Princess awoke languidly to a darkened home. The lights far above cast the whole tank in dark blue, and the resulting colors made her red coral and stone house a deep, eerie purple. it was beautiful. There were little intruders now. No sharks, but a small school of silvery fish swam around nearby, mostly investigating the bucket that had once been full of food. Princess shoed the little fish away. This was her home now. Then, she stretched her arms and tail. Her day, it felt, had been so strange, as if it started right in the middle. There was a before, but it was a strange one. Like a dream. She was surrounded by air instead of water, and had legs instead of a fin. She felt like her dream was of an entirely different person. How odd. Maybe the stone would have the answers.
But she wasn't interested in stones or answers right now. Princess waved her fin and left her home and ventured into the deep blue water to explore her tank and meet her neighbors. There was, of course, the schools of identical silver fish. She didn't really see the individuals, but saw the school as a whole as its own thing. She dove through one, and all the little fish scattered around her, kicking around water and wash that felt good on her skin. A few brushed up over her arms, tail, and body, and they tickled her. Surprised by the pleasure of the situation, Princess turned around, and when the school reformed, she dove again at them, faster this time. Oh how fun it was to watch and feel the fishies break around her. The person she was in her dreams would not find such simple games fun, but Princess was greatly entertained. Still, she did not wish to scare the poor silvers to death, and so waved them good bye and ventured off cool waters.
She swam idly, with no place to go or reason to be there. The simple act of swimming made her feel good, and there were always new things to see. She looked at the kelp forest from afar. So mysterious it seemed, the stalks casting the whole area black. Fishes darted in and out, including a few small sharks. The sharks did not scare her, but she did not want to needle--she bumped into something and startled herself.
It was the strangest thing: she ran into something clear and round: a tunnel of some human creation. This tunnel of glass extended from one side of the tank to the other. Princess peered inside and saw there was no water inside it. Was it a place for humans? If so, why was it in the middle of her tank? She grumbled to herself, waved up and went over the strange tunnel. What silly creatures humans were. Why did she dream of being one?
As Princess continued her amble around the tank, a flash of light caught her eyes. It came from the other side of a glass wall. Maybe the same one where she had been asked questions and taunted. She swam up closer and saw someone walking through the aquarium, a strange stick in his hand. One side glowed light. And there was another person beside him, with the same kind of strange stick.
Something told her, something from her dream person, that something was off about these two people. But why would she think that?
