UNDER THE SEA, OVER THE SEA
He remembered the time when everything was less hectic. When the air down here at sea was
more clean and more breathable, and the time when plants down here were more abundant in
numbers. That had been so long ago; it almost seems as though it all happened in a lifetime ago.
Now, the surroundings around them were a nightmarish reality; only a mild representation of the
very polluted world above. Above, humans were struggling to live in the Earth that they have
destroyed so badly. He had heard that those humans, because they couldn‟t breathe the acidic air
they now live in, wore masks on their faces to purify the air before it reached their lungs.
“ Jo!”
Joseph heard the beautiful bell-chime voice of Ishthar resonating from somewhere within their
little underwater cottage, shaking him out of his thoughts, before she gracefully swam towards
him and took a seat right in font of him across the dining table.
Joseph smiled in greeting.
“You are very thoughtful today Jo,” She said with a teasing grin. “I wonder what‟s going on in
that head of yours!”
“ Nothing in particular dear,” Joseph replied, momentarily losing his train of thought when his
eyes fell on her lush, long midnight blue hair, floating around in the water. “ I was just thinking
about our lives before; how everything was so, everyone was so, oblivious to every thing. It
feels like just yesterday when I met you in that street shop.” He chuckled.
Ishthar nodded her head slowly, an unusual gloom seeping into her cheerful and happy smile. “
Yes it does, doesn‟t it? “ she said with a sigh. “ It feels like yesterday when everything happened
…. When my mother was conquered by the… eternal sleep.”
Joseph‟s smile was wiped away with those words. Of course he remembered. A few days after
they met, Joseph learned that Ishthar‟s mother had fallen terribly ill, and a few days later, as
Ishthar called it, succumbed to her final sleep. He remembered the cause of sickness too:
Humans.
It was because of humans that her mother fell ill. It was due to their unsustainable greed for
comfort that drove them to suck the very soul out of the beings around them From the plants
and trees up above, the sand on the sea and ocean beds, even from the very air they breathed.
They polluted everything, and left nothing alone in peace. The wastes that their tall buildings spewed out, the chemicals: that was what took the life of Ishtar‟s mother.
And his mother too.
When all this happened, Joseph had obviously hated the humans, but Ishthar had gone way
beyond hatred. It took a whole lot of consoling to bring her back to normal life. But Joseph
knew, that deep down, she had never forgiven those beings.
Trying to distract her from this painful topic, Joseph adopted a happy tone and cheerfully said, “
Well, at least we‟re together, right dear?”
This seemed to cheer her up. “ Yes!”
Joseph watched her as her attention drew to the motion of the fishes outside…. And thought
how to convey the news to her.
“ Say, look at them!.” She suddenly said. “ They‟re acting so strange.. almost as if they‟re
anxious and a little scared. On that note, Jo, I have been feeling a bit anxious for the past few
days. I feel as if though something bad is going to befall us. Do you think I‟m coming down with
something? Should we go to Niyaq?”
Niyaq was the sea turtle who lived on the outskirts of their underwater merpeople city,
„Merland‟. He was considered as the messenger of the Mother Sea herself, the grand prophecier,
the seer of all fate. He was often consulted for matters regarding one‟s future and for making
prophecies.
And Joseph had been to him, regarding this very matter.
Joseph sighed. “ Well, we are water creatures; who else but us would know about the sea‟s
emotions and thoughts?”
“ Please be specific.”
“ The thing is dear, I had been having these feelings too, so I had gone to Niyaq earlier, and the
things he told me are not that nice.”
“ What did he tell you?”
“Well, he told me this: on the day after tomorrow, an earthquake bigger than any that has
happened on the planet so far will happen, and Mother Sea will come forth in all her fury. She
would come forth to punish the humans for all that they have done to her, us and every other
creature hurt by their greed. It will be the tsunami like the kind they‟ve never seen before, and
the chances of humankind‟s survival is very slim, if not none.”
Ishtar‟s blue eyes gleamed.” That is good news isn‟t it?”
“it is not, dear,” Joseph explained calmly.” It is true that they have hurt us very badly, but they
are the children of Mother Earth as well. Even Mother Sea is the daughter of Mother Earth, so,
they are our siblings. We cannot abandon them at the time of need. We need to warn them.”
Ishtar scoffed.” How are you planning to warn them Jo?”
“Something will come on the top of my head later on. But before we warn them, we need to
make ourselves safe first. Even though the Tsunami won‟t be a problem for us, the earthquake is
something we need to be afraid of. There are a lot of tall towers and buildings in Merland, if they
topple over, it will be a big catastrophe. We will need to relocate everyone into that open spot
over there.”
“You‟re right Jo.” Ishthar agreed. “ right now let‟s not worry about humans. We need to save
ourselves. Let‟s discuss this matter with your father.”
“Oh. Right.” Joseph‟s father was the ruler of Merland.
That very evening they reached before the King and explained the situation to them. Niyaq was
there as well, for the very same reason. Somehow, Joseph felt as though Niyaq wanted to tell him
something, something important. Something that he knew was going to happen.
Joseph found the answer a day later.
After he got everyone relocated to the open field, Joseph decided he‟d go to the human world to
warn them of the upcoming danger along with the female sea turtles that were going to lay their
eggs on land. Ishthar had cried, begging him to not go as they would hurt him, But Joseph felt
that it was his duty to do so. Promising her that he‟d be back soon, he swam upwards, onto an
unknown world.
Just after he thought that he was betraying his mother‟s memory by helping the very people who
killed her, a slight burn made itself known on his eyes and his throat, and he realized that he was
close to the surface. God! How polluted was this aboveworld! What have they done to their
Mother Earth?!
Suddenly, a huge patchwork of black ropes clouded his vision, and he felt it tightly close around
his moss green tail , restricting its movement. The ropes pinned his arms to his sides, and he felt
himself being heaved upwards. The burning sensation grew in intensity and pain.
Suddenly he felt very strange. Where was the water that was around him a moment ago? Why
was the sandgrains sticking onto his face?
That didn‟t matter; he needed to warn the humans.
“ Listen please!” he shouted through the burn in his throat. “ You need to know this! Please let
me explain! You are in danger! A big-!” He couldn‟t speak anymore. He was suffocating form
the lack of the air and the presence of chemicals in the air around him.
The burn on his eyes and throat spread to his whole body, and it felt as though acid was being
poured over him. Every time he tried to breathe, he felt as though he was inhaling more acid intohis lungs. He faintly saw humans standing over him, the both of them wearing some kind of
mask on their faces .Joseph wanted to laugh. These humans had made the air so polluted that
even they couldn‟t breathe it.
That was it. He had tried to warn them, but they wouldn‟t listen, and now they are doomed to a
devastating end. That‟s how it has always been, isn‟t it? Humans were blind due to their
arrogance and that is what caused them to suffer now. He couldn‟t speak; he couldn‟t move his
throat to speak. A strange numbness washed over him, and he was powerless to resist.
Finally his suffering ended, and as Ishthar said, he succumbed to his final sleep, breaking his
promise to her, before he could watch the devastation Mother Sea brought upon the humans,
wiping them off the planet as punishment for hurting their siblings.
 സാങ്കേതിക പരിശോധന - MT_1260 തീയ്യതി: 30/ 04/ 2020 >> രചനാവിഭാഗം - കഥ
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