Under The Sea Romance

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Chapter 5 – Home is Where the Sharks Aren’t


We went about the day as I had expected—Logan ate a huge amount of fish and then wandered back into the cave. I followed him silently as he began digging through one of the bowls filled with odds and ends.

“What are you looking for?”

“A better blade to put on the spear. If we’re going to go to the shipwreck, I like to be prepared,” He replied.

I shook my head, the water rippling through my short blonde hair, and asked, “Prepared for what?”

“Sharks,” He said and then looked up slightly, “And stingrays and whatever else is out there. I don’t like swimming without some kind of protection.”

He pulled out a sharp ended rock and then moved past me out of the cave. He went down to where he kept the spears and handed one to me.

“Can you hold this, while I put it on?” He asked.

I just nodded and held it still while he jiggled the old end off of it and then added the new, sharper tip. His eyes met mine and he stared at me for a brief moment.

“I can give you something to shave with,” He said with a small nod, “If you want to.”

My beard had been starting to bother me. It was itchy and a nuisance and I usually keep a clean face.

“You found something to shave with under the ocean?” I asked, dumfounded.

The side of his mouth rose and he nodded, “Yeah. When we come back from the ship I’ll show you how I do it.”

I agreed and we began to swim through the ocean with one long, sharp spear. Logan was swimming next to me, holding the spear in one hand and pointing at random things with the other. The ocean was beautiful, truly it was. The light shined through the water and sometimes you could see reflections on the ocean floor. Schools of fish swam around us and some of the rocks and underwater cliffs were really interesting. I’d never really looked at it before, but now that I realized I’d be down here forever, I began to appreciate it more.

“There it is,” Logan said suddenly, pointing a bit to the right, “See the ship?”

I glanced in the direction he pointed and did see the ship. It wasn’t as large as I had imagined, but was still really interesting to say the least. It was a bit dark around the outer side of the boat. Much of the wood from the constructed outer layer had been extremely weathered and was rotting away. The ship was tilted to its side, but the mast of the ship was hauntingly beautiful.

“Wow. It’s just like it is in the movies,” I said, immediately going towards it.

“It is pretty impressive,” He replied, catching up with me.

As interested as I was with the outside, the inside seemed dark and spooky to me.

“Have you gone in it?’

“Yeah, but you have to be careful,” He replied, moving ahead of me and going in.

I followed him around to the side and heard the groan of the ship. Water was moving quickly in and out of the cabin and I became a little nervous. I went towards the left and slowly floated through the corridor. Quickly I found the captain’s quarters and began rooting through the drawers. I figured Logan had probably found most of the good stuff, already, but it was worth a look.

The room was dark, but I could imagine how it would have been before it sunk. The table from the desk was strewn across the room and the bed was huge.

I briefly wondered why Logan didn’t live here. It would be more like being at home, I suppose. I put my hand on another door and opened it. My mind processed the scene slowly, but I eventually offered a startled scream.

A dead man was on the floor in the bathroom. He was nothing but bones, but his jaw was open as if he had been screaming for help. He still wore clothing of the days—a long jacket that was torn around the hem and breeches. I leaned down to get a better look and felt a hand on my back. I jumped up and gasped.

“Hey, it’s me.”

I turned around swiftly and released a long breath.

“You scared me,” I said, shaking my head.

He raised his dark eyebrows, “Well you scared me. I thought something got you.”

“What would get me?” I asked, surprised by his concern.

He shrugged, “Sharks.”

Sharks were just about his answer to everything. I wondered if he had a bad experience with one.

“So you found him?” Logan asked, looking down at the skeleton on the floor.

“I suppose so. It scared the shit out of me, too. Why didn’t you tell me there were dead people lying around?” He just grinned and shrugged.

“It was an adventure.”

“So are there more dead people lying around?” I asked.

He nodded and a dark look crossed his face, “There are two in the bunkroom and one trapped beneath a pole on deck, but they’re really starting to wear away now.”

“I’m surprised you don’t live here. I was thinking about that earlier,” I said, moving past him, eager to get out of the room, “You would have a bed and everything.”

He followed me out and I’m sure he got the impression that I was more than a little startled by finding century old dead people upon a sunken ship. He said nothing until we were out of the ship and floating slightly above it.

“I did, for a while, but when I found it I already had the cave and…this sounds stupid, but I didn’t want to invade their privacy. My cave has too many memories, anyway,” He said, scratching the scales on his hip and shrugging.

“Memories? Memories of what?”

“Just…memories,” He said and seemed to be reminiscing.

He began swimming back to the cave, which was a few miles away and I followed, trying to keep up with his fast pace. The guy swims so fast. I’d almost thing he was trying to get away from me, but then I think about some of the things he said. For instance, yesterday, while we were talking about where we were from, he mentioned being so glad he wasn’t the only person down here. He also seemed really glad that my arm was better after being shot at and that I didn’t get eaten by sharks. He was really difficult to read.

By the time we were closer to the cave, he had begun to slow down a little.

“Wait till you shave,” He said suddenly, looking at me and running a hand over his face, “It will be so soft and smooth…you’ll like it.”

“What do you use?”

“A rock,” He said, nodding quickly.

“A rock?”

“Uh huh. I use rocks for lots of things. I use them for fishing, cutting plants, making my mat, and shaving. They’re just sharpened a little differently,” He replied.

We entered the cave and he seemed rather excited. He went over to one of his little bowl kits and showed me a rock.

“I use this and then I use some of that paste I put on your shoulder so I don’t get cut,” He said, staring at me, “You don’t want to get cut because the sharks will come.”

The sharks again.

Yet, I supposed he was probably right about the sharks coming. That’s how it was in Jaws. I watched Logan make some of that pasty, white stuff he put on my shoulder yesterday by mashing together a few kinds of plants. He waved me over slightly and without warning, shoved a load of it on my face.

“Logan!”

He laughed eagerly and put a hand out to rub it over my face some more. I frowned and pulled back. He just laughed and enjoyed himself. I think he was hard up for company.

“Okay, okay,” He said after a moment and handed me the rock, “Just pull it down, like this. See?”

He pretended he was doing it.

“I know how to shave,” I mumbled.

He watched with wide, curious eyes as I attempted to shave. I was pushing the paste all around my face and he was stifling a grin.

“You’re using the wrong side,” He said, after no hair was being shaved off.

“Huh? No I’m not,” I argued, but turned the thin rock over.

It still wasn’t working. Logan came a little closer and I raised an eyebrow. He only sighed and put his hand on my chin. I rolled my eyes, but he didn’t budge until I gave him the rock. He took it from me and with a very serious face, began to shave off the week old beard. I had jumped back at first.

“Don’t move,” He said, his hand brushing my chest, “You don’t want to get cut, do you?”

We were both silent until he was done. He continuously glanced at me with those unique, honey colored eyes. I noticed a small, indented scar underneath his right eye. His hair was a really strange color. It was a dark, rusty colored red that was almost brown. He sucked on his lip, while finishing up helping me shave.

I sure felt like an idiot.