An Unlikely Hero

What a beautiful day to go to the beach. I love the beach; it is so calm and peaceful. Granted it’s a bit colder than usual since it is the middle of fall, but I still enjoy going to clear my mind. This time of the year there aren’t many tourists and even the locals don’t come to the beach as much right now. It’s a little too cold to be in the water, but despite that, there are still some people that like to go out on their boats to fish and a couple of surfers here and there. When I’m not busy, I like to go to just sit and watch all of the sea life in the water and the waves crashing against the rocks. I remember a few years ago, I was sitting and watching the water when I saw a big shark in the distance. It was early in the morning and I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anyone out yet. But I saw it clear as day, to me it was huge and seemed too close to the shoreline. I wasn’t sure why it was so close, so I decided to take a look. It seemed to be swimming sporadically and looked distressed. I got as close as I could into the water but stayed far enough to where it couldn’t reach me if it tried. I could see movement up ahead in the water, I was scared but went in deeper. It seemed the shark had just had babies and one of her babies had gotten stuck in an old fishing net. I looked around for help, but no one was around. So, I dove in deeper to try to help it. As I reached the baby shark, I saw the momma swim right next to me. I froze in fear as her eyes met mine. She had a large gash over her left eye but oddly enough she just kept swimming around us. I decided the baby’s life was worth the risk and continued trying to save it. I tugged at the net until the baby was able to break free. As it did, I quickly swam up for air. I saw the momma shark swim to her baby she then poked her head up and looked at me as if to say, thank you. I ran home to tell my mom what happened, sadly, she didn’t believe me and said that it was probably a dolphin. I know the truth and that was no dolphin.

Another early morning and with school being out for the summer, I thought I’d focus more on making new friends. In high school, I didn’t have too many friends because I was too focused on my grades and my homework. Now that I have graduated, I decided to take a gap year and focus on myself until I begin college. Mom thought I should see if the bait shop was hiring since I enjoy the beach so much. So, after breakfast, I’m off to the beach, for work that is. Maybe a little playtime as well. So many people at the beach today, it is very different from the fall and winter seasons. I like it better when it’s just the water, nature and me. I miss that, but I want to meet new people, so time to spread my wings and see what new challenges I can face. I arrive at the bait shop; it is very busy. I see the owner and friend of the family, Mr. Whitley. “Hello Mr. Whitley, I was wondering if you needed help this summer? I could really use the money and the experience.” He lifts his head from the register as he closes the drawer. He smiles at me and shakes his head in agreement, “ah, Jennifer my sweet girl, yes I could definitely use the help; can you start now?” He asks me as he continues to help customer after customer. I excitedly accept and quickly aid the customers that are waiting to ask questions about some bait. It starts to slow down as people take advantage of the beautiful day. I stand behind the register and look out the window at everyone in the water having so much fun. My gazing is immediately interrupted as I hear the voice of a young man behind me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there, how can I help you?” I ask. His eyes were as blue and clear as the ocean water and his smile just seemed to brighten the entire shop. He looks me directly into my eyes, “yes, hi, I just wanted to know how much these hooks were?” I look at the hooks he held in his strong manly hands. I tell him the cost and ask if he still wanted to buy them. He concurs and hands me the hooks; his fingers caress mine as he hands them to me. I immediately feel my face get hot. He smiles and begins to talk, “so have you lived here long?” I answer as I continue to mess up what I am doing. He doesn’t seem to notice and proceeds conversing. “So, what’s your name?” I ask him as I hand him his change. He tells me his name is Jay and that he just moved here from San Antonio. His family lives here, so he thought he'd spend time with them before he left again for college. I notice another customer waiting behind him; he quickly asks if I will be getting off work soon and if I wanted to meet up after. I agree with a huge smile on my face. It is almost after midnight; Jay and I have been hanging out together for hours. He walks me home and kisses me on my cheek, “will I see you tomorrow?” he asks. I nod in agreement before heading inside. The next morning, I am so excited to be alive, I have a great job and met this amazing guy that seems to be so perfect. How could life get any better than this? I enter the kitchen and see my mom had gotten up before me. I am anxious to tell her about Jay. Mom turns around with a cup of coffee already in hand, “well, you had a long night, where were you young lady?” she asks me jokingly. I smile and tell her all about my new job and my new friend. She insists I invite him over for dinner when I am off. I agree and turn away to go get ready for work, but she stops me, “oh, before I forget. There was a report of a shark spotted close to the shoreline last night, so I want you to be careful if you decide to go into the water.” I look at her with curiosity and wonder if it was the same shark that I had helped a few years before. I coincide and continue with my day hoping that no one will be hurt by momma shark if it's her. Once at the bait shop, Mr. Whitley was just standing and staring at the water through the window. He hears me walk in and without turning, “Jennifer, did you hear about our shark situation?” I walk around the counter to him, “yes sir, my mom told me this morning.” He tells me that we need to make sure to warn everyone before they leave the shop so they can determine whether they want to go into the water. “I would hate for someone to be unaware, and something happens to them.” He says as he continues gazing out the window. As the hours pass, still no sign of Jay. I begin to hope that he wasn’t in the water. The time seems to be dragging on longer than yesterday. It was probably due to the lack of customers. Not too many people are out in the water today. Seems like the signs and word of mouth are doing their jobs. It is almost closing time when in walks Jay with a blank look on his face. “There you are, I was beginning to think you forgot about me. Is everything okay?” I ask shyly. He looks up at me then smiles, “yes everything is fine now that I’m here with you.” His response just made my day. I lock up the shop and we head out to get something to eat. As we arrive at the restaurant, we hear so many people whispering. I wonder what was going on. I ask the waitress and she tells me they found a body in the ocean on the shoreline, and it looked like it had been attacked by a shark. My mind swiftly begins to reminisce about the momma shark I helped. I wonder if it was the same one. We place our order and I notice Jay just staring at me, I smile and shyly ask what he was thinking about. “I am just thinking about how soft your lips look and how nice it would be to press them against mine.” He says as he licks his plump lips. My face once again gets hot.

After dinner, he takes me by my hand and leads me to the beach which is more than fine with me. He takes me to a part of the beach I haven’t really been to. It’s too dark I tell him, but he held my hand tighter and assures me that I am safe with him. We walk over to a cluster of rocks and sit down. He puts one hand on my face and begins to kiss me gently, as the water splashes against the rocks. As we continue to kiss he seems to be getting too forceful, so I pull away. He looks at me, “what? You know you like it.” The look on his face gave me the creeps. “I think I should go home now, it's getting late.” I get up and turn to walk away. As I take a few steps I feel Jay grab me by my arm then throw me down. He begins to drag me into the water. Why is he doing this? I try to fight him off, but he has me by my hair dragging me deeper into the water. He is just too strong. I then feel Jays' hands grip around my neck. I try to get ahold of his fingers to loosen his grip but have no luck. I feel myself starting to lose strength. As tears roll down my eyes, I was ready to give up any hope of surviving. Suddenly, I hear a splash in the water, it seemed to be getting closer. Maybe someone saw and is trying to help me. Jay loosens his grip, then lets go of me completely. I feel myself sinking into the water, “I love you, momma.” My mind's last words. As I was ready for my end, I feel something bite my leg, I still can’t move but the sharpness of the bite awakens me. My body being pulled swiftly through the water, I then feel the shore on my back. I manage to look up just as my savior turns to swim away. It was her, the momma shark, she saved me! I knew it was her by the scar over her eye. There was no sign of Jay anywhere. I feel people grabbing me and pulling me up and voices all around. Someone in the distance shouts, “did you see that? It brought her to shore!” everyone was in shock. I guess a nice smile doesn’t mean a nice person. Looks can be deceiving and in this case, the nice smile was on a bad person and the least likely to be the hero was my hero and will never be forgotten.