A Deadly Tale

Hello. My name is Saphire.

I am dead but my story lives on through the generations.

   I was in our pool making my rounds. Our pool is 20 feet deep. I am the only one who can actually reach the bottom. Our pool, before it was a pool, was a garbage dump.

    The bottom of our pool is so filthy, no one actually tries to dive down that deep. The chemicals down there could kill you. But I am immune to them, so I am the only one who goes down there.

   So I was making my rounds when I see an infant. I swim towards the child and thats when I see two more. I take two of them and carry them to the surface. I whistle and as soon as someone took the two infants I went back for the third. I searched frantically for the third infant. As I was about to go back up for air I see the third infant tangled in some wire. I go down and try to untangle the child.

  I was running out of breath fast. As I started to think we would both die down here I get the child untangled and I begin my frantic swim back to the surface. I start to feel like my breath is going to burst from my lungs. I start to black out but i keep swimming for the childs sake.

   I start to feel this sharp pain in my side. But I keep going knowing that I need to save this child.

   Just as I think I am not going to make it, I break the surface. I feel hands pulling my out just as I lose consciousness.

   "Did the child make it?" I croaked. I feel what I am on and notice it's a table. "No. The child, didn't make it. Its uh head was gone." Leah our supervisor told me. "NO!" I was in shock. I look frantically around for the child. They lay its limp body in my arms, and sure enough the head was missing. I told them to take it back. "What's with the shapr pain in my side?" I ask. "Well, you were attacked by a shark. Didn't you feel it bite you?" "No, I didn't. All I felt was a sharp pain in my side, then everything went black." "Well, a shark attacked you. We don't know how big it is though. We're going to shut the pool down." Leah said with sadness in her voice. "NO! You can't. I'll go and get the shark." "But your in no condition to do that. First we have to sow you back up and stop the bleeding.: :How long will that take?" "Well, if we get started now. No more than an hour." "Then lets get started."

    Within the hour I was sewn up and they managed to stop the bleeding. So I get dressed, grab a pair of fins, my hunting knife, a pair of goggles, and an oxygen tank and head out for the pool deckI strap the oxygen tank to my arm, put the goggles on, and the fins and was about to jump into the pool when Leah grabs me and spins me around. "Saphire, do be careful. You really shouldn't be doing this. Think about your family." "I am. And I am also thinking about everyone else's too. I am the only one who can go down there. I'll be fine, don't worry." "Ok." Leah backs off.

    I jump in and begin my search. I look everywhere as I go deeper and deeper. I turn around to go to the other side when the shark comes at me. It just barely missed me! I grab for my knife and wait for it to circle around. When it does, it charges at me again and I dodge but i wrap my arms around it. I dig my knife in its underbelly and squeeze with all my might. Its skin like razors digs into mine. Creating a bunch of tiny cuts. I don't let go until its limp. I look it over and notice with horror that it's only a baby shark! I look frantically around for the mother. That's when I hear the thrashing scraping sound towards the very bottom. I look down in time to see a very large shark spring free from a bunch of wires. I guess she knew I had killed her child.

   She comes at me with full force barely giving me enough time to get out of the way. She turns around and comes at me again, but this time she doesn't miss, she gets ahold of one of my legs and tears it off. I had to bite my tongue from screaming out. I turn with fury in my eyes and wait for her to lung again.

    As she comes at me I hold my knife at the ready. As she draws closer I move up a bit to get my attack just right. I start to feel disoriented because of loss of blood. FOCUS! I scream in my head. She lungs right past me but not before I striked. My knife dug deep into her back and she swam frantically in circles thrashing about, trying to knock me off. I held on tight with both hands and tried to wedge my knife out. To my surprise, when I moved it left, she went left. And when I moved it right, she went right. I devised a plan.

   I moved it right, left, right, left back and forth, making her head straight for the wall. I tried to get my knife out right before impact but I was to slow. As her head hits the wall full force, the blow of the impact sends me hurdling towards the wall. I hit the wall and end up breaking one of my arms. This time I scream out in pain and horror. Water fills my mouth. I spew it out and look at my oxygen tank. I see that it's almost empty. I look at the shark to makes sure she's dead. I quickly look for how they got in. I find the answer to my question rather quickly. To the north side of the pool there is a pipe big enough to fit the mother shark. I figured it lead straight to the ocean.

   I frantically swim to the top with my one good arm and leg. I reach the surface and just stay where I am. All the pool staff look horror struck. I turn around and see that the pool is nothing but red with blood. I also see the mother shark I had just slain laying just beneatht he surface of the water. I smile and ask someone to please help me. Most of the staf jumps in to rescue me. When they pull me out some of them look at my battered body. "Jesus Saphire what happened?" I tell them my entire story and how the sharks got in. "Leah do me a favor. I can feel my life slipping away and I know i only have a few minutes left. Please have someone find that pipe and seal it. Then I want them to clean the bottom of this pool." I ask her in a very low voice. "Saphire, please don't go. Your the only one who can reach the bottom." Leah says with tears staining her cheeks. "Leah, I know I am not going to make it. But I also know there are others who can do what I do. Or rather, did. So please do me that one favor. And tell my family that I am sorry and that I love them very much." I take my last breath and just as I feel the coldness trickling up my body I hear leahs last words. "Ok."

   Now you know my life story and why pools are no longer as deep as they used to be. I was very happy at how many lives I saved by making that request and doing hwat I did. In my town I am considered a hero. But if I would have lived, I would have just wanted to be remembered as  someone who cared.