Swiming
Jared’s journey came to a stop upon the discovery of a large pond at the end of the forest. He seemed to stumble upon it accidentally, but something told him that wasn’t the case. His Vaporeon instincts, those buried within the very inner crevices of his brain, demanded he find some place to swim as was made mandatory by his bodily structure. Plus, his jaunt through the woods had made his scales start to go dry. It wasn’t serious, but it drew him to the water like some addictive chemical.
It was time to splurge. Jared ran as hard as his stubby legs would allow him into the water. His feet paws splashed into the outer shallows and sank deeper until the surface sloshed around his knees. From there he let instinct kick in, and he performed a perfect face-first dive into the water. The surface smacked him in the face, muffling the sound of the outside into a dull murmur. Bubbles tickled up his scales and fizzled at the surface, above where his streamlined, ichthyic body began a rapid descent into the pond’s murky depths.
I’m swimming. Just like a fish. His body wafted downwards onto the pond bed, guided their by the stiff rudder of his tail. It was dark down there, deep enough that he felt the pressure across his body like the strict squeeze of a blanket. His eyes were wide open and yet they did not feel the sting of water that he would’ve if he were anything else besides an aquatic creature. The air in his lungs bubbled out through his nose, trailing their silvery bodies to the surface in a slow upwards float. The pressure intensified around his chest, but the need for oxygen did not arise. I can hold my breath down here for hours, I bet.
He would need that long to explore the pond which proved to be a den of wildlife just as thriving as the forest he’d walked through. Amongst the green plants which waved and wafted in the gentle currents were fish of all kinds, magikarps, feebas, remoraid, even a singular sharpedo. They would dart away from him as he gently kicked his legs and propelled his tail, motions performed as naturally as walking. Gliding above the sandy lake bottom where the glowing surface veins rippled, and his shadow followed him produced a euphoria on par with his first flight as a sphinx. A giddy smile lit his features. This is so fucking cool!
He looked up to the surface above. There the light of the sun was refracted into sprawling beacon of glowing white. Even through the however many meters of water he could feel its gentle heat. An idea popped into his head, and without another thought he made a mad dash for the surface. The water roared past his ears. His fins fell flat against his body, creating a hydrodynamic body launched skyward by the furious whip of his tail and kick of his legs. The surface grew closer and closer until bloosh! His beaming face broke the tension and sent a geyser of water droplets spewing out around his body. The ascent brought him several feet into the air where he floated for just a moment, tilting backwards so that he faced the brilliant blue sky above, warming his tummy in the sun.
“VAPOREON!” Wahoooooo! His sprawling body leaned all the way back until his head was the first thing that came back down into the water. Splooosh! Without missing a beat, he resumed his heated race through the lake. Every trick he could think of was performed with gusto and flair. The resident fish of the lake learned quickly to make way for his antics, their bubbling streaks and mighty splashes making a ruckus unseen in that lake.
It tuckered him out eventually, forcing Jared to the surface where he floated about lazily with just his face poking out to breathe. The environment continued to thrum around him. Birds singing, Pokémon migrating and surviving, a whole world of powerful creatures to document. All of that and Jared was content to float about like a lazy alligator, his stresses and worries melting away with the lake’s most gentle current. His eyes closed at the same time a merry sigh hummed out through his nose. Oh yeah. I could get used to this. Feeling happy and safe there on the lake’s surface, Jared fell asleep. He dreamed of flying.
Written by TheGreatJaceyGee on 06 September 2024
