Mia would have to keep them for her own personal pleasure; something to remember this remarkable experience with.

Eventually the girl and the shark parted ways. The shark swam back out to sea where it belonged and Mia returned to the beach, to her waiting family. As she was walking up the beach to join her family, Mia thought that it was sad that this was their last day on vacation. She would be returning home the next day. Mia wished for another chance to go back down below the water so she could perchance meet up with that shark again. She also knew that she should not mention the shark to her family. They would not understand and would alert the police, who would no doubt start a search party to find and kill the creature. Mia did not want this to happen to that beautiful creature she had befriended.

As she joined her family on their blankets, her mother asked, “How was the water, dear? Did you get any interesting pictures?” The girl smiled a very enigmatic smile and simply replied “Some.”