My entrance into a new world could only be described as… less than graceful. The first thing I remember is my lungs being on fire and my ears feeling like they were about to explode. Thankfully, my uncomfortable state didn’t last long, as some pressure on my chest helped me remember how lungs worked again.
After a few pumps on my chest I rolled over and started violently retching water. It wasn’t pleasant, but I could breathe again. Fresh, cold air rushed into my lungs as I collapsed back onto the ground, thankful for the ability I always taken for granted.
Where was I, though? On the shore, judging by the sand that I could feel coating my face and my already sopping wet clothing. Oh no, I suddenly realized, if I’d fallen into the water where was my painting?
That painting would be my bread and butter. If I lost it, that was my month’s paycheck out the window, or should I say into the water? That’s what I did for a living, after all: paint. It was an okay job, if you could even call it that. I basically lived from commission to commission and dealt with bitchy customers who were never satisfied, even if I gave them exactly what they wanted. But that’s the way the world works, though. Right? But painting was my passion; as long as I had access some paints and a canvas I never minded how many times my commissioners ran me around.
One recent customer had been bitching about the way I styled water. It’s not like 90% of the canvas was a waterscape or anything… oh wait, it was. Finally, I just decided to go out and paint directly in front of some and if they still didn’t like it, well then they could rightly go and screw themselves.
That’s actually not true. If they didn’t like it, I’d probably keep torturing myself until they were happy and then justify it with the meager amount of money I got in the end, if I got any at all. I guess you could say the phrase “starving artist” really describes me. Some days I really couldn’t afford much food. I usually lived off of cuppa ramen. Ramen wasn’t that bad… if you really like salty soup. But I digress.
Whilst painting, I managed to somehow fall off of the boat I was on. That wouldn’t have been such a big deal had I not been wearing my massive messenger bag, stuffed full of art supplies. Its heavy weight acted like an anchor. I was so surprised that I was sinking that I didn’t even think to take off what was keeping me from surfacing. So instead, I futilely flailed my limbs and tried to scream. Doing so only hastened my descent, unfortunately, and used up my air supply. But just when I thought I was about to black out, something pulled me out of the water.
That something plucked me up out of the water by my waist and deposited me on the beach. My bag was still hanging off of my shoulder, even heavier with the added water weight. As I flailed around trying to untangle myself, the unseen force helped me once again and I was free of my bag. I wasted no time in quickly flipping over onto my hands and knees and retching the copious amounts of water I had ingested.
Let me tell you, it took a lot of energy out of me freaking out in the water like I did and then forcefully throwing up on top of it? I was exhausted. With my energy spent, I unceremoniously collapsed, face-down, in the sand. It rubbed painfully against my cheek but the only thing I cared about in that moment was relaxation. My muscles loosened and I focused on my breathing, taking deliberate, deep gulps of air.
After a few minutes, when my breathing had evened out and slowed down, I realized something odd. When I was on the boat, I was nowhere near the shore, much less beach. Granted, I kind of lost track of time while I was trying not to drown. Maybe someone on the boat jumped in and pulled me out. That seems possible. But why was I on a sandy beach? If someone had dragged me to the shore I would be lying on the muddy embankment of a river. Weird.
I was still very much out of breath but doing much better when I felt someone tap my shoulder. Assuming it what whoever pulled me out and saved my life, I looked over my shoulder to at least nod in appreciation. When I looked behind me I did indeed see my savior, but the sight wasn’t at all what I expected.
Rather than a person looking down on me, I saw a rather large, purple, serpentine creature. It was leaning over me, one claw half outstretched to tap on my shoulder. The other arm was being held against its chest as it looked down with apparent concern. While we’re on the subject of its face, let’s discuss the fact that this large creature with purple iridescent scales had what looked like an orange moustache and a full head of hair. It also sported two fin-like projections on the sides of its head. Gauging from the fins and the fact that it had scales the creature was clearly aquatic.
I took in its entire appearance in a fraction of a second and decided that this just didn’t make sense. My brain refused to process the messages it was receiving from my eyes and decided the best course of action would be to scream. And scream I did.
I opened my mouth and let loose the loudest scream I could. The creature reacted instantly, going from quietly concerned to trying to hush me. It seemed to be trying to say something but I didn’t understand. It sounded like rational speech, but it was in a language I had never heard. I cannot even begin to describe the strange sounds coming out of the creature’s mouth which were so similar yet so different to my own language. As he spoke, he moved his face closer to my own. His tone was soft yet uplifting, like someone trying to soothe a crying baby but this did nothing as I simply screamed louder the closer he got.
Realizing that trying to talk was getting him nowhere; it retreated back a few feet and brought a fist with one finger extended to his mouth, making the universal sign for “shush”. I figured out it was trying calm me down but something about seeing an enormous purple sea monster acting like that is anything but calming.
I may not have been calmed but my throat was raw so my yelling was cut off with a good amount of rancorous coughing. I’m sure the sea monster’s ears were appreciative. Amidst said coughing, I heard the thing “talking” again. Looking up I saw the thing looking down and speaking once again but from a bit more of a distance.
There was a long pause as I stared at him blankly after it finished speaking. It repeated what it said. Once again, I simply stared. When I didn’t respond, he reached out and slowly pulled my coat off of one shoulder. I had completely forgotten I was wearing it.
Finally understanding what he was trying to say, I shrugged off the other arm of the coat. As he took it from me I consciously noticed that I was being extremely calm about this. To be honest, I didn’t know how to react. After getting over the surprise of a giant purple monster in my face I was just kind of numb; there was nothing I could really do. Since the thing was being helpful, and he did save me after all, I thought I should go with the flow.
I watched him as he took my coat and laid it on a flat, rock, outcropping jetting a few feet out over the water. The sun was beating directly on the rock and my coat would probably be dry within a few hours. Speaking of the sun, it was bright and warm but there was a definite nip in the air. Fall is great when you have a coat and dry clothes, and I had neither at this point.
Figuring the best way to warm up/dry off would be alongside my coat, I slowly rolled over and pulled myself up the embankment. I was dirty as hell and tired but it was easy enough to make my way over to the warm rock.
Laying down on that sun-baked piece of earth felt amazing. I cannot describe the wonderful feeling of relaxation it gave me. I pulled off my shoes and socks and put them out to dry as well. I wanted to take off my t-shirt and pants but common decency kept me from doing so. Still, even with my wet clothes on, I could feel the sun’s warmth.
I fell asleep right there on that rock. Covered in wet clothes after being rescued by what appeared to be a purple sea monster, I fell asleep. Maybe I was in a coma and this was some kind of delusion I was having after nearly drowning?
It was proven not to be a dream, however, when the sound of a voice woke me up. At first it seemed like I really had dreamed the whole ordeal, but looking around I found myself still lying on the warm rock with my bag, coat, and socks and shoes spread out next to me.
I kept hearing the voice. It was clearly feminine, being high pitched and nearly shrill. Looking around, I found the source: A human with purple hair. That made sense. I guessed there really was no sea monster and I had imagined the whole thing, that is until I realized that the sea monster was still there.
The girl was standing on the beach while the monster was still in the water. They were talking. They both seemed to be speaking the same language I didn’t understand, too.
This made even less sense than earlier… I think. I really wasn’t sure of anything at this point. The whole scenario
I pushed myself up into a sitting position and hate every second of it. My muscles and joints groaned in defiance as I stretched them out in an attempt to get rid of the soreness. Stretching succeeded in making my joints bendable once again, but it still hurt to move. Being sore became my excuse to stay where I was rather than go and see what was happening with the sea monster and the purple-haired woman.
I rubbed my face absentmindedly to get the last grains of sand still stuck to my cheek off, still staring at the pair conversing down the beach. I was so lost in thought, or lack thereof, that I didn’t notice that another being had apparently climbed the slab I was sitting on. When I finally did notice that there were two azure-tinted eyes peeking at me over the edge of the rock I nearly slapped myself in the face.
When whoever it was realized they’d been spotted, they quickly disappeared before I heard a quiet yelp. She’d apparently been so startled by my noticing her that she lost her footing. Crawling over to the ledge I saw a young woman sitting on the ground, rubbing her sore bottom.
I was about to ask if she was okay when I heard a shout from down the beach. The purple-haired woman was jogging towards us. Clearly they knew each other by the tone which she had called with. I figured she asked if the girl who’d fallen was alright when she repeated what she’d yelled down the beach. After a quiet affirmation, the girl, who I noticed was wearing a simple yellow dress and had pink hair, was helped to her feet. I guessed these two were close friends simply from their extreme hair colors. They kind of reminded me of cotton candy.
After the pink-haired girl dusted herself off and seemed to reaffirm that she was fine to the purple one, they both turned their attention to me. Suddenly intimidated by both sets of eyes looking up at me expectantly I shrank back away from the ledge. I heard the two chat quietly for a few seconds before the one with pink hair reappeared, peeking over the ledge once again.
She started speaking softly to me and while I had absolutely no clue what the words meant I could tell she was trying calm me down like the sea monster had the previous day. Since I was more comfortable around the familiar humans I had no problem trying to communicate back.
After she finished speaking I tried to follow suit with “I have no clue what you’re trying to say,” but it came out more scratchy than anticipated. I couched a few times into my hand before trying again to not sound like a 60-year-old chain smoker.
The pink-haired girl clearly didn’t understand but she smiled and disappeared back below the ledge for a minute before popping back up and actually climbing up to join me on the slab. Along with her she brought a plush pink blanket, which she held out to me. I’d completely forgotten how chilly I was and wrapped the blanket around me with gusto as I thanked her. She smiled and said something.
This girl had to know I had no clue what she was saying but it was nice to see her try. She said something again, I’m guessing in a different way to see if I understood. I furrowed my brow and shook my head, “I don’t speak your language, you strange, pink-haired lady.”
The girl sighed and repeated what she’d said while making hand signs. She pointed to myself, herself, and finally to the woods about a dozen feet from the edge of the riverbank. Okay, she wanted me to go with her. Probably to the closes town. That sounded like a great idea; even if I didn’t speak their language I could find a phone and call someone to help me.
Finally understanding, I nodded enthusiastically and smiled. The pink-haired girl smiled as well and stood. When she held out a hand to help me to my feed I eagerly pulled myself up and grabbed my socks and shoes. Both were still damp so I went and put them in my bag, which was also still damp.
When I was about to shoulder my heavy art bag the pink-haired girl took it from me instead, albeit with some difficulty. She smiled warmly and said something again. She looked kind of frail but if she was willing to carry it for me I wasn’t going to complain.
We climbed down from the rocky outcropping and joined the purple-haired woman at the bottom. The two exchanged a few words before motioning towards the forest and setting off in the same direction. The purple-haired woman led the way while the pink one stayed next to me and attempted to chat. She was quiet but I’ll be damned if she wasn’t persistent. She just kept asking me questions to which I would always say “I don’t understand” and she would smile, nod, and say something else.
Just as we reached the entrance to the forest, both of the girls turned to yell and wave. Turning around I saw the sea monster also waving. What do you do in that kind of situation? I awkwardly waved as well. I mean, he saved me so he deserved that much.
I’d thought I was perhaps coming to my senses with the humans but I was still seeing the giant purple sea monster? And what’s more, the two others were seeing him too? I think I needed a longer and more comfortable rest than one night on a rock in the wilderness.
Hopefully wherever we were going wasn’t too far; I was still painfully stiff and sore.
Author's Note
No clue where I'm going with this.
*unedited version
Enjoy!