A. Colucci - Seeders

Luke kept one eye on the woods that bordered the inlet, looking for moving shadows. He half expected Jules to come charging out of the trees and down the sand with a spear in hand, but after a while he got caught up in teaching Monica how to breathe through the snorkel.

A few feet out, the sea floor took a sudden drop into the abyss. They started swimming toward the pole. The waves were mercifully small and they couldn’t feel the cold, except on their hands and feet. There was a riptide and Luke showed Monica how to swim sideways. He could feel the pull of the current, beckoning toward the cliffs where waves crashed violently against the rocks. It was easy to see how a boat leaving the inlet might get swept up in the current and smash into pieces.

They reached the metal pole and grabbed on with both hands. Luke slid his mask over his face. Monica was shivering, from both nerves and cold. It seemed like they were miles from the beach.

“You ready?” Luke asked. When she nodded, he stuck his face into the water and looked around. It was murky, but the sun was so bright it made the water iridescent blue. He could see the boat clearly at the bottom, lying slightly on its side. The hull was longer than expected, maybe eighteen meters. It seemed to be suspended in time.

The mast was bent in the middle and sticking straight up.

Luke took his face out of the water as Monica did a dolphin roll and tumbled into the depths. He took a long breath and dove under too, following the mast down eight meters to the boat. There was a gash in the hull the size of a football and Luke figured she hit a rock and sank. He swam along the stern until it disappeared into a bed of kelp, long yellow streamers that swayed with the current and tickled his ankles. He grasped the rail of the boat and used it to pull himself to the open cabin, looking around for Monica, but she wasn’t in sight. He raised his head and saw her swimming to the surface, so he pumped his flippers after her.

They emerged together, Monica gasping and holding on to the mast.

Luke took her arm, sounding worried. “You okay? What happened?”

She laughed and coughed at the same time. “That was awesome. I just needed air. Let’s go back down.”

Before he could speak, she popped the snorkel back in her mouth and was diving again. He followed her, swimming quickly. She was already sticking her head inside the cabin, her black ponytail floating straight up. Luke didn’t think she should go first so he tugged her arm and turned on the flashlight. She nodded and let him pass.

He swam inside. There were only dim shadows and the beam of the light, swaying side to side. He grasped a countertop covered in algae that felt mushy and cold. The cabin was not unusual, and there were plenty of things to explore. It occurred to him there could be an eel or a shark making the boat its home and he pivoted the flashlight around, reminding himself that most deadly things prefer warm water.

The light fell on an accordion-style closet. When he tried to slide it open, the door stuck. He pushed hard, stirring up silt and algae. It opened a few inches and empty plastic sandwich bags floated around like jellyfish.

Luke realized his lungs were starting to ache. He’d been under about three minutes and he knew he could hold his breath for four, so he headed for the exit. Monica was gone. He could see her legs kicking gracefully toward the surface. He headed up, feeling dizzy and letting the rest of his breath blow out in tiny bubbles. He reached the surface and drew in a big breath of air. He coughed and spit in the water.

“I found something cool. Come back down.”

Monica was still panting. She was a strong swimmer but not used to ocean depths. “I’m gonna stay here a minute.”

Luke nodded and dove once more straight for the cabin. He swam to the closet, holding the light to the opening, tugging as hard as he could. There was something on the floor of the closet blocking the door. He reached inside and felt a slimy object, pulled it out. The beam of light fell on a box made of wood, hand-carved in exquisite detail. The wood was splintering and turning black along the edges and there was algae on the lid. Luke wiped it with his hand, revealing a geometric pattern of roses and vines. In the center was a large star, stained brighter than the rest of the box and tinted pink.

His heart kicked up as he thought of the Crimson Star. The box was locked and there was a place for a key. Luke stuck it under his arm and swam quickly out of the cabin.

The wood was slick and the box slid from his grasp. He tried to retrieve it with one hand as it fell, and a splinter pierced his finger. He reflexively pulled back, watching the box float down into the reeds. Luke felt his lungs begging for air and the pressure of thirty feet made them ache. Still, he didn’t want to risk losing the box. It floated into a bed of kelp but he soon discovered the reeds were as tall as him, a swaying jungle that swallowed his treasure. His lungs were giving out, so he somersaulted and kicked upward toward the surface.

Something grabbed his ankle. It was wet and cold and right away he thought it was an eel. A gasp of bubbles blew out of his mouth. He dropped the flashlight and clawed at the thing wrapped around his leg. It was the green frond of kelp. He tugged his foot hard and the flipper came off, floating into the kelp bed. Then it grabbed his other foot.

Luke panicked, slashing his arms at the fronds. Some of them ripped, but there were so many winding up his calves, tightening their hold. His lungs were going to burst. He could see sparks of white and knew he would soon pass out. Taking one last tug with his hands, he felt the reeds wrap around his arms and pull him to the bottom. Water flooded his lungs and there was a loud buzzing in his ears. Something hit him hard and he lost consciousness.

“God, no, please… Luke!”

He could faintly hear her cries as Monica coughed into the blue sky, dragging him against the current toward the jetty. There was an unbearable pressure in his chest and Luke coughed up water. His ears were ringing and the pain stung from his lungs to his sinuses. Foamy water bled out of his nose.

Monica heard him moan and shouted her thanks to God between breaths. Finally she reached the jetty and was able to stand on the muddy bottom. It took the rest of her remaining strength to pull herself up and drag Luke’s body over the slimy outcropping of rocks.

He was only semiconscious and nearly slipped under again, but she caught his arm. He rolled on his back, letting more water drip out of his mouth.

“What happened?” she yelled in his face. “Why didn’t you come up?”

His voice was faint. “I was… trapped.”

“Trapped? You were just lying there. Don’t you remember?”

“I remember… goddamn fronds… all over me.” He barked like a seal. “They wrapped… whole body… couldn’t get out.”

“What’s a frond?”

“Kelp,” he said, starting to catch his breath. He snorted out water into his hand. “You must have seen them… huge… all over the place.”

“I didn’t see any kelp. You were just lying there on the sand.”

He shook his head. “That’s impossible.”

“As impossible as Ginny with an ax in her head?”

Color started returning to his cheeks. It took another moment for his heart to beat steady. “Did you see the box?”

“What box?”

“I found a wooden box, in the boat. Had a big star on top. A crimson star.”

“You think the diamond is in there?”

He sat up and coughed like a seal again. “It looked like a jewelry box. It could be in there.”

“I don’t know. If you’re imagining kelp attacking you, maybe the box isn’t real either.”