Stripes
- Kaye M. Tang
- Mar 17, 2021
- 5 min read
Genre: General
Lani stared straight ahead, blinking slowly at the beady eyes glued to hers. There was no fear, only understanding. That was likely the cause of this standstill, but she knew it wouldn’t last long. A couple things were instinctively clear. One, he wasn’t going to let her go, and two, there was no way she would make it out of this, not with all her limbs in tack. It didn't even cross her mind to try. She was too far down anyway.
The water was cool today. Her fingers and toes were already feeling numb. Hopefully, he wouldn’t leave any behind. They were all shrivelled, and the nails were broken or chipped. Who would want to see those? She almost laughed at the thoughts occupying her brain. Shouldn’t it be something more significant in her last moments? A recollection of her life? The smiling face of her latest crush? Her baby sister? Maybe she should laugh. A mouthful of water would help quicken the process. Her body still couldn’t do it, not even here, face to face with death. Funny how that worked.
Make a move mister. She exhaled heavily, watching the bubbles float around her until they disappeared from her line of sight. Fine. I will, she broke eye contact. Lifting her head to look at the surface, leaving her neck on full display. Reckless. Reckless, overconfident, stubborn. Words she heard once a week at the minimum. A small smile lit up her face. She was consistent, up to her final breath.
The surface drew her focus back to it, beckoning her to try. She shook her head, refusing to entertain that thought for longer than a second. Even if the distance was two feet away, she would never make it. In reality, the chances were much less. By her estimate, she was about twenty feet down.
It worked. Lani suddenly felt warmer as the large grey mass encircled her, his tail ripping the ocean in two. Assessing? What? I’m too skinny for you? Pfft. Her air bubbles hit the stripes on his side. Well, you’re rude. I’ll have you know that I’m a healthy size for my height. More bubbles sprouted as she huffed a breath. I’m really down here having an internal, one-sided argument with a tiger shark. She could silly to that list of words, or better yet, just plain mad. She would have to be to swim outside the barricades. Rising sea levels, warmer waters, the need for a barrier was merely natural selection at its best. It was clear who was winning this war.
The current exploded around them, and they both sprung into action. A torrent of red zipped frantically around in panic. Someone had released a captured net of red snappers. Lani was already half-way to the surface when the rope fell. She grabbed on, using it to quicken her ascent, but she wasn’t worried. Her life was swapped for this month’s supply of fish. Stripes was no longer interested in her. She laughed at herself, resulting in a fresh coughing fit. Creative would not be added to that list of words, stripes was the best name she could come up with for a tiger shark.
“I should’ve left your ass down there.” Her brother threw a warm towel that smacked her in the face.
“Probably,” she choked out still struggling to get much-needed air into burning lungs, “mom’s gonna kill me anyway.”
“Most definitely.”
Kai suddenly growled, releasing a string of expletives,
“What the hell were you thinking Kehlani? Actually don’t even bother. You never think. Whatever Lani feels like doing she just does! Forget the consequences right? You know how lucky you are? Maybe that’s the problem. You do shit and always escape without a scratch, so you just keep doing it! He punched the centre console in front of him as he steered the boat back into the safety zone.
“It's time to grow the hell up. You really need to grow up.”
“Sorry about the fish.” Lani dragged her feet along the sand. She knew she wouldn’t be back here for at least a month.
“I’ll go out early every morning until I make back what you lost.”
Kai scoffed, “Like anyone is dumb enough to lend you a boat. You’re sure as hell not getting on mine.”
“Can I at least go to the reefs to catch bait? Please, it's been two weeks. I’m dying here.”
“Help Jasmine build her pond? Her fish are getting too big for a tank, I promised to help.”
“Oh! maybe I -”
The glare her mother shot her was answer enough.
Lani sighed, half-heartedly digging the soil, “Garden duty it is.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Shhh, I just think we should consider it.” Kehlani sat up in bed, the whispered voices outside heated enough to pique her interest.
“We’ve been monitoring it for a while now, this could help prove our theory.”
“And you want to use our child!”
Lani crept to the door putting her ear against the wood.
“She’ll be doing what she loves and for once it'll be in a safe environment with a team of experts backing her.”
“Please Myra,” her father begged. “I’m just asking you to consider it.”
“Consider what?”
Four wide eyes blinked at her, a mixture of fear, worry and was that pride?
The metal cage lowered into the water. Right where she'd met Stripes. She threw a thumbs up at the camera and smiled as best she could with the scuba diving regulator in her mouth. Then she tossed the chunks of fresh meat through the cage bars. Now all they had to do was wait. And wait. And wait. Lani groaned, raising an eyebrow at the camera. It was getting boring in here. Maybe they were wrong, and Stripes’ visit was just an anomaly.
“Do not open that cage.”
“Kehlani Nicholls!” She cringed as her father yelled into the earpiece. It wasn’t Stripes that visited today, it was clearly much bigger, and no stripes were on its side. It's pure white underbelly told her exactly what it was. She knew she shouldn’t open the cage, but as far as Lani was concerned, what was the point of this experiment if she stayed safely inside?
The rising sea levels and warmer temperatures pushed more sharks into tropic waters. More sharks meant more competition for prey, so humans managed to make their list. Food was food. So why didn’t Stripes attack? She couldn’t figure it out, neither could her father nor the other marine biologists. The sharks had even stopped swimming around the barriers, hardly any had been spotted in the last few months. No attacks were reported. Now they were back.
Lani eased out of the cage, keeping her hand on the door for a quick retreat. The noise drew her new companion’s attention to her, the chunks of meat long gone. She breathed slowly, keeping her heart rate steady. Something about Stripes’ eyes were curious, almost kind. This was definitely not Stripes. The great white got closer and closer.
“Kehlani get back in right now!”
She shook her head slightly, she had to know. Six feet, three feet, one. Blood pumped in her ears. She had removed the regulator from her mouth to hold her breath instead, not moving even an inch. It was so close she could smell its rancid breath. She resisted the urge to squeeze her eyes shut. Stay alert.
If it wasn’t for the camera, Lani would swear she imagined the entire thing. She was off the team of course, but her father was quick to forgive. They sat together eating lunch, examining the video replay. The great white came right up to her, close enough to touch. They stayed there, stuck in limbo for what felt like an eternity in Lani’s mind. Then just like that, he turned and swam away, disappearing into the depths.
Lani didn’t know it at the time, but the radars went off in the lab. Another predator was nearby. She caught a glimpse of it here on the video. She was sure it was him, or she convinced herself it was. Stripes lurked about ten to twelve feet behind the cage, watching. When he disappeared into the depths, the great white veered around her and followed close behind.
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