Esther K Bowen

            Do you believe in monsters? In the bedtime stories of children? In hushed tales of forgotten times? Would you heed warnings from the past that whisper things of evil? Things with claws and teeth and malevolent hate? Or are the monsters only for children? For old women who spin myths under cover of darkness?

            I am an old man now and I have a tale from the dawn of history, now faded like the receding tide. Remember the ocean. Like the past it is turbulent. Chaotic. Wild. It cares nothing for the men upon in. It scorns those who try to tame it. Beneath its black depths hide the monsters men choose to forget.

            The first spaceship disgorged its colonists and they settled by the wild, untamed sea. In those days, as today, the men worked the sea, and their wives worked the land. Houses and towns rose. The wealth of the sea rolled in, and civilization began to flourish.

            Aethelia, daughter of the mayor, welcomed the village children into her home. She taught them reading, and mathematics, and the names of the new stars. She was eighteen, and engaged to a young man named Iorgos. He had served two tours in the war before joining the colonist ship, and now he worked on the docks. Every morning, Aethelia brought him a thermos of freshly-brewed coffee, and every evening, he stopped by her father’s house and they walked together along the coast.

            One day, Aethelia gathered the children for a camping trip. She borrowed her father’s sailboat, for she was an excellent sailor. A few hours skimming across deep blue waves took them far from the village. The weather was inviting and the morning sun warm in the sky for they sailed at the height of summer. The wind was crisp and cool. Aethelia sailed for a small island, ringed by beaches and shallow ocean surf.

            One of the children, a boy of eight named Vito, was leaning over the side, watching the waves race by. He suddenly called, “Look!”

            The children rushed to the side. Aethelia turned her gaze to follow. Beneath the sailboat, the water boiled. The waves glowed with a strange green luminescence. The air filled with a foul stench, like rotting flesh.

            Aethelia had never seen such phenomena before.

            “Get back,” she shouted to the children. She steered the boat away from the glow beneath the surface. As she turned, the waves broke and a violent hiss filled the air.

            From the depths of the sea rose a creature more fearsome than anything Aethelia had ever beheld. Its form was serpentine, thicker than a tree around. Water and seaweed streamed from scaled skin. It rose above the boat, above the mast, and kept rising. Its huge, flat head blocked the sun, casting a cold shadow across the small boat.

            The children screamed. Aethelia swerved in the foaming water, angling the boat around the creature. The creature dove at the boat. Its wide mouth split open, revealing rows of jagged teeth. Whiskers hung from its jaw. Its eyes flashed yellow.

            Aethelia pulled the tiller to herself with all her might. The boat responded, and the creature plunged into the water, inches from the side. The creature vanished with a wave as the water was pushed aside by its massive form. The small boat shook from the waves and spun about. Aethelia saw the unearthly glow right below the surface. It had not given up. Aethelia knew the creature had selected them as its prey ready for its next meal.

            Aethelia had no intention of losing to this creature. She knew these waters. Soon the ocean grew shallow as it drew up to the island. If she could reach land, perhaps they could escape its clutches.

            Ahead of her stretched the island. It was small, less than a mile across. It held no trees, just sandy dunes, leading up to gentle hills and waving grass. Aethelia’s experienced eye scanned the coast. On this side, there was no dock for her boat. The sea grew shallow, creating a pleasant stretch of land for wading. It was the far side of the island that held the dock.

            “Hold tight,” Aethelia shouted to the children, the wind whipping her golden hair about her face.

            The creature rose again from the depth of the sea. Aethelia gagged on the stench. The creature hissed with a sound like steam from a kettle. Two of the children threw themselves down and covered their ears.

            A tail, thick and coiled like a whip shot up from the water. It slapped against the sea with a crack like lightning, casting a wave before it. The wave caught the small boat. It shot forward at great speed, skipped across the water like a rock. Aethelia flew from the tiller and slammed onto the deck. For a moment, she lay still. The blue sky spun above her and she felt she could not breathe. She took a shuddering breath. Small hands pulled at her. Crying voices called her name.

            Aethelia rolled to her feet and staggered to the side of the boat. Blood ran into her eyes. She put her hand to her forehead and it came away red. She wiped the blood from her vision with her sleeve, hoping the gash was not deep.

            The boat no longer rose and fell with the waves. Aethelia looked down. The wave from the creature’s tail had thrown the boat into shallow water. The hull was stuck fast in the sand.

            Aethelia looked back. The creature had abandoned its plunging attacks and now glided forward into the shallow water. Its coils wound lazily, knowing its prey was trapped.

            Aethelia’s breath caught at the size of the monster. Though it uncoiled itself, there seemed no end to it. She looked back at the children.

            “Bertram,” she commanded the oldest boy. He was fourteen and reliable. “Carry Moriah. Hayden, take Elise. Loana, Vito, Juni, hold hands.”

            Aethelia fumbled open a hatch and yanked out the emergency kit. “Run for the shore. Run and don’t stop. Understand?”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Bertram said. He scooped Moriah into his arms and hurried across the slanted deck. The rest of the children followed.

            Only Vito looked back to see Aethelia’s fingers close around the cool plastic of the flare gun. Behind, he heard the high keening of the creature.

            “Go!” Aethelia screamed at him, and he plunged into the water.

            Aethelia stumbled back, loading a flare. Dark coils rose and fell with the waves. When the children moved in the water, the creature shivered along its sinewy body. It lifted its head, whiskers twitching.

            Aethelia fired the flare. The projectile hissed through the air. Aethelia’s aim was good. The flare hit the monster square between the eyes and exploded. The creature roared and drew back, stunned. Aethelia ran across the deck and jumped into the water. The children were ahead of her. She slogged through the surf, cold water sloshing around her thighs. She struggled forward. The water slowed her, like a familiar dream, where her limbs would not move fast enough as the nightmare came up close behind.

            She loaded her last flare. Behind came the unearthly hiss. Aethelia turned again as the creature rushed her. No longer did it lazily stalk its prey. Now, it was angry.

            Aethelia’s breath came in quick gasps. She backed away, fighting to keep her balance in the surf. The creature caught up to her and raised its head. The great mouth split open. The jagged teeth dripped. She saw triumph in its eyes. Aethelia fired the flare directly into its mouth. Then she dropped the gun and ran with all her might.

            She heard the roar behind her, as she staggered to the beach, stumbling on wet sand. The children stood waiting for her, eyes wide.

            “Back,” she screamed at them. “Get back from the water.”

            They obeyed hesitantly, not wanting to leave her. Aethelia scooped up Loana. At seven, she was really too big to be carried, but Aethelia had seen the size of the creature and feared they might not be safe, even on land. She ran up the dunes, the children around her.

            Her instincts were accurate. As she climbed a grassy hill, higher and set farther back from the beach, Aethelia turned to the creature. It slithered right up to the beach, its great flat head rising as the water grew shallow.

            Suddenly, Loana screamed. Her small hands clutched Aethelia, fingernails digging into her neck. Aethelia staggered back as two misshapen limbs appeared from the creature’s body. They had claws on the end. The creature dragged itself onto the beach. The scorch marks on its face did nothing to hide the murder in its eyes.

            Aethelia dragged the children farther, praying desperately the thing could not live on land. When they crested the third hill, she looked back. The creature was halfway up the beach, but it seemed it could not long sustain its great weight on its small limbs. It let out a roar, and sank back into the sea.

            Aethelia set down Loana. The girl clung to Aethelia, sobbing.

            “It’s all right now,” Aethelia soothed, trying to regain her breath. “We are safe here.”

            She did not believe her own words. All their supplies were on the boat, and they would not be expected back until the following day. After that, people would come looking for them, yet their own rescuers could fall prey to this creature. It had sunk beneath the water, but Aethelia still saw a hint of it in the pattern of the waves breaking unnaturally around its huge frame.

            “What will we do?” Vito asked.

            “We go farther inland,” Aethelia said. “Help will come.”

            She began to walk, with the children following.

            “That thing will eat anyone who tries to get near,” Bertram said. Moriah began to cry again.

            Aethelia frowned, knowing Bertram was right. Without warning, any search party would be unprepared for the monster that awaited them.

            Near the center of the island, she settled the children in the shelter of a hill. The wind had picked up and the day was growing colder. It blew Vito’s dark hair about his face. He shivered in his wet clothes.

            “Do we have the radio?” Bertram asked.

            “It is on the boat with the rest of the supplies,” Aethelia answered. It may as well have been on the moons. Yet, she had to find a way to retrieve it.

            “Maybe the monster sleeps,” Bertram suggested. “I could sneak out to the boat tonight.”

            Vito looked up into the face of the older boy. His jaw was set and his eyes shone.

            Aethelia smiled at his courage. “No, it sensed you when you entered the water. It will wake if someone tries to slip past.”

            Aethelia ran her hand through her hair, then braided it tightly against her head. “Maybe we can distract it.”

            The children were out of danger for now, but it was only a matter of time before the monster turned on their rescuers. Soon, the group sheltering on the island would be no better off than before. She had to do something. And she could not do it alone.

            “Bertram, Hayden, Vito. Go to the beach by the dock.”

            Vito started when she said his name. His teacher needed his help to save them all.

            “Gather as many stones as you can carry,” Aethelia continued. “I want you to yell and throw the stones in the water. If you draw the monster away from the boat, I will go out and get the radio. If you see the creature, run as hard as you can back to the middle of the island. It is fast and will snatch you off the beach.”

            “We’ll get it to leave the boat,” Bertram said.

            “And we won’t get caught,” Hayden added.

            Vito’s heart was pounding, but he gave a brave nod. He would face the monster with the older boys, not hide with the children.

            Once they left, Aethelia told the rest of the children to wait then she headed back to the beach alone. She stripped off her loose outer shirt, meant to keep the sun from her shoulders. Her tank top underneath would not slow her. She kicked off her shoes, and crept forward barefoot.

            For a long time, the monster lay still, resting just below the water. Aethelia hid behind a dune and waited. Suddenly, the creature’s whiskers twitched and it drew back into the deeper water. She watched its wake through the waves as it circled out of sight. Aethelia breathed a prayer the boys would be careful.

            She did not have much time. She slipped into the surf. The tide had risen and she swam out to the boat. The boat was nearly freed from the sandbar where it had been tossed. Aethelia pulled herself over the side and dropped the anchor. She did not want to lose the boat to the tide.

            The emergency supplies were scattered. Aethelia gathered them up. Food. Water. She shoved supplies into a bag. Most importantly, she snatched up the radio. She turned it on.

            “Aethelia to Bradig harbor, are you there?”

            “Aethelia, this is Willis. Everything all right?”

            “No, we’re in trouble. I—”

            A roar of fury broke out across the water. The creature had learned of their trickery. Aethelia looked up to see the familiar wake drawing near at an alarming speed. She would never make it back to the beach in time. Aethelia switched off the radio and dropped out of sight, pressing herself against the warm side of the boat. Her ears strained for a sound from the creature, but all she heard was the lap of the waves.

            She was painfully aware she had not completed her message to Bradig. Yet if she tried to speak again, would the creature hear? Aethelia waited, counting her breaths. Birds darted overhead in the bright blue sky. If Bradig did not hear from her again, they would send a rescue party.

            Aethelia took a breath and raised her head to peek over the side. The waves were unbroken, stretching out under the noon sky. Perhaps the creature was lurking near a different part of the island. Perhaps it rested deep below the surface, waiting. She had to risk the radio.

            “Willis, are you still there?”

            “I’m here. Girl, you scared me cutting off like that.”

            “There’s a creature in the water,” Aethelia whispered. “Huge, like a snake. Big enough to destroy any boat we have.”

            Willis cursed.

            “I got the children to the island. I’m in the boat, but won’t be, if it finds me.”

            “I’ll call it in to the peacekeepers,” Willis said. “But it will be hours before they get this far out.”

            “I . . . I think we can wait. I’m . . . I’m going to sign off now. I can’t let it know I’m here.”

            “All right, Aethelia, just—” he broke off and cursed again.

            “What is it?”

            “I radioed Iorgos to check on you,” Willis said. “He’s sailing today and close to your location.”

            “He’ll be killed,” Aethelia hissed into the radio. “Tell him to wait for the peacekeepers.”

            Whatever Willis replied was lost to an explosion of water and the creature’s inhuman shriek. It had found her.

            Water ran from the creature’s scales as it rose from the water. Its glowing eyes stared down at her, unblinking. Backlit by the sun, it seemed to shimmer blood-red.

            Aethelia froze, the radio still clutched in her hand. She could not outswim the monster. The second she was in the water, it would have her. She had no more flares. Aethelia rummaged in her survival bag and grabbed one of the sealed packets of food. She threw it square at the creature. It bounced off its forehead. The creature’s eyes blazed. It dove at her. Aethelia threw herself to the side. The creature’s jagged teeth grazed her leg.

            Its huge, flat head smashed into the boat, shattering the deck. Water rushed up. The creature looked at her, and she kicked at it. That only served to enrage it. It snapped at her. Aethelia scrambled out of its reach, clawing her way across the twisted deck.

            The creature drew back for another strike. Aethelia grabbed the metal flashlight from the kit. As the creature came down again, Aethelia swung the flashlight. She connected with its snout. The metal slammed against unyielding flesh and rebounded, throwing her arm wide. The flashlight flew from her grasp. Ther creature’s scales were hard as armor.

            The creature hissed. Aethelia saw its gaze fill with contempt. Suddenly, Aethelia rolled across the deck as the boat was tossed aside. She had forgotten the tail. Wood splintered, and the boat began to come apart in the sea.

            Saltwater burned her bloodied leg. The creature roared in triumph.

            Suddenly, a crack split the air. The creature whirled, focusing on something behind it. Aethelia climbed the wreckage. The crack sounded again, and Aethelia recognized the sound of a shotgun. Beyond the creature, standing on his motorboat, with the gun to his shoulder, was Iorgos.

            “Aethelia,” he shouted.

            “I’m here,” she screamed back.

            The creature dove beneath the waves.

            “Look out!” she yelled.

            Iorgos revved the motor and pulled alongside her. His warm fingers closed around her wrist and hauled her into the boat. His dark eyes noticed her bloodied leg and his face twisted with anger.

            “You all right?” he asked.

            She nodded.

            He reloaded the shotgun. “It isn’t over yet.”

            Aethelia slid beside the motor. “We should head to shallow water. It has the advantage in the deep.”

            Iorgos shook his head. His dark eyes searched the rolling waves.

            “We have to kill it. Otherwise, we will never be free from its attacks.”

            “It is waiting in the deep water,” Aethelia said.

            He gave her a grim smile. “I think you taught it not to go close to land.”

            Aethelia knew where the first aid kit was on Iorgos’ boat. She opened it and cleaned her leg. The disinfectant burned against her skin, but she had no idea what diseases the monster might carry and never intended to find out.

            Iorgos still watched the water, his body moving easily with the rise and fall of the small boat, his shotgun trained on the water.

            “Do you see anything?” Aethelia asked.

            “No, but my gut says it’s not far off. I saw the rage in its face when it attacked you. It has intelligence. It is waiting.”

            Aethelia looked across the water. “My gut says the same.”

            Overhead, the sun shone down, just passed noon.

            Aethelia said, “If you had not come when you did . . .”

            “I will always come,” Iorgos answered.

            Aethelia leaned over and kissed his cheek.

            Her eyes widened. “Blood!”

            “What?”

            “Perhaps it is drawn to blood. Like a shark.”

            She gritted her teeth and peeled the bandage from her leg.

            “Aethelia . . .” he began.

            She threw the bloodied wrapping into the water. “We have to lure it out.”

            They waited, hearts pounding. Aethelia’s sharp eyes scanned the water. There! On the starboard side, she thought she caught an unnatural ripple.

            “Watch out,” she shouted.

            She was almost too late. The great tail swept up, driving the boat sideways through the water like a rock skipped across a pond. Aethelia grabbed tight to the side to avoid being thrown overboard. Iorgos kept hold of the shotgun, but only barely. The boat keeled and water washed over the side. Iorgos threw himself in the opposite direction. The boat righted, but floated low in the waves, water sloshing around their ankles.

            Aethelia and Iorgos looked back across the water. The monster was nowhere to be seen. Aethelia unfolded a small fabric bucket and began to bail out the water. While she worked, she kept her eyes trained on the sea.

            “There,” she shouted suddenly, seeing a glimmer of the creature’s strange luminescence under the water. Its long coils, barely visible by their unearthly light were contracting directly under the boat.

            “Aethelia,” Iorgos shouted. “Get us clear of it.”

            Aethelia dropped the bucket and gunned the motor. The boat leapt away from the gathering coils. At the same moment, the monster attacked.

            Its huge snout broke the waves, moving fast as thought, scattering water like broken glass. Iorgos fired. A part of its snout vanished in chunks of flesh and strange pale ichor. The monster roared, and Iorgos fired again.

            With the final shot, the creature faded into legend. No one save Aethelia and Iorgos and the children saw the monster from the deep. As the planet filled with men and ships, civilization flourished and monsters were forgotten. As in any age, experts and critics claimed Aethelia exaggerated. In her frightened state, perhaps she misjudged the monster’s size and ferocity. Perhaps it was only a shark, crazed with hunger. Perhaps Iorgos never really got a good look at it and relied too much on his future wife’s word. And the children, well, children are easily suggestable. There is no telling what they will imagine if their teacher is panicking.

            And me? I tell a story passed down from my great, great grandfather, from the days when he was a boy. For Vito and his friends survived, and the stories they told fade from memory. It matters not if you believe the story to be true. For in every time, there are monsters to fight, and you will find, once they are defeated, people will say they never existed at all. But better that, than for your grandchildren to know the monsters for themselves.