Somewhere in the Sea

Chapter 08

It was a bright and sunny day as the team was to leave for their next exploration at the reef. Zaid was excited. He set up the alarm before going to sleep and made it to their office before anyone else. The professor was surprised to see him this early and smiled. "Early today are we, Mr Zaid?", Zaid smiled and helped him put the equipments in the car. Shehzad and Nadia came in shortly after and were also surprised to see him this early. "Where did the sun rise from this morning?", Shehzad chuckled. Soon they were off to the island. Shehzad and Nadia were constantly poking at each other on who got to the lab first. Zaid looked out the window on the coastal highway and saw the waves crashing along the shore. He smiled like a little kid who was off to the candy store to buy sweets. He was finally going back to the sea. 

After 3 long hours, they reached the substation where they dropped off some of the equipment in the lab and took the rest and headed towards the sea. He and Shehzad placed the equipment on the boat and off they went. The salty air hits their faces as they head to the island.  Zaid was so ecstatic that he nearly dropped the camera. Shehzad and Nadia continued to poke at each other and stopped when Nadia threatened to drop his bag in the sea. They reached the island in about 2 hours. By that time, the sun was on their heads and the winds were blowing fast. The island looked majestic. It was the size of 2 cricket stadiums put together. Migratory birds were flying above while some sat on the edges after a long flight. Professor and the instructor then guided them about the use of diving equipment. "Now remember, descend slowly while equalizing the pressure on both sides.  We have to take one sample of each specimen, careful not to damage the entire structure. And don't ascend too quickly or you'll get the bends." They all changed into their gears, put on their scuba tanks, sat on the edge of the boat and fell backwards into the sea. 

After a few moments of seeing only bubbles, the scenery became clear. They were floating at the edge of the magnificent coral reef. It took a while for Zaid to adjust to the scene as they began to descend down. They saw shoals of fish swimming by, corals of different shapes and sizes, a moray eel poking out of its home to look around and sea urchins moving along silently on the floor. Zaid had little time to fantasize about its marvelous look as the team had already begun the work. Professor instructed them to begin the work. Using the marks placed from the last dive, Zaid and Nadia collected specimens in small jars. Shehzad began taking pictures to monitor their growth. Along the way, they also managed to pick up some trash lying on the reef. 

The commotion woke up Marjan who was sleeping nearby. Still hidden, she looked curiously at the divers who were busy with their work. She couldn't understand what they were doing. They were not harming the reef plus they were helping to clean up the mess. She thought why would anyone see them as wrong. Maybe humans aren't as bad as everyone thought they were.

As they were beginning to ascend, Zaid saw a small fish frantically moving around near the reef. As he looked closely, he saw that it was stuck in a plastic bag. Moving forward, he held the bag and cut it with the help of a pocket knife. The fish swam freely and then went away. Smiling to himself, Zaid went back to pick up the remaining trash. Marjan wanted to see him up close and touched her locket unintentionally. It glowed and suddenly she became invisible. She looked at herself in shock as if the locket had read her mind. She swam forward and came face to face with him. Zaid was picking up the plastic bottles and couldn't see Marjan. Marjan smiled as she looked at his work. She wanted to thank him for everything they're doing but couldn't. Zaid then ascended back up to the surface. Marjan's eyes followed him as he went back up on the boat and then left. She touched her locket and became visible again.

Marjan called upon that fish and asked what happened. "I was stuck in that thing. I thought I was gonna die but that human saved me!", said the fish happily and then swam away. She then talked to the corals they took the samples from. "Oh these people are good. We were in a terrible state before them. They cleaned our places and repopulated our colonies", said one coral. "It's true!", said another. "Those fishermen and poachers come and destroy our homes but these ones helped fix it. We are truly grateful to them". "These were the humans I was talking about", flower pot said. "God bless them all". Marjan felt happy that corals were thriving. But she was also happy to see that human. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't shake off. Who was he? And will she be able to see him again?