"Oye Zaid!", Shehzad smacked him on the back of his head. Zaid came back to his senses. He was lost in his thoughts focused on the computer screen blankly with his headphones off. "Where are you lost?", Shehzad asked him. "He's probably thinking that his friend can't even take a decent picture", smirked Nadia. "Oh please", pouted Shehzad. "What do you want to eat? We were about to order lunch." "Oh, just a burger for me, thanks", said Zaid. During that time, Zaid completed the next few pages of the research. Shehzad uploaded the pictures and Nadia entered the readings in the database. Lunch arrived and they all sat down to eat. Zaid ate quietly while Shehzad kept eating Nadia's dish and they were fighting once again. The fact that he had a weird dream and then that feeling of something watching was just his mind playing tricks on him but then that photo? Is this all just a coincidence? "I know I love the sea but is there something else to the whole scenario? This has to mean something
In the weeks that followed, the team continued their work as per schedule. The reports from the substation were coming back with positive results. Until the day came for the next dive. As usual, the team packed up the equipment, headed for the substation, dropped their stuff off and went to the beach. The weather was a perfect sunny day and a little windy. They got to the island in about two hours. The instructor told them that water currents might vary this time of the month so stay near the reef floor and return back as soon as the work is done. They put their gear on and dropped into the sea. The reef looked beautiful as ever as they descended down. This dive's assignment was just to observe the growth of the reef and to take pictures. There was less trash as compared to the last dive. The corals were thriving well. There were a few new shoals of fish in the reef as well. They began to document it and take pictures. Invisible to all others, Marjan wa
Zaid was lucky to be alive. But during the entire trip back, he had to endure a two hour lecture from everyone on the boat. "How could you be so careless?", yelled the professor and the instructor. "You could have died and we wouldn't even have found your body. Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?" This went on for some time. After the professor cooled down, Shehzad and Nadia began. "If you want to die, just say so. We'll just push out the running boat next time", Nadia said sarcastically. Shehzad smacked him again at the back of his head. "Idiot!", he said fuming. And to make matters worse, a seagull pooped on his head when we were about to get off the boat. Zaid apologized again and again to everyone on the boat and promised to never wander off again. Professor accepted his apology and agreed to let him on the next dive. Shehzad and Nadia were not convinced though. Zaid had to make a deal to buy them dinner the next week. They forgave him then too.They got back t
Down in the abyss, Vex and Blitze swam down to meet Madam Roohar. "We are so dead!", said Vex nervously. "She's gonna kill us for sure", Blitze replied. "It was the perfect opportunity to get them. We were planning this for weeks and now the plan is all ruined. Oh! How are we gonna tell her that?" They kept thinking up ways to give her an explanation but couldn't. Finally they reached the entrance to her cave. There was nothing but silence at the entrance. Their minds were filled with a millions ways to run away and to never return but unwillingly they entered. The atmosphere inside was colder than usual. The anglerfish loomed over her chair. There were a few glowing worms moving along the walls making it more luminescent than before. Madam Roohar in her chair not saying a single word. "Umm.. Ma.. Madam Roohar?", Blitze stuttered. No response. "Madam Roohar?", she said again but no response. "Madam Roohar, we encountered a problem with the attack." Madam Roohar rose from h
Things have been exceptionally difficult for Marjan. She was facing an internal struggle each day. On one hand, she was supposed to look for her sister of whom she had zero progress so far and on the other, she was starting to have feelings for a human she barely knew and above all, she saved his life. She was nervously swimming around the reef talking to herself. "Your sister is in grave danger and you're here thinking about some human who doesn't even know you exist. Mother would be highly disappointed in you. It's been several moons now and I haven't even figured out where Sanho is. I should resume the search, yes." So she focused on finding her sister and got back to work. She would ask the migratory shoals if they had seen a mermaid in any other region or not. But it's been almost a month since the last attack so it was extremely difficult for her to look for her now. And by now, most of them had forgotten that they had seen a mermaid or not. The reef's inhabitants we
It was a bright sunny day and the team was getting ready to go to the wedding. Zaid and Shehzad were wearing kurta shalwar and Nadia wore traditional clothes. The professor wore shalwar kameez with a coat on top and was waiting outside talking to the driver. Shehzad and Nadia were taking pictures with their phone while Zaid was playing Tetris on his phone. Professor came inside and talked to them, "So I just talked to the driver. The village is an hour long drive from the substation. The wedding festivities will start at around noon and will go on throughout the day. We'll get there at around 2 and leave at sunset. It might take a while until we'll be back home by midnight". '`Ok!", said Shehzad and Nadia. Zaid was busy beating his high score of 762. Shehzad smacked him on the back of his head. "Ow! Hey, what the- Oh hi Professor!", said Zaid massaging his neck. "Anyways", said the professor rolling his eyes, "We better hurry up if we have to get there on time." The team t
The fish and the corals started to hide in their homes. "Honey, you have to hide now! They're after you!", said flower pot. Marjan frightfully hid beneath the reefs. "Come out, come out wherever you are princess.", said one of the sirens. She was holding a spear head. "Come out and play. We're not gonna hurt you". "Yeah our leader wants to see you. She says that you'll be an excellent guest for her '', said another. They were approaching the place where Marjan was hiding. She was holding still. "Infidels! Filth! Get away from our homes!", Oldie shouted at the sirens. "Oh shut up you old twig!", snapped back the siren. "Don't you wanna meet your sister, princess? She's getting lonely with us", said one siren. "She's practically starving. She said she won't eat until she sees her baby sister". "Yeah the dungeons are a bit sad with just one mermaid in it" and then they all cackled loudly. "And don't try to use any of your fancy powers! We know all about them now. Thanks to Mi
The road was dark, lit up by the headlights of the cars passing by. They reached the coastal highway in about an hour and headed towards the city. It was the night of the full moon and the light shone brightly over the sea. Shehzad fell asleep in the car and Nadia was having fun taking his pictures.Suddenly the car got bumpy and began to slow down. The driver slowed down and drove it to the edge of the road. They had a flat tyre. "Aww man!", groaned Zaid and Nadia. "Now, now there's no need to worry. We have a spare tyre in the trunk. It'll just take a while and then we'll be on our way in no time", reassured the driver. They all got out of the car and looked around. The cold sea breeze felt heavenly against their faces. They were standing at the edge of the road overlooking the sea and its majestic beauty."Hey, isn't it the night when the corals will release their eggs?", asked Nadia. "Ah! I wanted to see that!", groaned Zaid as he completely forgot about the coral breeding season.