Author's note: I have had to write this monster so many times due to computer deaths! Enjoy.
Like her memories, dreams, and emotions; sleep was elusive for Dory. She lay in the cavern beneath the anemone, and listened to the sounds resonating softly throughout the reef. She had to wonder which noises were normal, and which were not. And she had to wonder how often she did that.
Dory opened her eyes, surveying the shadow-infested waters. All was quiet, all was still; and yet, there was noise. She lifted slowly off the rocky floor and hovered for a moment, holding her breath as she listened to her surroundings. It wasn't the sound of a large body moving through the water, so she swam out into the neighborhood; stopping when she remembered her deal with one of the fish whose snores came to her from within the anemone. She reached back into the cavern, retrieving the little stick that she always placed at the opening...ironically, so she would remember it. And she idled in the water, twisting and turning until it occurred to her that the strange, rhythmic noise was coming from the liquid ceiling. She raised her eyes to the darkness suspended above the reef. The moonlit surface rippled in tandem with the beating hail.
She swam closer to the surface, watching the stones splash into the surface and begin to slowly break down. She reached out and captured a stone, and the sensation of it dissolving on her fin made her laugh. But it was the colorful flash of movement in her peripheral vision that made her look down, at the long, rippling streak of a mesmerizing Ribbon Eel.
Dory forgot about her friends. She forgot about her promise. Completely captivated by the eccentric beauty of the fish, Dory swam down and began following the fish; attempting to replicate its grace. She knew she couldn't do it justice. She also knew she would forget that fact.
What was it, about the rich blue and striking yellow that seemed so familiar...?
The Ribbon Eel unwittingly guided her to the dropoff; where it turned around, its long, lean body curling in a near perfect circle. And caught sight of her. Its eyes flitted nervously down to the stick in Dory's fins. "Can I help you?" she asked, somewhat nervously.
"Boy, I sure hope you can. I think I'm lost."
"You think?"
"Yeah, I'm...This place doesn't look familiar."
The Ribbon Eel's eyes kept darting back to the stick. "What do you need that for?"
"Oh, um..." Dory looked at it, turning it over in her fin. "Gee, I really don't know. I can't remember picking it up."
Now the Ribbon Eel looked concerned. "Are you hurt?"
"No. I have short term memory loss."
The Ribbon Eel smiled then. "Okay," she said succinctly, and swam out into open water. Idling alone on the reef, Dory looked down at the stick and hoped that somebody would come find her.