A Dive

Where the stars meet the sea,
Where the naralins dive,
Where peace reigns,
Where beauty thrives,
There you will find an island,
	delightful to the eyes.

My name is Minlia Adalae Aldrichs-daughter, and I live in paradise. Well, I live in the Etholian Isles, and they are lovely. My father, King Aldrich, is the king of the Isles, so on parchment I am Princess Minlia Adalae Aldrichs-daughter, but people don’t call me that. I’m just another Etholian girl, and I’m expected to help out just like anyone else.

            Today, for example, I am “helping” Watson Saint-Bletchley examine the naralins. That means I am basically swimming near Watson and watching him examine them. Doing everything except examining them. Watson doesn’t mind. He prefers to work by himself.

            I watched as he examined the ridge along their backs, studying how they collapsed. Every few seconds he exclaimed something like, “Fascinating,” or, “Beautiful.” Smiling, I dove down into the ocean. Deeper and deeper toward the wrecked pirate ship. After the shipwreck two weeks ago, I had taken to diving for trinkets. The ship was lying on its side, smashed, broken, holes all through the hull. The bodies of the pirates had been swept away by the ocean. I don’t know if any survived.

            As the warm water rushed past me, I swam into the ship. There were signs of a night cut short: bottles smashed in corners, a sword, now rusty. I swam to the bottom, and sifted through the sand that covered everything. With a rush of excitement, my hand hit metal. Dusting off the sand, I found a thick gold coin. The image of the Delphinian queen, Queen Aylatan, was on one side, a soaring eagle on the other.

            ‘Good job!’ I silently congratulated myself, and tucked the coin into the pouch that’s always at my waist. Suddenly, my brain fuzzed. Air. Breathing. I started kicking upward, swimming with strong, even strokes. The light shimmered on the water which I knew was only ten feet away. Eight. Five. Three.

            My head broke the surface and I gasped, inhaling the fresh air as well as plenty of salt water.

            “Minlia,” called Watson, “did you find anything?”  I nodded, gagging and coughing on the salty taste filling my mouth.

            “I – cough – found – gasp – a – choke – coin – cough!” I wheezed, swimming back to shore. Watson was standing chest deep in water, but that wasn’t saying much as Watson was extremely short, rotund, and nearly bald. He had been captured in Monzicaro by pirates, and my sister and I had saved his life during the shipwreck.

            “Show me the coin,” he requested. I unbuckled my pouch and pulled out the coin. Watson took it and examined it, giving it back after a moment. “This coin bears the image of fair Queen Aylatan of the Delphinian Cluster. What a great discovery!” He handed it back, and I slipped it into my pouch. I thought about another dive, but decided against it. I was tired, and it was getting close to dinner time.

            “Watson, I’m getting tired, and Mama will want me home for dinner soon. Is it okay if I head in?”

            “Of course!” he replied, “I think I’ll stay out for a little longer.”

            “Alright,” I agreed and bent over to kiss his wrinkly cheek.

            “Goodbye, Min,” he said. I started to swim back to shore, waving one last, “Goodbye!” to Watson

            As soon as I reached the sand I dried off with a towel which I had hung on a tree branch, wrung the water out of my thick black braid, and clasped my sky blue skirt around my waist. The skirt was one of my favorites – just the tiniest bit floaty with an opal set in the silver buckle. It really was a nice outfit when it was combined with the dark blue waterproof bodysuit I was wearing.

            Slowly, I walked up the beach and onto the path to the main village. It passed through the trees for a little while, but after that I was in the open air again.  I passed the limgena berry^[1] fields, where the purple berries were starting to slowly ripen to a vivid lime green. I walked into my village, where our houses looked like little hills, but with windows and doors. Behind the village there were beautiful dark green pine trees, then a rocky cliff that sloped steeply to the water. Arriving at my house, I stepped onto the doorstep and opened the door.

^[1] A sweet and sour berry that is one of Etholia’s main exports. They taste of lemons, limes, and oranges; and are a little bigger than a blueberry.