The Final Snackrifice

Samantha looked over the side of the boat at the deep blue void beneath her, and shadows of fish caught her attention as a smile stretched across her face. This had been her daily chore for the last two months, watching the water for fish, so Daddy could fish them out. Cathy always got to eat first, but today was exciting, cause this morning Daddy told Samantha that they would get to eat first.

“Daddy!! Fishes!” she squealed and pointed.

“Yes baby, now sshhhhh,” he said as he brought his tanned and calloused fingers up to his lips, symbolizing for her to be quiet.

Daddy’s tanned skin matched the leather fishing bag he kept his gear in, and over the last couple months his supplies had started to diminish. He brought over a fishing pole and dipped the line in the water, waiting for a nibble. Samantha stared over the edge, watching the dark shadows swirl around the hook. Samantha thought back to when they lived on land and how different their life was, Mommy always cooked yummy food for them, and on Sundays they would go to the zoo and spend the day together. Then, Daddy started going fishing a lot on the weekends, and Cathy came into his life, and all he would talk about was Cathy’s beauty and intelligence. Samantha heard mommy and daddy fighting at night over Cathy. Daddy would scream that Mommy was just jealous of the true love and passion that Daddy had with Cathy. Mommy hated Cathy. She said that she was tearing the family apart, and that Daddy loved her more than Mommy.

Samantha watched Daddy bob the line a bit, his gaunt face focused hard on the water. Her stomach grumbled, and she clutched it. It had been almost two days since they last ate. Ever since Mommy went missing and Daddy moved Samantha and himself onto the boat, life had never been the same. They would go a couple days without eating, and the barrel that sat on the deck for rain water was nearly empty.

“Daddy… are they gonna eat it?” she whispered.

Daddy nodded gently, “Yes baby.”

“So…so, then we can eat?”

He nodded again, bringing his finger up to his lips. She quickly covered her mouth and looked down again just in time to watch the string tug. Daddy quickly snapped the pole and started reeling in.

“Ohhh Sammy! This feels like a big one! Might be enough for you, me, and Cathy!”

Samantha squealed with excitement stomping her feet, “Bring it up Daddy!!!”

He grunted while he reeled the fish in and over the edge of the small boat. The large fish flopped around as Samantha grabbed a sizable cleaver from the fishing basket and slammed it down hard on the fish’s head. In an instant, the fish stopped moving and a splatter of blood sprayed her face causing her eyes to light up. The fish’s head rolled to the side, its glass-like eye staring up at Samantha, glazed over and soulless.

“Daddy! Fish head soup!” Samantha giggled.

“Yes Baby, make sure to store it in the salt bin so when we land and set up a camp, we will have preserved food.”

She nodded and scooped up the head and ran it to the bin, digging a hole in the white crystals and burying it, then she ran back to daddy who was filleting the remaining meat, scooping out the intestines, and removing the tail. Samantha brought Daddy two bowls, one of which he put the meat in, and the other was for everything else. Samantha stared at the bowl, her mouth starting to salivate.

Daddy looked at her and smiled, “I told you Hun, we have to cook it, or else you could get sick.”

“But Daddy!! It ruins the juiciness.”

Daddy rolled his eyes, “You get that from Cathy I bet. Good thing I already placed the cooking stone in the middle of the boat to heat up with sun.” he thumbed behind him, “Lets get these on the hot stone and listen to that sizzle!”

“Daddy…. Where is Cathy? How come you wont let me see her?”

“Oh, my child, you will meet her soon. But until she is ready, we have to take care of her. She will come up eventually.”

“Is she downstairs??? Is she in that room you wont let me in?”

Daddy turned quickly and stared at Samantha, anger flashed in his eyes, “I have told you, leave that door alone.”

Daddy stood and scooped up the bowls, took just a couple steps and he sat down on the bench. Then, grabbing one of the fillets, he gently placed it on the hot, flat surface. The sizzle immediately followed, expelling a fragrance of hot meat that enticed the senses, and both their stomachs growled. He looked back at Samantha, and gave her a quick smile.

“Daddy, I am so hungry.” Samantha moaned clutching at her stomach.

“I know love, its been a couple days.”

“How come all the fish you caught yesterday we couldn’t eat?”

“Well honey, like I explained, Cathy needs us to provide her with sustenance first. Once she is taken care of, we are free to eat. Sadly, I could only catch one fish each day for the last couple days,” he said smiling with a small twinkle in his eye, “but this fish is big enough to share.”

Samantha nodded in understanding and looked back down at the fish, “Is it ready now?”

Daddy nodded and handed a fork to her, saying, “Go ahead and start. I’m going to take

Cathy her portion.” Looking up at the sky, he said, “Maybe she will feel good enough for you to visit.”

“Daddy I would love to visit!! I want to meet Cathy!”

“Cathy will love you baby, Cathy even loved Mommy.”

“She did?!? I thought Cathy hated Mommy…”

“No darling, Cathy wants us all to be together.”

Taking that as his moment, he stood up, grabbed the bowl with the fins and intestines, and walked back to the edge of the boat. Looking out at the horizon, he stared blindly for a moment, the hot sun blazing down on him as it had everyday for the past two months. He licked his hot, cracked lips, knowing he was dehydrated, and the sweat that dripped from his brow stung as it trailed down.

“Cathy my love, I have some food for you.” Daddy said enticingly, shaking the bowl over the edge for attention.

An immense, dark, fluid shadow came from the deep, circling the small wooden boat, and a huge grey fin sliced the blue water like butter. The ripples from the shark’s arrival rocked the boat gently at first, but grew increasingly more violent.

“My love, I am sorry your meal is late, its not much but it’s all we could do. We needed to eat too.”

He dumped the contents of the bowl into the water as he watched the shark’s massive head free itself from the waives, swallow the treat whole, and turn to look at him.

“I am sorry, its all I had.” He started crying as he said, “We have to eat, or we will die… then we couldn’t take care of you.”

The beady black eyes of the shark fixated on him, but no movement came, and the waives subsided. He stood up and walked to Samantha. Placing his hand on her head, and looking down at her. She raised her head and smiled, bits of scales littering her mouth.

“Daddy it was so yummy!” she said excitedly.

“Good honey.” He scooped her up and gave her a big hug, “I am glad it made you feel better.”

“It did! Did Cathy like her meal too?”

“She did, she was so grateful for it.”

“Yay!! Daddy, this time when we find shore, we can cook all sorts of meals! I cannot wait to run and play.”

He laughed, “oh yes, I’ll even make you a fin out of seaweed! You can be my mermaid daughter.”

Samantha squealed again, “Yes! And I can catch crabs, and fishes. We can eat our fill! I can help.”

Hugging her even tighter he sighed, “Oh honey, you will be the biggest help, now give daddy a big hug.”

Samantha wrapped her arms around her fathers neck and said, “I love you daddy.”

“I love you too Samantha. Guess what?”

Samantha looked up and asked, “What daddy?”

He smiled, saying, “Cathy thinks today is the perfect day…”

“She wants to meet me? Really???”

“She does!”

“When can I meet her??”

“Close your eyes hun, I’ll take you to her.”

Carrying Samantha and holding her tightly to him, Daddy stood at the edge of the boat, his back facing the large shark. He kicked his heels back, launching himself and his daughter over the side of the boat and into the icy depths that surrounded them. Black beady eyes watched them hit the water before they descended below the surface, searching for their sacrifice.

Samantha screamed when the water hit her, and she opened her eyes, flailing about.

“Daddy!!” she screamed, looking around.“Daddy?!?”

Samantha started swimming towards the boat, and with every stroke of her arm she became more and more covered in a thick crimson film. Reaching the rickety boat, she felt something bump her leg just before she managed to pull herself up, gasping for air and exhausted.

“Daddy…..” her voice trailed off as she rolled onto her back and looked up. With the hot sun beating down on her, she wondered aloud, “What was in that room?” Samantha stood up, weak legged, and tottered to the stairs that led below deck where the bedroom and bathroom were. She grabbed a bottle with only a few sips of water in it and drank it, temporarily quenching her thirst. She pressed to the room and placed her tiny hand on the doorknob, then she turned and pulled, releasing the door to reveal it’s secrets. Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she sensed vague shapes and caught a whiff of a hideous smell. Then, when she snapped on the light, the forms came into focus and she screamed. Hanging on a hook was part of Mommy. Pieces had been removed and sliced, and there were pictures on the wall of Daddy dangling pieces of meat to a large shark.

“Mommy...” she mumbled, her eyes tearing up. “What do I do now?”

The sightless eyes in Mommy’s blood splattered face stared straight ahead, but there was no reply from the mouth that seemed frozen in her final scream.

Then an answer to Samantha’s question came, not from Mommy, but from Cathy. Samantha suddenly felt the rickety, little boat shudder and sway to and fro as the battery powering the light in the small room died. She screamed in terror as the dark truth dawned on her.

“Not today, Cathy!” she shrieked and cried. “I can’t meet you today!” Yet, her plea went unheeded as the boat shuddered again and rocked violently until it capsized; Samantha was thrown into the mess of all that had been hanging in the forbidden room. Samantha floundered and continuously screamed in terror even as water began to fill the dark, slimy space, and the boat shuddered again with a gut-wrenching, splintering sound as Cathy came to claim her final snackrifice.