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Prologue- Message in a bottle

My name is Gregory Shoemaker.

To some of you, I'm speaking from beyond Davy Jones' locker. Though most of you will use my story as proof that I was never gone. You're right; I was never gone. But neither was Elizabeth Smart or anyone else that has disappeared'. The man you would've seen-had you met me before 2006-has long since passed on. But that doesn't mean I've ceased to exist.

Maybe an explanation is appropriate. Alright, in 2006 I stopped living as a man and began my life as a dolphin.

No, you read it right. And wipe that smile off your face.

As you read these words I'm miles away from land, and that's the way I intend to keep it. While most thought I was living naked on a makeshift raft with a pod of wild dolphins [come on, be honest], that's not how things are. I'm not just living the life of a dolphin. I AM a dolphin.

How, you ask? Did I meet a wizard and drink a potion? Did I wish upon a star? An old magic tome that summoned Delphi? Nope. The simple story is, I had sex with a dolphin and she turned me into one.

Alright, while you're shaking your heads in frustration, I'll tell you exactly what happened to me that pivotal year.

It began after my darling wife, Aimee and I moved into an Oceanside house in Louisiana. It was located on a relatively remote island and the view, in retrospect, was astounding. Typical me, though, a Reno-native; I hated the noise of waves and the humidity could've driven me to Seppuku. But my wife, a few months pregnant, was too in love with the place to look elsewhere. And since I was too in love with her to say no, we moved in.

Not even a day into our new house, our lives changed. It started the night we'd moved in. While down at the beach, a curious neighbor (a dolphin) wandered into the shallows and allowed us to get within arms reach. Call me a little crazy, but the dolphin seduced me. I don't know how, I couldn't tell you why (well, I could, but you'd think I was awful crazy), but just sitting within arms reach had me under her spell.

The dolphin left and we retired to our home, and her spell left me. But with a chance encounter back at the beach below our abode, I had sex with that dolphin.

Hey, don't knock it till you try it.

She bit me afterwards, and through an elaborate method my whole body structure changed within a day. Exactly twenty-four hours after I'd been bitten, my transformation took a painful and horrifying turn. By the time I'd stopped changing I had staggered down to the beach and into the surf, where my new Dolphin body lay stranded. By the time day broke I was no longer dazed and was wholly frightened. I mean, how'd you feel if you suddenly turned into an aquatic mammal? Well, that's not how it was for me. To make matters worse, the posse rounded up to save a stranded young bull' was lead by my own wife, Aimee. Unable to communicate with her, I was forced into the sea without a clue as to where to go and how long I'd live. But the dolphin was waiting for me.

Isthia was her name. At first, I refused to follow her back to her pod. After she scolded me for not realizing how helpless I am in a dangerous, unfamiliar world, I knew she was right. It wasn't until we encountered a few sharks that I believed her. Unable to defend myself, she quickly stepped in and warded them off long enough, but at a horrible price. Her flank fell victim to the jaws of one of the sharks and though badly injured, she was able to chase them off. The sacrifice brought out my true feelings for Isthia, and I knew I loved her from then on.

We reached the hypothetical territory of Isthia's pod, about five miles off the shore of South Padre Island. There I met her family- Otis, the oldest male and recently elected alpha; Derryl, Otis' son and unrelated by blood to Isthia; Spinner, her true sibling, and her mother. Otis went against his own decrees and let me in after I hastily improvised a story about myself. Derryl, being younger and smaller than I was, must've felt I was a threat to be the next alpha (only three males in the pod) and never showed a smidgen of liking me.

Isthia devoted her time to teaching me memes dolphins learn out of the womb. It was a long and arduous training session, but with the help of Spinner (who never once questioned my forgetting' to swim and hunt) we made it. Over time, I began to enjoy my new life and, with the exception of Aimee, I didn't miss my old one.

Tragedy, however, was only waiting for us to settle in. One day, Derryl returned to the pod in a state of hysteria, a rare thing to see from such a stoic dolphin. He almost broke down as he told us what happened- while hunting, a fisherman's net snagged him. It was only after Otis pushed him out that he was caught for good. No body was found, but Derryl insisted that Otis was losing consciousness long before the net had risen. A terrible muck hung over the pod like red tide, and Isthia and I grew nervous to learn Derryl was the new alpha-male, meaning we could be separated in no time. Isthia had gotten pregnant and the thought of leaving my other family was too much to bear. However, Derryl couldn't think about us, for he was looking to gain revenge on humans.

His idea of revenge was to display dominance in a coordinated attack against swimmers and fishermen. Unable to let it happen, I promptly put a stop to his tirade. Though it saved the swimmers, it only reminded him of how much he hated me. Right away he ordered the pod to migrate with him, and I wasn't allowed to join them. Derryl even decreed he would kill me if we met again. I had no choice but to change back to a human.

While I had been away, Aimee lived through hell. Her attempts to try to find me were seen merely as a publicity stunt and her name became a household punch line. She'd since moved out from the house except for a retreat. Just my luck, I wasn't there when she was. Unable to cope I decided, one way or another, to find Isthia and have her change me back.

And was I in luck. Isthia pulled me from the choppy sea and I was able to convince her to change me back. She told me that she'd left her pod before the migration to stay near me. Another sacrifice from my mate...

Aimee did eventually return, and the note I'd left her served as a finally boiling point. As she tried to drown herself in the surf, I was there to stop her. Once Aimee recognized the friendly dolphin was none other than her Gregory, she was overcome. We spent the day with one another in the shallows, knowing it'd be impossible for our relationship to continue. The media constantly hounded my wife, and the two of us realized the discovery of our rendezvous would only complicate things for her. I couldn't let my wife continue to suffer, so we said our final goodbyes. As a man I never cried- as a dolphin, I only wish I could've.

If you've paid attention to the headlines, I'm sure by now a new victim has been found and my wife's name forgotten. I only wish her the comfort and peace she truly deserves. My secret is kept safely with her.

But to the rest of the world, Gregory Shoemaker's whereabouts are unknown. As my wife told them, I was simply Lost at Sea.

And I wouldn't want it any other way.