Wonders in the Deep

I was on my usual evening beach walk after closing my veterinary clinic when I heard the whimpers of a creature by a corner. I went to inspect what it was and found a seal washed ashore; he was caught in a tattered net, and the wires had sunk into his skin, causing him to lose a lot of blood. I lived on the outskirts of the nearest town, so rather than go on a long trip, I decided to take him to my clinic and nurse him back to health.

I named the seal Poseidon. He was patient with me and was back at full strength in a couple of weeks. When the time came to return him to the sea, though, I felt like I was losing a part of myself. I had grown too attached to Poseidon.

Seals were always my favourite animal; my late grandma who was a marine biologist spoke a lot about them. She also told me fairy tales about them that always enthralled me—stories of unseen realms in the deep that only very few humans ever received the blessing to witness. All those memories flooded my mind as I watched Poseidon leave the shore and disappear into the waves. He looked back one last time before diving into the waters.

After that day, I would spend an extra hour or two sometimes just to see if I would catch a glimpse of Poseidon swimming in the distance. One evening, while I was stepping into the waves, however, a sudden surge of water wrapped its grip around me and pulled me into the sea. I couldn’t fight the force of the waves that quickly dragged me into the depths; the sea swallowed me in mere seconds. As I sunk into those dark depths, I suddenly found myself being raised up. Someone or something was holding my ankles and pushing me back to the surface.

As I got closer to the surface, I noticed that what was grabbing my ankles were actually flippers—it was Poseidon. He had come to my aid. But he suddenly stopped pushing me up just a few feet away from the surface of the sea, and I suddenly found myself being able to breathe underwater. I caught my neck and found gills there, and looking at my hands, I found webs forming between my fingers. Poseidon turned around and looked back at me.

There are things in the deep that very few humans have ever seen. A voice suddenly appeared in my head.

Wait… Is that you?

Poseidon nodded.

It was as my grandma once said: there was a vast world untouched by humans. I felt blessed to witness such a wonder.