Out of Water

All my childhood, I had been living in the ocean. At first, I was too naive to realize how barren of a place it truly was. But I quickly realized it at such a young age. Me and my family never really had a permanent home. Since we were aquatic creatures, we had to be moving all the time. Just like a school of fish, we stuck together. You would think traveling under the sea would be more exciting or magical even, but I think that's just what land dwellers want to believe. If you lived in the water for as long as I, it'll soon dawn on you how empty it is. Sure, there are pretty sea plants and maneuvering around the ocean is convenient, but there's nothing here. It always felt like the land had more to offer, you know?

As I approached my teen years, I had a yearning to be more independent. I wanted to leave this wasteland to do something more... productive with my life. Mom told me about the world above. Dry areas that made it feel like you're suffocating, the sun gleaming down as it burned your skin. She said it was no place for us sea folk to live. I refuse to believe that. I've seen the people who lived on land. Most of them were humans. They looked just like me! Except they didn't have the feature that allowed them to live in water. I'm not like these tiny fish who are all scales. Surely, it's not as bad as mom made it out to be. However, mom opposed me going to the land. It wasn't just her, it was my entire family... My dad, brother and sister, grandparents, they all disapproved of me living on land. I don't know why they're so opposed to the idea. They act like it's a death trap, but in truth, I think they're all afraid. I bet they never even tried living on land. Afraid of change. Though many disagreed with my desires, I wasn't going to let it go. I'd rather take the chance to live rather than live unhappily in the desert of the sea. That was the last time I ever talked to my family before I ran off to be on my own.

That first day of being on land... it was probably the most horrible experience of my life yet... it was probably the best day of my life as well. Every common emotion one could feel, I had felt all in that one day. Stepping on the earth felt so dirty yet dry, just like what mother said. But it still felt nice. However, this was the time of year people called summer. It was all warm, hot, temperatures I was not use to. The sun had scorched my fishy tail and ears. It was all agonizing and painful but I managed. I guess, I could compare this to having to survive in the wilderness to the land dwellers. Misery had struck me that entire day, with occasional anger from struggling to stay on land. There was no home for me anywhere. I had to make my own home. There was no one around to help me either since the area I surfaced at was all forestry. Barely, I managed to survive that one day. But, at the end of the day, I finally found that happiness. You want to know why? That day, I had an experience. This experience made me struggle but I saw so many things. Things that I never saw in the ocean. It made me feel emotions I've never experienced under the sea. It felt like... I was actually doing something. For me, the days to come would be an easier time for me to adjust and discover the magical world that is land.