A Hidden Companion

Being an octopus, I have never been afraid of sharks. They keep their distance from me, which is a shame because all I have ever wanted to do is be like a shark – intimidating, like a torpedo through the water, moving with such an undeniable confidence. Me, the most redeeming qualities I have; a sniper-like ink squirt, I can blend in anywhere, and apparently, I am pretty smart. These measly traits, though, do not give me a lot of pull. Not in the new ecosystem.

Things recently have changed beneath the surface, the structure. There are rules now and although there is most definitely a hierarchy, which disturbs some, if we all do our part in our assigned sector, steering clear of trouble should be a cinch. This hierarchy is, of course, topped by a shark. Not your ordinary shark. They had to go through extensive training…more mental and attitude training than other elective areas. To keep it simple, if leadership was their goal, they had to vow to protect rather than to harm.

Emma is our warden, our leader, and although she strictly communicates with her deputy, Meryl – a bottlenose, to keep order in our sector, she does flash a toothy smile or a head-shudder when passing by the average fluke. She is a shortfin mako shark – what she lacks in size, she miraculously makes up in speed.

See, being the warden, she is the leader of our sector and, per one of the commandments, no threatening shark shall pass into our span of three reefs. So due to her incredible, genetic swimming endurance and built-in disregard for sleep, she keeps a tight watch to be sure no one trespasses through our designated turf. Meryl, who sleeps with one eye open, floats in front of our most cherished reef that consists of loads of fish and an abundance of crustaceans. To a non-compliant fish, this is a hotbed for food. Which is why, if any shark were to come through unannounced, this is exactly where they would go.

Fortunately for them, anything passing through unannounced is my job, my duty, my self-proclaimed contribution to the sector. Now, of course, they do not know this – not even sure if they know of me. But I am here, and I have a thirst to prove myself.

Luckily, we do have a contingency plan in case of emergencies (should I fall through). No matter how fast or sharp Emma and Meryl are, if an ambush arises, we would need back up…quickly. An alarm would sound, chanted by the daily passing of a pod of humpbacks, evenly spaced between sectors, that would signal a department of tarpons. These tarpons pace in strict formation, darting between their assigned three sectors, including our own, called the Tri-Reef patrol.

Keep in mind, the rules are specifically within the sectors. All underwater animals are free to pass in the suburbs, which are beyond our sector’s limits. Although I do not like to venture, I’ve been there before. It’s clear, open, and for whatever reason all fish traffic moves on the same level as if the fish were unaware of how deep the water gets.

_ _ _ _ _

I have been shadowing Emma for quite a while now, doing what I can to keep my nose straight when swimming…well I don’t have a nose like her, so I do my best to position my head still and pointed, keeping my arms suckered together to be in straight-line formation. It is difficult to keep up with her, though, especially when we go from reef to reef. Fortunately, I skate along the sand below, blending in the best I can. Sometimes I think she can sense that I am there. And if she knows, that’s a little upsetting.

Today feels different, though.

Out of nowhere, Meryl swims over to provide Emma with a report. I immediately go brown and mold into some tired coral.

“There are more tarpons, today.” Meryl notifies Emma with his deep, raspy tone.

She nods. “I noticed, also.” Her voice is so self-assured, razor sharp.

“Do you think it is from Red-Tide migration?” Meryl goes on. “I’m sure the other sectors are preparing as we are.”

“Could be. Stay near the main reef and I will mention this to the next humpback that passes by.” Emma looks directly at me, but there’s no way she can see me…can she?

Meryl nods and swims off.

Emma moves away from their meeting spot with such poise, unrevealing of any emotion as to whether the additional tarpons has bothered her or not. I do my best to mimic her, posturizing myself the best I can.

We move towards my home reef, not the main one where Meryl had gone.

In passing, I briefly whisper a summary of Emma and Meryl’s concern to my friend, Barry, the batfish. I do this knowing he is the friendliest with our reef’s community as well as being trustworthy to spread the word discreetly.

Suddenly, Emma jolts her nose to the surface just beyond our main reef. I follow her eyes to see a large swordfish gliding above. She is clearly skeptical, as she should be.

Emma eases towards the swordfish, which like a shark, should not be wandering around our sector without permission. Rather than follow, I carefully maneuver my way to the main reef in case Meryl needs a sidekick should anything amount from this peculiar event.

As I near the reef, I see Emma cut off Meryl, who is also in pursuit of the swordfish, and as she is about to shout something, we all pause and shift our attention from the swordfish to three large, blurry figures in the distance. A trap! “Meryl, send Wally to the humpback!” shouts Emma. Wally is a Wahoo, he’s our fastest swimmer, well, second to Emma.

The swordfish turns its body and heads straight for Emma. It’s an ambush! What are we going to do?

Wally zips past me, exhaling more bubbles than usual – poor guy.

As I arrive to the main reef and color myself brown, once again, the three figures come into plain sight. All sharks – the one, a hammerhead, trails off towards Emma eerily. The other two, a bull shark and a tiger shark, keep their focuses on Meryl.

“Meryl…ol’ buddy.” The tiger shark swims up to him while the menacing bull shark circles to his tail. “Thought Emma would have rounded everyone up by now. The tide, ya know?”

This cannot be good.

The loud chant of the humpback doesn’t even faze them.

“Is there a reason you’re here, Thomas?” Meryl presses.

“We’re hungry, Meryl.”

In the distance, I see Emma face to face with the swordfish and hammerhead with the same, fixed facial expression – even in times like these, she remains composed.

The bull shark nips at Meryl’s tail, antagonizing him. “Why don’t you head to another reef, Meryl? Neither you nor Emma have to be injured…or worse.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Ben.”

“You’re no fun, Meryl. You know that?” Thomas sucks in through his teeth, baring each row of them. Then, he shouts, “Now!” In the distance, the swordfish and hammerhead leap for Emma. She barely avoids the swordfish’s rostral and the hammerhead’s thrashing mallet.

“Big mistake, Meryl.”

Before a move can be made on Meryl, he instantly jabs Thomas with his nose and swats at Ben with his tail, battering him on the head. This only angers them.

From there, they chase Meryl around the main reef while Emma lures the others to more of a distance.

I must do something. Out of the corner of my eye I see a sheepish green head barely sticking out from the coral…shaking. “Eric (an electric eel). Follow me, I have an idea.” He, of course, does not budge.

I float in front of him, spreading my tentacles to urge him a bit. “I’ll ink you…again.”

Eric sighs. “Why, Oliver? All I want is to be left alone.”

“We need to help them. Our sector will be destroyed if we don’t.”

“Ugh, fine.” He slides out, grimacing.

“I’m going to snipe Ben with as much ink as I can muster. I need you to shock him.”

I back up as the chase rounds the corner, coming straight for us. Eric cringes back into the coral.

I swoosh my arms, pushing myself a small distance from the reef to bombard Ben with some momentum. I flush to more of a blue to meld into the background.

Here they come. It’s obvious, Meryl is running out of steam, he needs to get to the surface for air. He can’t keep going on like this.

Meryl’s helpless eyes find mine. Help. He mouths to me.

My insides tighten and I dash forward, aiming my siphons right at Ben. I extinguish with all my might.

It’s a direct hit! Ben flails, panicking, uncontrollably swaying towards the reef. Black suctioning to his eye. Come on, Eric.

Eric emerges from the coral and charges with his eyes closed at Ben and for a second, I lose sight of him.

Instantaneously, Ben goes from flailing to pulsating. And then he floats there, unmoving.

It worked! I nod to Eric who frightfully looks around like he just bubbled in fish school and flees back to his coral. Job well done.

Meryl returns after breaching the ocean surface. “Go help Emma.” Meryl directs his attention towards me. I shudder at first, realizing he is actually giving me a task. “I’ll take care of Thomas.”

Meryl sprints right at the now befuddled Thomas who must know Meryl from the past because he is suddenly horrified by the bottlenose.

I look up at Emma who is doing her best to dance away from the aggressive hammerhead and swordfish. But it’s inevitable, she is clearly wearing down. My heart sinks as my eyes rest on a puffy, cloud-like substance that’s leaking from her side. It is a punctured wound. The swordfish got her.

I know I will not be fast enough to get there in time, but I must try. Maybe at the very least I will be close enough to distract those horrible –

What. Just as I shove my arms downward to generate extra momentum, several tarpons, in their uncanny formation, drill the swordfish and hammerhead, like missiles.

Yes!

Two of the tarpons nuzzle up to Emma and, gently, push her downward. One of them is pressing what looks like a pad, fashioned together with strands of seaweed.

“Emma.” I gasp as she gets closer. “You’re hurt.”

The tarpons speak over me. “We have laid out a perimeter to protect from a frenzy breach due to the blood loss.” Emma nods. “We will leave you here and get back to patrol. You’re safe now.”

She rests. I have never seen a shark close their eyes.

_ _ _ _ _

“You were wonderful, Emma.” A tear escapes my proud eyes.

“No, Oliver. You were wonderful.”

Meryl coasts back towards us.

Fish come out from hiding. Eels, Eric included, peek their heads. A few crustaceans stumble over. Even lobsters and crabs scuttle on in.

“You saved me, Oliver. I couldn’t breathe,” says Meryl.

Emma continues. “We all saw what you did. You were so brave, Oliver.” She fins me on the back. “An octopus conquering a bull shark…well, with some assistance from you, too Eric.” Eric shrinks into the coral.

“Without you, our reefs would have been decimated.” She nods very seriously at me. “You’ve earned yourself a ranking, Oliver.”

I look at her admiringly. Moments ago, I had never even spoken to her, just shadowing her day after day, craving to be like her. Now, thanking me? A ranking?

“You, Oliver, are the head of Intelligence.”

All the animals let out an enormous cheer, clapping, too – at least those that can. The crabs and lobsters pound nearby rocks. A few sea horses celebrate by spinning around each other.

“I wish I could squirt ink.” Emma smiles a toothy grin.