Memories are supposed to come and go, but this was no memory. It just swam there in its open pool of an ocean. You’ll never know when it comes for you; I didn’t.
The sand between my toes squeezed into the cracks of my feet as I glanced towards the ocean watching the smiling children swim freely without a care in the world. The smell from the salt water drifted up my nose to the back of my skull, making me feel woozy. The beach was my playground, and being 10 made it seem more like an amusement park.
I dug my knees into the sand and began creating domes to satisfy my imagination. I ran back and forth to retrieve water but stopped as I spotted something far out in the distance. I had a gut feeling something was off but I didn’t pay too much attention. I turned back to see my older brother hovering over my sand domes.
“Kathy, I can tell you one thing and that is you seriously can’t build sand castles. What is it?” he asked crouching low inspecting the domes.
“Robert, it’s my space station man they’re not supposed to be castles. Don’t you have any imagination at all?”
We stopped our bickering as we heard the sirens wail loudly and noticed how the mothers pulled their children out from the water. I ran towards the opposing crowds as I heard Robert’s trilling voice telling me to stop. He caught up to me and yanked my arm.
“Are you crazy? What were you thinking!?”
I pointed towards the ocean and from this moment he knew what was coming. We spotted the triangular figure splitting the water into two parts as it sped through the waves. I saw its sharp fin leading down to its pointy nose, subsiding into the murky water. I screamed.
“It’s going for the dog… Robert it’s going for the dog!”
I tried yanking myself free from his grasp, but that made Robert hold even tighter.
“You can’t do anything to save the dog, just leave it!”
“No, I can’t leave him… I can’t!”
My tears poured uncontrollably as I watched the shark’s teeth dig down on the dog’s hind legs. I dropped to my knees choking on my tears as I heard the high pitch yelping and watched as the shark dragged the dog down under water as the blood covered the surface. Not one single soul on that beach spoke a word. We all stared at the water waiting as if something were to appear… hopefully.
Startled, I felt a hand grasp my shoulder lightly and I glanced up to see a middle-aged cop gesturing me to leave the beach. He helped me up and as we walked I stopped to see a woman lying on the sand crying her eyes out as her husband kneeled besides her stroking her back. He kissed her hair tenderly and held her close. His gentle movements eased her sorrows as she slowly passed out. I clutched my chest as I felt her pain stabbing me in the heart. I reached my brother and he put his finger to his lips. There was nothing to say, nothing to do that could change what happened.
To this day, I can still hear the dog’s cry. To this day, I could see the shark’s eyes filled with dark black, holding no pupils chopping its three rows of teeth. At times I dream about this incident and because of it, I can never go near big bodies of water. I am scared that I will be the one to die. This creature has become a phobia of mine for now and forever.
