Swimming in the Deep, pt. 2
Lenny swam through the inky blackness around The Pebble, looking for fish. There seemed to be less recently than he remembered from a few years ago, but the rookery’s leaders insisted that nothing was amiss. ”Part of the natural order,” they squawked. ”Some years more fish, some years less fish.”
Despite their assurances, Lenny was worried. He was having to swim further and further to catch a meal. He was afraid that something was causing the fish to leave The Pebble. Last week he’d spoken to a passing whale said he’d noticed the decrease in the food supply but hadn’t given it much thought. Since whales migrated in-and-out of the system regularly, the availability of kelp was constantly changing.
Lost in thought, Lenny didn’t notice a black shadowy object hovering above and behind him. He did notice when a glowing orange beam surrounded him. ”That’s funny,” he thought. ”There’s sort of an orange circle on the ground, and I think that’s my shadow in the center.” As he began drifting towards something that looked like a giant clamshell, he wondered if there were fish inside, and whether it would share with him.