Kissing the Shark (Maritime Monsters #1)

Chapter 3- The Shark

CHAPTER 3- THE SHARK

I UNCEREMONIOUSLY DROP dozens of redfish and pollock into the ice-filled coolers. The sea creatures flap about, but I abruptly close the lid. I am on a small dock several miles away from Wavecrush Cove, the only area I frequent on dry land.

Do I take a few moments to look around for my mate? Of course; it’s been almost a week since I smelled his blood and caressed his face. But I know these weekly trips to the land are devoid of all humans, except one.

“Well done, Nephew!” Aunt Sarah claps her hands in delight. She’s wearing an outfit called overalls as well what she claims to be designer boots. Her face and hair look different than most humans, and she says it is because of her high-end cosmetics. “You never fail to make me the best fisherwoman in all of Mareflow!”

“Wouldn’t that make me the best fisherwoman?” Mother approaches us and plops a heap of crabs into another cooler .

“You’re the best fish woman , Mary!” Aunt Sarah grins at her and Mother rolls her eyes. She pushes forward another cooler and adds, “Big difference.”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Mother says in a tone that she taught me was sarcasm. Verbal intonations can be tricky for me since I was raised primarily in animal-speak.

“I can dish out the jabs since you’re the woman who left us surface folk for the ocean. Paying nothing in taxes sounds fresh.”

Mother grins and leans on the side of Aunt Sarah’s blue vehicle. “I use the assets that monster god gave me, and in this case, they’re fins and gills.” She crosses her arms and wiggles the dorsal fin on her head. Mother’s skin is lighter than mine, but when shifted into her human form, she uncannily resembles Aunt Sarah. If I had a sibling, I wonder what they would look like.

“But we’ll always be family!”

“And we wrangle you the best fish every week.” Mother accentuates her point by reaching into the water and pulling out another full net of crabs and lobsters. While I take no pleasure in the way surface dwellers mistreat the ocean, I know that the populace of these species is abundant. She does not ruthlessly purge the waters like some vessels I have witnessed. Aunt Sarah’s business barely makes a decrease in the numbers of these creatures―she calls it sustainable fishing―so I don’t mind assisting her.

Besides, as she points out, she is my family. She is always offering to teach me about human life, perhaps I need to accept. She can help me find my mate…

“Speaking of, Mary…” Aunt Sarah goes to her vehicle door while I load up the crustaceans into another cooler. Moments later, she returns with a small item. “Yo ur payment, dear sister.”

Mother’s eyes fill with delight when Aunt Sarah hands it to her. Her standard payment from Aunt Sarah is something known as ‘chocolate milkshake in a Styrofoam cup and straw.’ Mother drinks from it, and the joy on her face is undeniable. Mother used to offer me human food, but I detested it as a child, and that has not changed.

“Ah, the only thing I miss from the surface world,” Mother murmurs around the straw.

“What about hanging out with your little sister?” Aunt Sarah puts her hands in her pockets and grins.

Mother waves at her and looks away. “I see you every week.”

I chuckle, then turn to Aunt Sarah. “You know, Nephew, I could get you a milkshake, too.”

I shake my head and smile. “No thank you. I am more than content being the predator of my corner of the sea.”

Aunt Sarah closes the outer door to her vehicle, thus completing the task of loading. “But I feel I need to pay you somehow.”

Nervousness thrums through me and I look away. Mother is gazing at the sky, happily sipping her gift. I do not do anxiousness, but what I want to ask is completely out of my comfort zone. “Well, there is one thing…”

Aunt Sarah’s eyes light up, and I notice her makeup glistening in the setting sun. “What is it, Nephew?”

“I…” My fingers tremble as I garner up the courage to ask for what I want. “I want to continue our reading lessons.”

“Really?” Aunt Sarah asks.

“Excellent!” Mother adds. She approaches me and hands her now empty cup to Aunt Sarah. “Oh, Son, I’ve always wanted you to be able to read.”

“I can read!” I argue. Then I roll my shoulders. “Just not…well…” I murmur.

“It’s an important skill,” Mother adds. “Just in case you ever need to live on the surface.”

“If you wanted that then why have you never named him?” Aunt Sarah asks.

I bite back a laugh, knowing what Mother will say. “He’s a shark, the razor-jawed apex predator of the sea. That’s identifier enough!”

“Tell that to the OME,” Aunt Sarah mutters. Every human and shifter knows about the Organization of Monster Enhancement. They fund research programs for monster life, but I’ve never had to interact with them directly. Razor-jawed sharks like me have no need for bureaucracy.

I clear my throat and clap my hands. “Right, well…”

“Of course, dear. I’ll be at the fishery all day tomorrow, but how about this time tomorrow? I can take you into town, to my place?”

“Very well,” I reply.

Mother briefly hugs Aunt Sarah, then dives back into the water. Before I go, I turn to my aunt one last time. “Could we, uh….read the romance stories?”

“Which one?” she asks, holding her door open.

“Any with the…courting rituals.” This discomfort I feel is unfamiliar; I believe Aunt Sarah once described it as embarrassment.

My aunt wags her finger at me and gives me a knowing look. “I have just the thing. See you tomorrow for reading time!”

With that, she drives off, and I’m back in the ocean, looking forward to reading lessons for the first time in my life.

I sit cross-legged, with my tail curled in front of me, on the itchy carpet of Aunt Sarah’s house. Spending time in the surface world always leaves me anxious. I am the predator of the sea, but walking down what they call an avenue, I present as a large shark-shifter. With my fins and blue scaly skin, I harken attention I do not crave. Unless of course, a certain human saw me and wanted to get to know me…

I shake my head. I need to focus on my aunt sitting in an armchair in front of me. I am safe here, in the walls of her house, and afterward, she will drive us five minutes back to the dock. Mother decided to visit the town while I read, and I add that to my list of gratitude for the day.

“Now sound it out,” Aunt Sarah instructs. She holds up a book with pictures and large words. The illustrations of a generic man and woman aid me in interpreting the story. She points to the sentence on the bottom of the page, and I analyze the symbols.

“The…prince…” I clear my throat. “The prince placed…the guh…guh…lass…”

“Glass,” Aunt Sarah says patiently .

“Glass…slipper…on her foot.” I huff at the effort of dictating one sentence.

“Now some comprehension questions. What’s happening in the scene?”

I nod and look up. “The prince has…found the correct girl for him, the person he fell in love with earlier. And the glass slipper proves it.”

“Correct!” Aunt Sarah turns the page. “All because of that adorable meet-cute at the ball.”

I gaze at the illustration on the new page. The nondescript man is down one knee, holding the blonde woman’s hand. “Why does he not stand up?” I ask.

Aunt Sarah points to the page. “Oh, that’s an old-fashioned courting thing. When men make big declarations of love, they always get down on one knee.” She shakes her head and looks out the window. “Monster god knows I’ve had to turn down a few proposals back in my day.” She smiles at the fond memory, and I shift in my seated position.

“So, I need to…I mean, the prince …needs to get down on one knee in order to…court his true love?”

“But of course.” Aunt Sarah studies me for a moment, then closes the book. “Nephew, is there a reason you asked to read this book specifically?”

I bite my lip, internally debating what to say. Aunt Sarah has never steered me wrong, so I spring up to a standing position. I tower over her with my six-foot-three stature, but she continues to scrutinize me. I decide to open my hand and divulge to her my truth.

“I…think I had my meet-cute, as you say.”

“What?” She stares at the plastic totem in my hand.

“I found this on a human…a surface dweller…” I give the precious object to her, and she inspects it.

“You met another human?”

I bite my lip. “They…were in the ocean. And this…fell off them.” A small lie cannot hurt, right?

“Wow…you found your princess!” Aunt Sarah beams at me and dangles the totem. “And this key chain is your glass slipper?”

“Key…chain…” The words feel funny in my mouth, but every time I am on land, I need to learn new terms.

I nod at Aunt Sarah. “Yes.”

“Amazing! What did the girl say to you?”

“He said almost nothing.” I instinctively slap my hands over my mouth. While sexual orientation is not a concept in the sea, Mother has told me about the differences. I know I am a man, and I am presuming my mate, the lovely surface dweller I saved, is also a man.

Aunt Sarah takes a moment to blink at me, then at the key chain. Mother told me monsters are hated and feared by some, and homosexuals are also detested, so I hope my own aunt isn’t repulsed by my confession.

After a few moments of silence, her face softens. “Oh, Nephew. You had your meet-cute with a human man? And now you want more?”

My shoulders sag in relief, and I nod. “Yes, Aunt Sarah. He is my mate.”

She hands me the key chain again and coos. “Oh, this is lovely. But are you sure this man is the person you’ve fallen for? Claiming a mate is a big deal, and it isn’t exactly a turn of phrase here in the United States. Or anywhere…”

I take a deep breath and think about his eyes fluttering at me. “Yes. I feel the bond, in my human form and my shark form. I need to be with him. He is my mate.”

“Wow, you seem resolved!”

I hold up the orange totem. “But this key chain is the only clue as to his whereabouts.”

“What do you mean? He truly didn’t tell you anything about himself?” She taps the book on the chair. “In the story, they got to know each other during the ball. Then she―”

“He, um…” I hesitate to tell Aunt Sarah the details. If she knows he was unconscious, she may not give me the information I need. Another small lie it is then. “He never got around to telling me where he lives.”

“Wow. A real-life fairy tale, huh?” She eyes the key chain, then me again. “You’re serious about this.”

I nod and straighten my back. “Yes. I have spent years feeling nothing but apathy toward the surface world. But now…I have a reason to embrace the human side of me.”

“Aw.” Aunt Sarah sits at her desk and I stand near her. She turns on what she calls a laptop and begins to type. “I think I recognize this symbol. I’ve seen flyers all over town for the Maritime Monsters Institute. It’s the massive structure in the neighboring city of Mareflow. This likely belongs to one of the employees.”

“Mareflow,” I echo. My pulse rises at the prospect of possibly narrowing down where my mate is.

“We could go there together.” She types, then turns to me. “Oh, I can even sign you up for the monster liaison program!”

“The…what?”

“The facility is funded by the OME. They’re all about outreach and research for aquatic monsters like you. ”

This sounds like a lot of human interaction. I bite my lip, but Aunt Sarah simply nods. “If your mate is an employee, they might work there!”

“Then I shall do it,” I say quickly.

“Oh, joyous! But we’ll have to tell your mother.”

“Tell me what?”

We turn to see Mother, having just returned. She’s holding a large cup and dons a confused look.

I exchange a glance with Aunt Sarah, then she stands up. Clearing my throat, I say, “Mother…there is something important I need to tell you.”