Aqualina ate until her eyelids began to droop. She must have dozed off in the kelp, and when she woke the light was dim. It was late. She bolted from the kelp. There were dangers at night this close to the surface! She should have been back ages ago!
She swam quickly to where the pod was staying. But they were gone. Gone!
She tried calling to them, swimming up and down the coast all night. It was no use. She was lost. She went to the only safe place she knew. The cave. The cave where the elf-man was. There were fish there and no humans.
Maybe HE would be there! Her heart skipped a beat. She remembered the music and the way he spoke her language, so broken and with a thick accent. She remembered his eyes; green like fresh cattail fronds, richer and brighter than algae. Maybe he would teach her something new; a thing, or a word, or his NAME !
She was so busy blushing at her own thoughts, she didn’t see the net, or hear the boat.
She plunged into the sturdy fibers and tried to turn around but she was trapped.