Yellow Under Water by Franco Machado-Pesce
Lily would run down to the docks every day. It didn’t matter how cold or hot the day was, the little girl could always be spotted swinging her legs off the ledge, staring at the water crash against the stones. She never brought anything with her besides a small lavender notebook and her signature yellow coat. Oh, and a pencil of course. Once she sat down on the cold and wet steps, the book would flip open and Lily would write. Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and hours to moments. Her pencil would scribble loudly as if competing with the waves of the sea that faced her. Then at five o’clock, the horn of a large cargo ship would ring across the harbor and make the girl jump. Lily giggled at herself because she knew that the boat arrived at five, and she knew that it would blow its obnoxious horn, but she was slightly frightened every single time.
When the sound of the boat died out, the girl was already gone.
The next day, Lily surely enough ventured to the dock again and her routine continued. The pencil would write swiftly with a new, sharp tip to make the handwriting more refined. Lily’s handwriting was spectacular, especially for a ten-year-old. It is still a wonder as to how a little girl learned to have such elaborate penmanship, but it was an impressive skill regardless. With every word that began to appear on the pages of her notebook, her leg swings got more enthusiastic. That's the effect of inspiration. She lifted her gaze to peer out at the horizon. She observed the smoothness of the water. No waves today. No waves? In the sea? Even a girl as young as her knew there was something wrong. She got up from the ledge and began to walk down the steps that ended where the water touched the lowest stone. Lily closed her journal and stuck it deep into her coat pocket, along with her pencil. Her upper lip curled up against her cheek as she silently questioned the abnormality of the water. Suddenly, her eyebrows shot up.
A hand came out of the water and mercilessly pulled her down. Once her boot disappeared under the water, the sea gained its strength again and its waves crashed against the rocks as it normally did.
Lily gasped for air as she fell deeper into the water. Her mouth released little bubbles and terror petrified her as she realized that something was still pulling her down. She tugged at her jacket to break free, but the grip of whatever had her was too secure. The light from the sky started to fade above her and the darkness of the chasm began to overwhelm her. With one last effort, she unbuttoned her coat. With the last button bursting open she propelled upward, free and terrified. Her head popped out of the water and Lily could never appreciate the feeling of air brushing her cheeks as much as she did then. She snapped out dreamlike state and thought about the danger that was still under her. Lily swam back to the stones, exhausted. She coughed up the water that filled her lungs as she lifted herself back onto the shore and looked back at the water. Fearful and curious. What was that? Then the loud horn of the cargo ship blew and caused her to jolt again, but this time she didn’t giggle, she ran home.
The sun rose slowly the next day, with the collision of the water drowning out the boats that floated away on the pier.Our girl wasn't here yet though.
For Lily, time seemed to have stood still as she sat at her isolated desk in her elementary school classroom. She tapped her pencil anxiously, staring at the clock as she did so to see the minute hand hide behind the hour one. As soon as the loud pierce from the school bell echoed throughout the plain grey halls, the little girl pounced. Before anyone else could leave a classroom, Lily’s petite feet were seen creeping through the crevice of the school’s closing doors.
And just like any other day, Lily went to the harbor. The only difference today was that she wasn’t wearing her yellow jacket. She didn’t have her notebook. She didn’t have a pencil. The only thing she could do was swing her feet off the ledge and stare at the water with a dominant curiosity. And she waited, as patiently as a ten-year-old could. For hours. Then the boat’s horn rang out, breaking her eye contact with the waves and sending the little girl back home, with her cute patter springing her away from the harbor.
It started to rain. It was spring so this was no surprise. The drops of water sank into the eternal abyss of the sea, lifting the levels to a dangerous extent. Puddles began to cover the pier and the boats began to slowly hit the docks, but the winds were not strong enough to cause any damage. So Lily came back, safe as can be with a purple jacket that stood out when it contrasted with her bright yellow boots. The boots were meant to go with the other jacket though, which she longed for deeply. The little girl approached the ledge and stopped before she could sit down. Her breathing got louder, turning into a hectic pant that evoked goosebumps all over her body. She took one more step as her eyes continued to follow the water.
A slimy webbed hand peaked out. It clasped onto the stone stair case and in its hand glowed a yellow piece of cloth. Lily’s coat. The hand let go of the rocks and suddenly just struck up, showing the jacket off. Inside the pocket, was the girl’s lavender notebook. It was all there. A sparkle began to expand beyond the brown pupil of the adorable little girl. Her clapped together in excitement, but she found that she couldn’t find the strength to walk. She looked down at her feet and then back up to the hand, a small sigh releasing through her lips like mist. She stood there, allowing the drops from the sky to touch her head and frizz her hair. That thing was what dragged her under.
Thoughts of fright started to haunt Lily’s head as she recollected those moments of being under the dark, sea. Then, the loud burst of thunder knocked her off balance, but luckily a puddle caught her fall. Wet and disappointed, Lily picked herself up as she brushed the excess water off her jacket. Then before she could lift her head, a pair of webbed feet appeared on the ground in front of her. She slowly began to roll her head up to meet a slimy, green figure’s large eyes invade her bubble. She stumbled backward and held her hands up in defense, braced to be dragged back into the water. Her eyes shut tight. But nothing happened.
The sea creature edged its head closer, its pink eyes gleaming against the infinite number of rain droplets. Its own amazement with the little girl evident as his pupil began to widen. It then switched to look at the jacket held in his hand. Lily hesitatingly opened her eyes, thinking about her last words and the dread she would face. Instead she found that it was holding out her jacket. She gently grabbed it and took another step back. The silence overtook them and for a second the water stopped falling onto the cracked cement. Everything stood still. Then, five o'clock strikes and the blare of the cargo ship deteriorates the serenity. The creature harshly shifted its head back, then quickly traced back to the girl. Its eyes met hers once more, and then it propelled into the water. Lily released a heavy breath of relief and began to follow the path of the creature. She peered off the harbor, looking for any sign of the monster. The sun broke the clouds, stopping the rain from falling and shun a ray of light like a spotlight upon the girl. She stood still and seconds became minutes. The minutes became hours. And the hours became moments. Lily then found herself walking home, later than ever with smile conquering her face.
That afternoon, Lily opened her notebook to find that the pages were completely dry and intact. That's so weird. Nothing was damaged or lost, but something was different. In the very back of the notebook, there was a bent page and what she found ascribed onto it was even more peculiar. It read:
"Yako era uoy epoh I. Yrros ma I."
Confused, Lily started to turn her head to make sense of the gibberish, but it was an impossible puzzle. Then, out of pure luck, she saw the reflection of the writing reflect off the water in her cup. She could only make out one word: sorry. That's it! Of course, it's backwards! She started to decode the message and triumphantly looked at her work.
"I hope you are okay. I am sorry."
A revelation struck Lily. She had to return to the harbor and let the creature know that she was okay. That everything was okay and she was safe.The poor creature must have been suffering with worry. Lily didn’t know if she would ever see it again, but she had to try, after all, it did return her most precious item.
But no matter how many times a day the girl traveled to the docks and searched, Lily never saw the monster from the sea again.
