The Adventure of the Littlest Goldy

Once upon a time, when I was young, I belonged to a greatly sophisticated group of Goldies. We were called the Ultimate Goldy Bunch.

     There was Jesaya, the leader of the bunch and the prettiest Goldy that had swum in Neopia. The second was Watsen, the biggest Goldy ever. The legend tells that he was even greater than Turmaculus… But truthfully, he was just a little bit rounder and bigger than the rest of us. Naythira was a slender, thin Goldy who was the longest one, even longer than Watsen. Zillen was the widest Goldy, and he was more wide than long. And then there was me. I was the littlest Goldy and my name was Samrinn. Not only that, I had two golden scales, each behind my cheek.

     At that time I was young, naïve and good-natured. These special Goldies were my only friends, and they taught me to not give interest to other Goldies who weren’t as unique as we were.

     It was once upon a time, a wonderful, calm day with the sun shining through the waves. We were floating in the big, blue sea.

     “Pretty scale,” Jesaya gave me a comment. Her eyes were sparkling, of some reason that I did not understand.

     “Thanks,” a few bubbles floated as I relaxed my fins.

     “Too bad it is too small to see,” Naythira lashed out at me.

     Suddenly a big shadow loomed over us. Something red glimmered. A big bubble came floating towards Zillen, and trapped him there.

     “Danger!” Jesaya called out.

     I started to swim away, like the others did. My fins moved faster and faster, and blind fear swept through me and kept me moving. Moving onto somewhere I didn’t know, only that I could get away from this monster.

     I threw a look behind me, and saw the monster coming my way. I dived, searching for a place to hide. The seaweed caught my fins as I sank into the sand bottom. Above me, the monster continued its course, not noticing me.

     I decided to stay there, in case the monster came back to look for me. Hours passed, and the sun went away. The water grew colder, and I shuddered as I wished how I could’ve stayed in my home. But I didn’t dare to leave.

     The slightest noise made me hold my breath and lie still. As the night came, I realized the monster probably wasn’t looking for me. So I decided to leave.

     The seaweed that had protected me didn’t want me to leave. I struggled fiercely against them, but together they bound me with a power greater than my own. Then I got an idea.

     One by one, I broke the seaweed strips that held my fins and my body. Soon I was free!

     I made a loop of bubbles in my joy of being free, and looked around. I had never been here before. This area was completely new to me. My eyes scanned around in desperation, but finally I had to admit it to myself.

     I was lost.

     Now that I was lost, why not go and have a little adventure? Yes, that was a great idea! Since I didn’t know where I was, I’d have to find my way home.

     I shook of the sleepiness off me as I started to swim. After few minutes I stopped, as it was completely dark.

     This light glowed, this mystical, green light. As I swam closer, having no other source of light, I saw that it was an underwater cave.

     The underwater cave glowed in a mystical emerald shine that allured me to go into it. I shuddered, and tried to resist. The promise of a good night’s sleep under a roof was too much for me. I moved my fins.

     Inside the cave, I found out what was causing that soft, sea green glow. The walls had some kind of plants that created this light. I continued deeper and deeper into the cave.

     A small protest from my stomach made me stop. I saw the same shimmering green plants on the cave floor, as I continued my journey.

     Then I saw a side tunnel. It was completely dark, without any traces of the plant that made the rest of the cave shine in that lustrous jade shade.

     I poked my head into that tunnel, curious about what could be in it. A roar reached my ears, as I fled back to the main part of the cave. I took up where I had stopped to explore that tunnel, and continued.

     I had learned a lesson. Never get distracted by a sideway option.

     I noticed that the glow was growing weaker. I swam closer to the floor, but not close enough for the floating seaweeds to grab me. I had learned my lesson to be aware of those things that could rob you of your freedom.

     Most of the plants were small sprouts at this part of the main tunnel. They were covered by big, gray stones with odd lines on them. I thought that the stones were funny and deserved a further observation as I quickly swam down and poked at one of them with my fin.

     The stone jumped up and bit me my fin. It wasn’t a stone; it was some sort of a clam!

     I immediately tried to shake it off. When that didn’t work, I swam at a great speed, letting the clam run along the wall. For each second that bite felt more horrible than before. Finally the clam let go of me.

     I glared at it with despise. It had hurt one of my fins so I couldn’t be as fast as I was before. It would take time to heal that bruise. It itched terribly, but I was determined to not scratch as to make it even worse.

     After a moment I was done with all that glaring, as I decided it was just a waste of time. I went on, into the dark tunnel.

     It wasn’t too late to go back now, but I was determined to finish it. I remembered how Jesaya had laughed at me because I could never do a thing like they did, hindered by my small size. The memory of Watsen squeezing me to a cave wall came to my mind as the fin throbbed. How Naythira had always won the racing competitions even though I was the swiftest of us all… No, I wanted to prove myself to be the best this time. No giving up!

     With this optimistic thought in mind, I slowly swam towards the darkness, unaware of which hour it was, or where I was going.

     A cold feeling crept through my spine as my mind recognized the danger. I didn’t know where I was going.

     But then again, I was already lost. Did it matter where I was going? No. I hoped it was somewhere I would get my fin healed.

     Suddenly, my stomach grumbled. I hadn’t fed it since noon, and that wild goose chase of the monster had prevented me from getting food. I scanned the current part of the tunnel that I was in. No food whatsoever. I sighed.

     As I swam on, my whole heart was begging for this cave to be a tunnel, a tunnel to somewhere I could get help. Even though my fin hurt and everything, this adventure was still better than those made-up at home with the Ultimate Goldy Bunch.

     I smiled at myself. The Ultimate Goldy Bunch was nothing compared to this. I just hoped that I would survive.

     My stomach roared for food, but I had none to give. I was too weak to continue. My eyes closed themselves as I sank onto the floor, among the gray stones and the green plants.

     Everything went black.

***

A soft hand touched me as I was beginning to regain consciousness. My sight began to clear, and I found myself looking at a Water Faerie. She was beautiful, but my heart began to beat quickly in the fear of a stranger.

     “Little one, have you awakened now?” Her blue lips moved as she held an arm tightly around me.

     I nodded, as I didn’t have enough energy to swim up to her and say yes.

     “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine…” She smiled at me.

     True to her word, the Water Faerie took good care of me. She nourished me and gave my strength back.

     One day, I found myself ready to leave. I thanked her for her great kindness, and she gave me a smile like a thousand waves. As I swam away, I waved my healed fin at her.

     I didn’t regret what I had done. When I showed up at home, all my friends were surprised. They had expected me to be gone. I decided it was time to leave their foolish games, as I had expected them to care more. And so I did.

     Just goes to show you that perfect strangers can show you more kindness than your own friends.

The End