Blue sky arched as brilliantly as the mass ocean itself.A young blonde man with hazel eyes was crouched down near a tide pool on a tiny, sequestered square of land that wasn't far from Jump City searching for sea anemones.
'What a spring break,'Twenty-year-old Mark Terrance Vincent thought to himself.But an aspiring Marine Biologist always had to be on the look-out.
Nothing interesting aside from housed snails and a few sea urchins were in this grove of earth, the water was of course clearer here and easy to look over.Mark turned his attention out to the vastness of the sea view beyond.
Of course, that was where the true mystery of life resided within the infinite depths of murky space.That was the adventure he couldn't wait to explore.
"Look onto me,my beauty you seek..."
A faint voice snapped him out of his reverie.Mark turned in expectation of Laura,his girlfriend and a couple of rowdy roomies.He saw nothing, no one.
"You doubt I am here, my presence only a voice of most pure..."
The lulling melody of the voice began to mingle was the shift of tide below on the shoreline.A tingle of dazedness descended, causing Mark to rub his eyes so as not to let his eyes flutter shut.This only made him more drowsy.
"Come to me, dear.You have nothing to fear."
"Ugh,"he groaned and massaged the back of his neck.Mark looked around frantically before going over to retrieve his knapsack and head for his boat.
Whoever the woman was, her sweet vocals still hummed inside his ears and made him start to feel uneasy.He carefully hopped the risen ridges to meet the water streaked hull of his motor boat that was waiting ashore for him.
'Get it together,Vincent.'His thoughts were shaky.'It's only the wind.'
"Seek me out, brave dear.I look on in love and never to leer."
Mark scrambled around the top and threw himself legs first into the front over the windshield.Panting, he fumbled into his khaki's pocket and sighed a breath of relief over recovering cool metal.He could finally get out now.
The boat engine revived a bit but refused to start even as he pushed down hard on the key.Finally there was a loud roar of surging gas and Mark was ready to go; if it wasn't for the fact that half of the boat was still on dry land.
He thumped his forehead with his palm and moved out to the side to begin pushing it out.Suddenly, the air around him grew still.Almost as if the world had stopped.Mark gripped the wet front and heaved with all of his might.
"Closer, closer."The voice seemed to resonate from beneath him.
Once the boat was afloat completely, Mark hurtled himself into the driver's seat and throttled into motion.Water spewed as high as fountains on either side as he neared the bay of Jump City Harbor and the water rental shack.
'Almost,'he thought anxiously.'Almost...'
Thump!Thump!Thump!
Pinprick lines of leakage spat from between his legs.Mark tried not to look down and concentrated on the fact that he was coasting up near the shore.
"Come on,"he urged quietly,then."Come on!"
As if an anchor had reached twelve feet below,the boat jerked forward to a stop and Mark made impact with the windshield;he had not buckled up.
The world spun out of focus as darkness began creeping to the edges of his vision.That's when he felt the front of the boat rattle as if something had gotten on top of it.Slowly, he moved his throbbing head up to get a glance.
It was...a woman.Shiny, chestnut hair curved around her delicate face and nurturing blue eyes appraised the awed young man.Another thing that sent a series of lustful twists to his heart was a pink, rosebud smile she adorned.
Mark would have smiled back had his eyes not fallen to taloned hands that clung just below his windshield.He gave a chilled shudder and passed out.
x.x.x
Fresh air pierced his lungs as he re-merged to the surface.Memories of all he'd encountered blurred and need for flight guided him to attempt to swim akwardly to dry land.Gravel shoved between his fingers as he came ashore.
His cloths hung like dropping weights from his body while coughed up pain and water filled chokes.Once he felt back in some control, Mark turned and drew his legs up to his chest.There was nothing to do but wait until morning.
Crystal moonlight danced mystically across the dark water as he tried very had to recount what had happened, only to wind up with a headache.And of course that only grew with the rising of a cry.To his disbelief, an infant's cry.
Mark lost all interest in himself and stumbled down to where a rag bundled baby lay, tears streaming down it's round cheeks.Unreluctantly, he reached out his hands for the helpless child and the moment he held her she silenced.
"Hello,"Mark smiled down to the blue-eyed girl."Where's your mom...?"
He looked out into the distance to see that the moon was at blessed fullness.
"And your dad."
To be continued...