The fisherman peered down into the darkness of the sea and wondered just how deep this seemingly endless ocean was. What could possibly lie down there? He remembered stories he'd heard about kraken - giant squid that had grown fond of pulling great ships down into the sea to... well, nobody knew. An interesting story, and very possible given the vast seas the creatures could live in, though the fisherman wasn't convinced they were real. Just some old sailor's tale to scare the land-lubbers. Or was that pirates? He forgot.
It had been a few hours since the fisherman had caught anything. The sun held high in the sky, almost directly above him in fact, making the sea particularly clear today presenting a perfect opportunity to gaze upon the water and wait for it to reveal its secrets.
And wait he did.
At first, the pain in the fisherman's chest was a shock; it had been a while since he'd felt any pain, he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt an ache like this. A burning sensation on the left side of his chest; it began as a tickle then escalated into an uncomfortable hot tingle. He sat back beside his propped-up rod and clutched his chest. Then, before he had a chance to consider what was causing it, the pain had stopped.
Unperturbed, the fisherman checked his fishing rod and looked at the float on his line riding the waves.
It had been a while since he'd felt a lot of things - hate, fear, anger, pain; the fisherman surmised this was because he was, he supposed, happy. Out here on the endless ocean he was fulfilled; he caught his own food and was content roaming the seas in peace, alone.
Alone.
The fisherman had always preferred solitude to the company of others. That wasn't to say he didn't like people, quite the opposite in fact. He'd had many friends when... well, he couldn't quite recall when or where but he knew there were friends. People at least. One person he remembered quite clearly, now she was something special. Her green eyes fascinated him. To look into them was to fall into this vast ocean with all of his fishing weights in his shoes, down he plunged without hope of ever seeing the bottom, only when she would turn away would he be free from the prison of her gaze, for he could surely not avert his eyes from such beauty as hers.
Such stunning eyes.
But all that was in the past now. If he could bring back to pain of his old life to go back to her then he would. He'd throw away this tranquillity without a second thought, sunder the peace that had been bestowed upon him like some kind of reward for a deed long since forgotten.
That was an odd thought, he mused. But not far from truth. All this felt gifted upon him, a reward in truth, but what had he accomplished to have earned this blessing? Whatever it was he had apparently done could not have been any great sacrifice for him to be so unaware of it.
All of this was by-the-by. The fisherman had more pressing mysteries to solve. He sat forward and looked over the side of the boat again.
What IS down there?
