I woke up in a great mood. The sun was shinning in a way that made everything look alive and free. I took a deep breath as I gazed at the beauty. I imagined what the day would bring and what adventures I would get into, My family never appreciated what I did because it always seemed that I was just getting into trouble. I had a great family but I was the outcast at times. Two of my brothers were off in some other waters with their own lives, my sister was the president of the “Free Captive Friends” organization. I was the only offspring that hadn’t quite made a name for myself yet. Today that was all going to change. It was the first day of “season.” I didn’t know what it meant but my mother told me their would be lots of food and lots of dangers. A rush of excitement swept over me. I quickly got ready so I could join the marvels of the family tradition. When we arrived at the local lobster house I was fascinated. This was my first year allowed and I didn’t know what to expect. Everyone was packed into a few nooks like sardines; it made me laugh. I looked around for someone I knew but no one seemed very interested in a newcomer. I looked back to see if my parents were with me but when I saw I was alone I slowly took a spot exiled from the rest and waited. Food had been scarce lately so when I took a bit of the worm looking thing I had my doubts. Was it this easy to find food? I yelped for some assistance.
“Hey mom, I found something. See it wasn’t that hard.”
I looked around for my mom. I yelled again but no one responded. This was too easy.
“I must be a natural” I thought as I took a bite.
I bit. I chewed. I swallowed.
I felt something tug on my throat. You know the feeling when you hold in your tears when you want to cry and you get a lump in your throat that just doesn’t seem to go away, that was the feeling I had when I tried stomaching the food I had just ingested. I gagged. I tried ignoring it but the tugging got worse. The more I tried swallowing the lump of food the more pain I felt. I looked up. I could only begin to understand what I was just about to get myself into when I felt something tug. I tugged and it tugged back. I started to panic. A rush of heat filled my face and my heart started beating irregularly. Every time I moved away it moved me back only this time something stabbed my lip. A shinny silver lip ring was now pulling me to my death. This wasn’t like the time I had wandered into the emptiness and had hard time finding my way home, this was serious; my eyes started to water. I wanted to move but I knew it would hurt. I screamed and shouted but no one noticed. I looked around again in panic. I screamed for dear life.
“Help me! Please help me!”
It seemed everyone was busy stuffing their faces. I looked up again. If it hadn’t been so sunny I might have been able to see what was above me. I started kicking closer to the ground to get some leverage on whatever I could find but what had me wasn’t letting me go. I pictured my parents and how happy they would be that I did something honorable and brave. I could finally be compared to my siblings that had done something for their community.
“If I sacrifice myself, my family will be saved.” I thought trying to reassure myself this was the right decision. I knew what I had to do. I went limp and took my last breath as the fisherman reeled me into his boat.