Please, Ro. Stay out of the water. We’ll be alright. It’s not worth your life.

Say you mean it, Ro. Not just an empty promise. I love you.

I love you, too.

If anything happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.

How would Ryo react to Sheila telling him his wife was dead? He’d have to plan her funeral. Who would take care of him with her gone?

The great white was massive; easily seventeen feet in her estimation. Maybe that was just her fear talking. The jet black eyes focused on her were empty and cold. Just a beast full of a voracious, ancient hunger. She could make out every detail clearly. Gray upper body, white belly. Huge gills. Pink gums. Rows of serrated teeth. She felt like a chicken on the chopping block.

Ro clutched the prod, ready to poke the shark if it got any closer. She stared her death in the eye. In the end, she had only one regret. She never should’ve lied to her injured husband. The shock of her death might be more than her pretty, fragile doll could handle. Betrayal, hurt, and lies would be his last memories and emotions of her.
The shark circled closer, still swimming lazily. She turned with it. She risked a glance up; she was three fourths of the way to the surface.

No human today, buddy. This snack fights back. Ro thought then dropped the abalone bag. A few thousand dollars for her life. Predatory instincts flared to life; the shark gave chase to the swiftly sinking abalone.

Ro took a gamble, rising faster than was generally considered safe. She was a well seasoned diver in tune with her body. She knew the first signs of when she’d pushed herself too far and was approaching danger. She wanted more distance between her and the shark. She couldn’t see it. Distance gave her a better chance of getting onto the boat.

Ascending and descending were the most dangerous times for divers. Like surfers, they especially resembled plump, tasty seals near the surface. Sheila’s father had lost his life mere feet from the boat. Yet Sheila continued on. The money was too good, and she had many surgeries she wanted for her transition.

Ro rotated her body 360 for a clear view around and below her. No sign of the shark, or any other sharks. Was this the same shark that had bitten her beloved? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was finding where it went. Up here the water warmed. Almost to the surface. She could see the shadow of the boat’s bottom clearly.

She looked for the shark again. No blurry shadows. Maybe the shark swam off. Or maybe it circled below, just out of sight. Waiting for the right opportunity to strike. One tiny mistake on her part would open a window of opportunity. A second’s lapse in judgement. Dropping her guard, like when she was getting on the boat.

She could feel the heat of the surface now. Safety was so close. Fear urged her to swim faster, to go for broke in one last, desperate plunge. She ignored it, clutching her shark prod. Vigilance was vital now. She was so close to the surface she knew Sheila could clearly see her. They still had no way to communicate. Sheila could not help her; she was on her own.

Was that a shadow moving far below her? The shark? A trick of the rippling water and sunlight? A school of fish? She had no other bait to offer. The shark could close the distance between them in seconds.

The shark shield helped deter curious sharks who came up for a tentative, investigative nibble. Not a hungry shark with mouth open wide, massive weight thrown into a full-tilt , go for broke, all or nothing kill strike. Not even the shark prod could save her from that.

Heart thumping in her ears, Ro spat out her mouthpiece as she surfaced. Sheila had already shelled the last abalone bag she’d brought up. Sheila stood by, watching for Ro. At Ro’s cry of “SHARK!”, she jumped into action. She kept a lookout around Ro as she swam for the boat. Ro kicked hard. Salty water sprayed over her face and stung her lips. Both she and the boat bobbed up and down on the choppy waves. She panted hard as fear finally started to get the better of her.

Up on the surface, the water was a brilliant, crystal azure. Sheila scanned the water, face pinched tight as she fought off her own panic and memories of her father. “To me, Ro! Come on! You’re clear! Move it, girly!” She bellowed in her deep voice, as if she could make Ro swim faster by sheer force of will.

Ro wasn’t looking down; she kept her eyes locked on Sheila’s and swimming with all the energy she had left. She trusted her friend to have her back. Sheila saw a big, dark shape moving down in the depths and rising fast. She didn’t want to call out and break Ro’s concentration. She hollered out some more.

Once Ro was close enough, Sheila reached out and hooked her hands under her armpits. Water splashed over both of them. Hot summer wind blew stray hairs into her eyes. She gave a mighty, manly yank and quickly hauled Ro up into the safety of the boat.