Hydrus Chelon
peachiI was by no means as strong as my brothers, but I found that for my size, I could lift more than I thought possible. I had decided that I should test myself, and switch my rocks every week, to see how much I could lift.It came as no surprise to my mother that I could lift almost as much as my brothers, but my brothers were ecstatic. They couldn't understand why I was so small, but lifting nearly as much as them. I was so happy at the time. I kept lifting heavier and heavier rocks, soon surpassing most of my brothers.
As time went on, however, I realized that I was not lifting the rocks for my own benefit. I was just trying to best my brothers. My momma noticed this too, but said nothing. She just kept giving me worried looks. One night, I decided that I would switch rocks one more time. Just one last time, until I was ready for a new one.
I wandered around our beach, the night calm and comforting. It was only slightly breezy, so I was not cold in the slightest. I wandered for the longest time until I came across the perfect rock. I slipped out from my old one and slowly shuffled under this new rock. I scurried around the bottom of the rock for a while, making myself comfortable. It was then when I heard the footsteps. I immediately froze, too scared to peek out from underneath the rock. The footsteps continued, getting closer and closer, until they sounded just beside my rock. I was trembling at this point, and I was sure the rock I was under was moving with me. I closed my eyes and hoped for the best, but the best did not happen.
In an instant, my rock was shattered and I was left utterly defenseless.
I immediately scurried back in to my previous rock, propping myself up to look at the intruder. It was a human! Momma had warned me about them, that they would try and steal me away from her. However, the human made no move to attack. Instead, they knelt down and tilted their head, speaking softly. "Are you lost?" I obviously didn't understand a word they said, so I just proceeded to back away slowly. I looked around frantically, suddenly aware that I had no idea where I was. I had wandered too far away from momma. I was so scared. The human must've noticed this, for they just kept their distance and spoke softly. "I can help you."
From the humans motions, I concluded that they were here to help. I stayed still and waited for them to move. I thought to myself, 'If they were going to take me away, they would've done it already.' The human stood and began to walk in the direction I thought I had came from. I followed, and the human stopped, turning to look backward. Perhaps to see if I was following. They smiled warmly and continued walking, and against my better judgement, I followed.
After a while of walking, I began to see familiar things. I scurried forward, faster than before, soon passing the human. They laughed softly, still following. I didn't understand why, but it wasn't like I could tell them to go away. They had helped me, after all. Without them, I could've been lost forever. As I had this thought, I stopped. I turned slowly and looked up at the human. Maybe...letting her take me wouldn't be so bad. I wouldn't have my brothers to pester me, and I could possibly explore placed I had never been to...
I shuffled close to the human, next to their foot. They looked confused, but didn't kick me away. We stayed like that for a while, until they knelt down again and reached a hand towards me. I didn't protest, and they gently began to pet me. "Would you like to go on a journey with me?"
Letting her take me along was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Everyday I grow stronger, and my rock gets heavier. I am proud to be small, and am proud to have my human.
