Meredith was a whale. All her life, she had been around her family and friends. They were the best friends that a huge fish could wish for. The pack of whales had been all over the world and had seen a lot of things. Meredith was particularly fond of exploring shipwrecks. She didn't know much about humans, but she loved to imagine what they were like from the clues they left behind in their wrecked boats. Her favorite find had been a gold tiara with a sparkly red stone in front. She imagined that it had belonged to a princess at one time.

Meredith would think of the most wonderful stories about humans. Sometimes they were families crossing the oceans to go on great adventures to see long-lost loved ones or soldiers sailing to fight evil megalomaniacs. Sometimes Meredith wished that she was a human. Her life was nice, but she had acquired a taste for the life above the sea. The best parts of her days were going up to the surface for air. Sometimes, she would even see a ship when she surfaced! She would follow it as long as she could, eternally curious.

One day, Meredith had come up for air and had seen the most beautiful ship she had ever seen. It looked similar to some of the Spanish vessels she had seen on the sea floor, but it was a smooth and shiny silver. There were spots along the railing that shone red light out into the sea, and sails that seemed to stretch up into the sky forever.

Meredith was intrigued. She floated there on the surface just staring at the magnificent ship, trying to picture the kind of people that were aboard. Movement on deck near the front of the ship caught her eye. It was a man running to the edge, jumping and waving. Meredith rolled onto her side and stuck her right flipper out of the water so she could wave back. Smiling, she wiggled her flipper at the man as best she could. She had a bit of extra weight, and though it slowed her down a little, the other whales thought she was very pretty.

Suddenly, she stopped waving. Something was wrong. There was a strange feeling in her stomach. This was bad. She looked down and saw a polished silver rod sticking out of her. It was attached to a rope, which was itself attached to the boat next to the man. As blood poured from the wound and her lips parted in an expression of shock, she looked at the man in disbelief.

Jenkins loved whales that waved back. They were so easy to hunt.

Meredith could feel herself being pulled toward the ship. A metallic sound rang out as the front of the boat began to open like a giant mouth. A grinding hum could be heard from inside. A single tear fell down her cheek as Meredith dropped her tiara.