Children of the Tide



  Children of the Tide

  Theo Shapiro

  Copyright © 2013 by Theo Shapiro

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Contents

  Foreword

  Part I: Fit Tún

  Part II: The New Nothing

  Part III: The Wreck

  Part IV: The Hook

  Part V: Dinx and Orb

  Part VI: The Dive

  About the Author

  Foreword

  Over the summer of 2013 my wife and I went on our honeymoon to Maui. Of course the island was gorgeous, but it wasn’t the land that was the main attraction for me and my wife. Instead, it was the ocean and the mysterious creatures that dwell beneath its glimmering surface. I am avid scuba diver and am lucky enough to be married to someone who shares my passion for the sea and the adventure of scuba diving.

  Ever since I was born I have felt the most peace and comfort when I am in or near the ocean. The smell of the salt air, the gentle rhythmic sound of the waves crashing on the shore, the feeling of your skin as it absorbs the ocean air and the sun, and finally the love for every creature in the water. Everything about the ocean brings about a kind of serenity in my life that nothing else can.

  Let me get to the point; this book was inspired by our honeymoon. On the trip my wife and I went on several dives, each one bringing about a sight of creatures and coral formations that neither of us had ever seen before. Though we both love to dive we are very different divers. When I am in the water everything slows down to me. I imagine that I am in my real home and swimming in a place where I belong, instead of the alien that I truly am in this different world. I am so calm that my breathing and heart rate slow down to nearly nonexistence. My wife on the other hand encounters a rush that is similar to a child’s on Christmas morning. Every creature excites her; from a lurking barracuda to the tiniest cleaner shrimp. You could set her on a single coral formation with several brightly colored fish and she would be pleased for hours. She becomes so excited by the little creatures that she literally squeals with joy as these dwellers of the deep swim, crawl, and float by her. She becomes so excited that I need to hold her hand throughout the dive to be sure she doesn’t try to catch one of these little fish and try to keep it for a pet.

  One morning my wife and I went for a walk on the beach and came upon a bunch upon a large formation of rocks. The rocks were at the edge of the water and we watched as gentle waves crashed against the rocks and receded back into the ocean. Attached to the wet surface of the rocks were several shelled creatures. We took some time to scour the ocean’s edge looking for some sea shells to take home with us. As I had my back to the rocks I heard a shout of joy come from my wife. I turned around to find her perched atop a rock holding a little hermit crab.

  I went over to her to see her discovery that excited her as much as an old pirate finding buried treasure. She looked up from her new friends and looked at me with large eyes that would melt the Grinch’s three sizes too small heart and asked if we could keep it. When I said no and said she should let it go she reluctantly went over to the edge of the water and set it down. Even though she only had to take three small steps to go from the rock to the water to the hermit crab it had traveled the equivalent of a trip from Baltimore to Los Angeles.

  When I told my wife this thought she looked at me as if I was insane and said she was probably doing it a favor putting it back in the water. My mind was racing. How could we be sure? Maybe there was a reason that the hermit crab was climbing on those rocks, maybe it was trying to get back to the water. The thing is we will never know. That led me to thoughts of how every interaction, no matter how large or small, will leave an impact on both parties.

  As we concluded our incredible trip, the hermit crab event stayed in the front of my mind. In this book I took some of mine and my wife’s favorite sea creatures and showed how the unlikeliest situations can have an effect on other creatures. I hope that you get as much pleasure from this book as I did in writing it.