Early Monday morning while Ritah got an IV drip for a hangover and moaned about her interview in two hours with a famous morning talk show host, Claire set out to go fishing.
She took her grandfather’s boat which she had prepared the previous night. This time, Claire didn’t head straight to Driswen as she was earlier than usual. Instead, she cut the engine, picked up her binoculars and looked out at the sea.
The sudden quiet was broken immediately by an angry, high-pitched bark!
Paddy bounded to the front of the boat, tail stiff with outrage. He stared back at her as if to say, "why are we stopping? We have to get in and out, no unpaid tours!"
"Hold your horses, Paddy," Claire said, laughing as she patted his head. She guffawed at the ridiculous orange life jacket she had forced onto the dog. "Calm down, buddy. We’re on an exploratory mission before we proceed to Driswen."
Paddy huffed, flopping down on his front paws with a dramatic sigh that suggested he was being severely mistreated.
Claire looked out over the vast, shimmering sea. She reached down, her fingers closing around the pearl hanging from her neck. She gently massaged it between her thumb and forefinger. "Alright, little pearl," she whispered to it, feeling a bit ridiculous talking to a rock like it was a living thing. "I don’t know how you work yet, but if you led me here, you could lead me to better things, right? Show me the good stuff. Show me the real treasures in this sea."
To her utter shock, the pearl didn’t just sit there. It began to warm up against her skin, throbbing like a tiny, gentle heart.
Claire grinned. "Oh, looks like there might be something after all."
She restarted the engine and began to steer, following the pearl’s heat. If she turned slightly left, the warmth faded. If she veered right, it grew stronger. It was like the ultimate game of hotter-and-cold.
She drove for what felt like miles The shores of Driswen had disappeared, replaced by nothing but endless, deep blue sea. A knot of panic tightened in her chest.
Great, Claire, she thought. You’re going to end up lost or dead in another world because you trusted a warm marble and got too greedy.
Just as she was about to give up and turn back, the boat glided over a sharp boundary. Claire gasped and slammed the boat into neutral.
The pearl against her chest flared so hot it felt like a burning coal, though magically, it didn’t scorch her skin at all. It was screaming: WE ARE HERE!
Below her, the water looked disturbed. In the middle of the dark blue sea was a distinct, isolated patch of thick, pea-pod green water. It didn’t mix with the rest of the ocean; it just sat there like an oil spill, perfectly contained, glowing softly. It was like a completely separate water body living inside another water body.
Paddy trotted to the edge, sniffed the air, and let out a hesitant, confused Woof?
"I know, Paddy," Claire muttered, staring down into the murky green abyss. "It looks like a giant bowl of split pea soup. Super weird."
Paddy barked twice, looking at her curiously. The dog trotted over, putting one paw on her leg, as if forbidding her from diving in.
While Claire wanted to know what was hiding under that glowing surface, there was zero chance she was jumping in carelessly. "I might be curious, but I’m not crazy," she told the dog. "I’m not swimming in unknown matcha tea."
Instead, she decided to stick to traditional methods. She walked to the fishing rods her grandfather kept on board and picked up one.
Now, Claire knew a thing or two about fishing. You didn’t just drop a bare line into strange water and pray. You had to be strategic. She had picked up a heavy duty trolling rod first, added the bait she prepared onto the hook and cast her line over the side of the boat.
"Alright," she sighed, taking a seat. "Let’s see if Driswen fish like earth worms."
She waited. Paddy sat beside her, panting softly.
For fifteen minutes, nothing happened. The sea was dead quiet.
Then, movement! The tip of the rod bent dangerously.
"Holy crap, Paddy! We got a hit!" Claire yelled, jumping out of her skin.
The line screamed from the reel, and Paddy barked again. Claire planted her feet and reeled, using all of her strength. The rod bowed dangerously. For ten minutes the fish fought like it had a grudge against her.
Finally, a flash of silver erupted from the water.
Claire nearly dropped the fishing rod. She had caught what looked like a ribbon fish. But it was not one like she had ever seen. This ribbon fish was at least twelve feet long! Liquid silver glistened across its body.
"Holy crap!" Claire whispered as she struggled to maintain balance.
The fish slammed against the side of the boat. Water exploded everywhere.
Paddy retreated three steps and barked warnings and insults.
With a final heave, Claire hauled it aboard. The massive fish lay across half the deck.
"You’re paying for my kid’s college," she informed it.
The fish looked unconcerned. It continued to struggle until she pushed it into the cold freezer.
"First catch of the day, baby!" Claire squealed, doing a ridiculous little victory wiggle with her hips.
Paddy barked in agreement, tail wagging fiercely.
She quickly cast the line again. Nothing happened for nearly an hour. Then her line went tight. Not a strike. A dead weight. Suddenly it moved.
It was fast. The reel shrieked and the line ripped through the guides. Paddy was barking furiously while Claire grabbed the rod with all her might. The fish ran beneath the boat. The line scraped the hull and snapped.
Claire stared at the empty line.
Paddy howled dramatically.
"Thanks for the support, Paddy," she muttered.
Determined, and more excited than ever, Claire dug out another rod. A minute later, she was fishing again. The water beneath the boat turned strangely colorful. Rainbow reflections shimmered below.
"What is that?"
A fish surfaced and Claire’s jaw dropped. It appeared to be a ribbon fish too. But this ribbon fish wasn’t silver. Its scales reflected gold, blue, purple and green like the water it was swimming in.
It looked unreal!
Perhaps it was because of excitement, or maybe it was out of fear, but Paddy answered nature’s call!
Claire glared at the dog, but he just whimpered. She looked between the rainbow ribbon fish and Paddy’s surprise. Claire chose the fish. She reeled it closer, but the fish suddenly thrashed. The hook came loose.
For one horrifying second it hung in the air.
Then Claire lunged. Her fingertips closed around the leader. The fish splashed her face, almost slapping her nose. Paddy lunged and bit its tail, almost falling off the boat.
"Paddy, back. Sit." Claire screamed.
The fish, confused by Paddy’s attack, stopped fighting long enough for Claire to haul it aboard.
The rainbow ribbon fish landed a few inches away from Paddy’s surprise. Claire almost screamed again. She grabbed the tail, and pulled the fish, shoving it into the live tank.
"Nobody is going to believe this," she said, laughing into the air.
The pearl burned hot, telling her they were not finished.
Claire cleaned up after Paddy, washed that corner of the deck with water and soap. She got a fishing rod stronger than the first two and then cast the line. Barely a minute later, there was movement. This time, the reel shrieked as if it was begging for its life. The whole boat lurched sideways.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Claire shouted. "What on earth is down there?!"
The rod bent until Claire thought it would snap. Slowly, agonizingly, a gigantic, dark blue shape was dragged up from the green depths.
When it surfaced, Claire stopped breathing. It was a Bluefin tuna. Silver blue with a hint of green, and enormous. Claire knew she was looking at a fisherman’s dream. People crossed oceans to catch them.
"No way..." Claire gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "Bluefin?!"
Back in her world, wild Bluefin tuna was basically liquid gold. A single one could sell for thousands-- sometimes tens of thousands and millions-- of dollars at high-end fish markets and auctions.
Paddy took one look at the giant bluefin tuna, lifted his leg for the second time that day, and Claire screamed.
"Paddy, if you poop right now, I am putting you up for auction!"