Ailani laid on the soft sands near her home. Thoughts running through her mind as she relaxed there, not moving much. “If he eats more he’ll get better faster…” Ailani mumbled to herself as her little lure swayed in the ocean current. She sat up quickly and grinned, “Then I’ll just go get him some food.” She got up and swam back to her home and into the hunting room, grabbing a tightly knit basket before swimming out a window. Ailani swam away from her home, not wanting any of her family to know what she was doing.
She set the basket down and put a couple of rocks in the bottom so that it wouldn’t get washed away in the current. She slowly dug her hand through the light sand, pulling out the small sand eels she liked to catch one at a time before putting them in the basket and latching the top closed. Her gills twitched and looked around and tensed. In a flash she grabbed the basket and swam up, right before a predator crashed into the sand right where the basket was at.
“Jerk.” Ailani hissed at the shark. Her skin paled when the shark turned and looked towards her. “Oh boy.” She turned and started to swim, as fast as she could. Her arms tighten around the basket as she swam. She glanced back to see the shark still following her. “You have way too many teeth to be fair!” She shouted, a but unpleased by her current situation.
Ailani’s speed started to lag and she began to lose the race. She kicked her feet as hard as she could to try and stay out of its jaws. She felt something move past her quickly and towards the shark. She felt a thrash from the shark come from behind her. Ailani opened her eyes and turned back. Her mother was there, her spear through the shark. Ailani slowly came to a stop, and looked at her in awe. Her mother slowly looked at her, with the angry mother look.
“Oh boy.” Ailani said and chuckled, hiding the basket behind her back.
“What do you think you are doing?” Her mother asked in a very stern tone. Ailani gulped and took a deep breath, “I was just relaxing in the sand and it came at me out of nowhere.” She said, not bothering to mention the eels she caught. “What do you have behind your back?” Her mother asked her. “Just a basket of eels.” Ailani replied quickly.
“Did you… catch them?” Her mother asked, confused. “Aww, I thought you gave up on asking me that question, Mom.” Ailani said and smiled. Her mother groaned and she shook her head. “Help me get this shark back home.” She said. Ailani groaned lightly, “Okay mom.” She said.
Ailani and her mother pulled the shark back home. Soon afterwards Ailani went and fell asleep in her room.
((Word Count: 490))
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:21 pm
Oh No...
Ailani woke up in her bed, she slowly sat up and swam to the room where her parents keep all the hunting tools. She looked around and found what she was looking for. She swam over and slowly took a woven fish basket with a lid attached to the bottom on one side. There were small spaces on the lid of the basket, big enough to see in but not big enough for any fish to swim out of it. Ailani slowly swam out of the house. Her feet gently touched the path.
She walked down the path, glancing from side to side and saw a not very worn path that she knew lead to a large sand field in which her family rarely went because there wasn't very much in the way of large game there. Ailani walked down the path, calm. She squinted a bit and trotted over to a good sized rock with a flat side. Ailani leaned against the rock, and slowly slid down it. She set the basket next to her and put some rock around it so that it couldn't move away.
Ailani shifted on the ground, slowly snaking her hands soft white sand. Her lure twitched and her hands snapped closed pulling them out of the sand with a few eels in each hand. She leaned over and opened the case with her teeth. putting each fist full of eels into it before she closed it and went back on the search for more. "Okay, Just a few more.." She whispered to herself and pulled out a few more with one hand and two with the other hand. Ailani holds up her hands with the eels in and grin.
Ailani froze when she heard someone walking towards her. She slowly turned around and looked up at her older sister who was looming over her. "So you aren't completely useless." She put her hands on her hips. Ailani gulped and opened her hand, letting the eels go. Her sister groaned and picked Ailani up along with the basket, starting to go home.
Ailani whine and and goes limp so her sister has to carry dead weight. Her sister kept swimming home, like it doesn't affect her. Ailani groaned and looked around and yawned a bit. "That doesn't count as hunting." She said and glanced up at her sister.
"Yes it does, no matter how small the eels are, that is hunting." Her older sister said and kept swimming. She slowed to a halt at the front of their home. Her sister knows on the front door. "Mom. I have a surprise for you." She said, a bit louder to make sure their mom heard her through that door.
Their mother slowly opened the door and looked at her two daughters, one under the other's arm. "What's happening?" She asked in a bit of a sleepy tone. Ailani's older sister shifted and smiled, "I went to go and get Ailani for you like you asked and when I got there I found her hunting-" She was cut off by Ailani interjecting, "That does not count as hunting." She said, glaring a bit. "Yes it does, you were snatching up eels and putting them into the fish basket." She said, glaring back at her.
Their mother glanced between the two of them, "I'm confused. I thought she never hunted and would be useless for the rest of her life." The sister looked at her. "I thought so too but I found her catching eels." She said and held up the fish basket, showing some eels wiggling inside it.
The mother moved over and looked at the basket, pokes it lightly, causing the eels to wiggle more and panic. "So they're alive." She started. She looked down at Ailani and blinks, "Did you catch these?"
Ailani blinked and raked her brain, trying to find a way to get out of this without agreeing that it was her. "Uuuuuum.. Maybe?" She said, confused but hoping that would work. Her sister and mother just stared at her for a long moment. "That isn't an answer, Lani." Her mother said, motioning for Ailani's sister to bring her inside. The trio went inside of the house and to the big meeting room.
Her sister set her down on the soft sandy floor before swimming off. Ailani slowly looked up at her mother, fidgeting with her hands. "It's okay, Lani, I'm not mad. I just want to help you so that you can make it well in life." She said and patted her head. "You should start swimming laps. Maybe then you won't be bait for sharks." her mother said, chuckling.
