I could feel the hot sun on my back as I swam deeper under water.
Missy told me to go into the water without her, she wanted to finish her sandwich and read one more chapter before getting her hair wet.
We had been coming to this beach since we were kids, the two hour drive started to feel shorter the older we got. We still stopped at the same highway rest stop every year, loading up on family sized bags of chips and energy drinks.
Missy would wait in the coffee line and I would run into the convenience store for food.
We always spent the first half of the day on the sand, sitting under the umbrella soaking in the sounds and smells of the Atlantic. The cost of parking in Gloucester rose every year and we would make sure to get our money worth.
It wasn’t surprising that I grew impatient waiting for my sister and ran in ahead of her. The peace I felt surrounded by salt water had no rival.
Soaking in the moment, I stopped swimming and just took a second to float. My whole body covered as I laid motionless under water. I could feel my body rising back up to the surface.
The water still held onto the sound. I couldn’t hear anyone yelling to come back.
The warmth of the sun left my skin.
I felt something slimy brush up against my foot.
Years of jellyfish stings had trained me not to startle at the feeling. Instead, my body went still. I closed my eyes tighter and willed my heartbeat to slow down.
Nervously the rate of its pumping would lead to a sting.
The slimy touch wrapped around my foot, bumpy scales held tight. Once I felt the creature squeeze onto my skin, I tried to swim back towards the surface.
Arms overhead with open eyes, I tried to orient myself.
I came nose to nose with it, a turtle headed dragon. My eyes traced its snake like body a hundred yards until it ended around my foot.
Scales of blues and greens, it studied me. Watching for the first sign of attack. It made no effort to claim any more of my leg, only holding steady to the foot in its grasp.
My lungs were running out of time but the creature showed no sign of release.
There was a moment of panic, then a moment of acceptance. This would me my last summer road trip with my sister.
The salt water that was for so long my peace, would become my coffin.
My vision lost color slowly until the edges of my vision faded and the world went black.
I woke up coughing, someone I didn’t know pushing onto my chest. My back pushed into the sand of the beach.
Once the crowd cleared, I looked down to my leg where the creature held me. There was no swelling or redness from its touch.
The only reminder left behind was blue and green dragon scale tattooed onto the leg held by the dragon.
The next year, when I finally was ready to get back into the water, my lungs never felt like they would run out of air.
Thank you to Vanessa Perry for creating a wonderful challenge, to take inspiration from local folklore.
The Gloucester serpent had sighting reported all over the Massachusetts coast during the fifteenth century.
What a wonderful and silly story, I added my own flair at the end. The best part of a folktale is being a part of it.
Until next time sweet Chickadees.
ttyn,
xx Marie