Cassandra
I was only a child when Cassandra came into my life. She was everything to me. The day I met her, and lost her was the best and worst day of my life. It seemed that I was given an elixir on a golden platter, only to drink from it and then realize that it was all a lie. I wasn't the same after that. It has haunted me for many years. My name is Damian, and this is my story.
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This story starts out like many others, it was a lovely spring day. The birds were wheeling overhead, each plaintive cry sounding like a dirge to anyone who didn't know the real meanings behind them. They spoke of plain love for the sky, a cry to the heavens, one of joy and passion. Underwater, the fish swam in effervescent rainbows of bubbles. Look, a clownfish! It seemed to smile at me while I was resting on the seafloor. I watched it go in front of my face, the undulating motion of the side-to-side swimming entranced me for a moment. I gently nudged it with my nose, and bubbles scattered as the clownfish raced away to a purple anemone hidden in the rocks a few feet away. It looked at me with what seemed like reproachful eyes as I laughed a little bit at it.
I'm a water dragon. I've spent my entire life either in the ocean, or at the top of it. I'm not much to look at, just a deep blue underside with a lighter blue top. It came with the genetics, I suppose. There isn't much else in the way of color down here, unless you make your home in a coral reef, like mine. I had a nice sandy pad laid out in the middle of it, it was all that I needed. My parents left me at birth, as all water dragons do. By this time I was five, maybe six dragon years. But, it doesn't matter. All that is important is Cassandra.
This particular morning, I watched the coral reef become a bustling hive of activity as the sun reached into the depths of the ocean, turning it from a deep blue to an azure sapphire that glittered in the sun and woke up the residents of the deep. Angelfish in their whites and yellows swam next to pillar corals and lobsters that scuttled around the ocean floor, kicking up sand as they went about their daily business. Some glass fish decided to peck at the local staghorn coral that had taken residence there a few years back. The colors of the vibrant ocean seemed to radiate life and health to every being that saw them. It was a peaceful, comforting sight, one that I never tired of.
There was a small swooshing noise in the distance, and I perked up when I saw it was another water dragon, a small and petite beauty of perhaps four dragon years. Maybe this dragon would finally fill the void I had in my life. I was lonely, you see. There's not much to do except swim around by yourself all day, so there was a draconic need for interaction at least some time. I rose from my sandy bed and the light glittered through the soft disturbance of sand in the deep, filtering through in colors of golden blue.
I called out a greeting, but the other dragon seemed to not hear me. Odd, I thought to myself, until she came closer. I could see that she had suffered some sort of horrible tragedy in the egg. One side of her face had been disfigured. I guess she couldn't hear me. To be honest, it was a shock. There she was, Cassandra, I would learn was her name later. Her... accident cost her the beauty of her looks. It cost her the use of her ears and vocal cords too. She not only couldn't hear, she couldn't speak as well.
Her eyes perked up, the ridges making an upward motion, only the left side didn't move. It couldn't. She cocked her head to one side and smiled a lopsided smile. There was beauty there, hidden, but I could see it. It was simply wondrous to see her like that. It was an amazing sight to see her twisting and diving among the corals, almost inviting me to come play with her.
As I kind of just hung there in the water, she flicked her tail at me and then darted away. I smiled and started after her, only to find myself almost instantly outmatched. Her sense of direction was wonderful. We twisted and danced and played through the entire day.
Leaping among the fish. Twirling among the sapphire blue sea. The golden sand, obscured by a flash of a fish fin, the mollusks on the ground. A red lobster, venturing out into the wide open ocean. The angelfish swam in a group and we darted through it, playing. Sometimes I would catch her tail, other times she would dart around and tag me on my scales. It was a beautiful time.
The water slowly turned a darker blue. We didn't notice the time we spent together. We found ourselves entwined in a special dance, a dance that spoke of longing, of love, and of remembrance. Racing along the bright red coral, the fish scattering as we twirled among the stones. It was a song, a dance of utter beauty. The golden sand that was kicked up as we playfully swam past it sparked like diamonds in the light. The swoosh of our underwater flight. The rushing of water past our scales. It was something that I will never forget.
Swimming fast, swimming slow. Watching her swim, she sometimes watching me. It was a glimpse into eternity. The rushing waters carried us over rocks, and under coral. We didn't disturb the local wildlife, except when we barreled through them to get ahead. The fish eventually learned to keep their distance as we danced with each other, under the sea. They were silent shimmering spectators, until the last curtain call.
Eventually, as all things must do, the sun was setting over the open ocean. I was out of breath, tired, and exhausted. I could tell she felt the same way. In her own silent, stalwart way, she was next to me, gently gliding over the ocean floor. I breached the water, taking a breath of air and looked towards the setting sun. There was a beautiful painting of reds, oranges and purples. The air was fresh and clean. The setting sun gently slipped over the horizon until I could see no more of it.
We watched the moon come up together, Cassandra and I. It was this giant, silver, pockmarked orb in the sky. It hung there, like a ball perfectly balanced on a talon. The silver lover, it watched us as we stayed together, arm in arm, as we silently and effortlessly glided above the now sleeping world of darkened color below. I will admit, I moved to kiss her on the cheek. The movement startled her, she let out a wordless cry of surprise, then settled down. As my lips touched her cheek scales, I could not only taste the salt of the ocean water, but those of tears that were now streaming down her face.
I looked at her, concerned. There was something special here. Even though I hadn't spoken all day, I felt a deep connection to her already. It was, in a word, love.
She moved her face away from mine, silently choking on tears. She didn't make a sound. Couldn't. I started to say something to her, then fell silent again. She slowly pushed me away, tears streaming down her beautiful, scarred face. They caught in the little ridges of her scales, and sparkled like stars in the moonlight.
I moved after her, concerned. I wanted to help. I tried pantomiming that I wanted to hold her, to help her. I was frantic. She started swimming away, and as I followed her, I got a nice whack on the snout. It stung, and I squawked in surprise. I stopped swimming after her, watching her recede in the distance. She slowly got smaller and smaller, until not even the clear sky and moonlight streaming down from the heavens could illuminate her anymore.
I settled back down to my small gravel bed to lay down on. It didn't seem like diamonds in the sea any more. It felt more like a rocky pit. My little piece of heaven had been taken away from me, and I didn't know why.
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I've always regretted not swimming after her. I live in the same place now, as I did back when I first met her. It reminds me daily of my failure. My failure to myself, and to her. It's hell, under the sea. Nothing, nothing at all matters. My life will waste away on this small patch of rock, colored only in my botched robe of life.
I write this down, not to punish myself though. I hope that it may reach Cassandra someday. I hope that she remembers me and the time that we swam through the water like there was nothing between us. Most of all, I hope that she comes back. I am waiting for you Cassandra, right here next to the little clownfish that just had babies.
Please...
Please...
P...l...e...a.....