Outside, One Day

Aquarius stared out at the deep, blue sea. She sighed she recalled many fond memories she had had in that sea. She remembered that her brother had fallen in the sea and an orca rose to the surface and saved him. Aquarius also recalled he had caught a fish and killed it for their family dinner.

But the orcas that lived there were very friendly. They weren’t the aggressive type and often played with the children that lived near the beach. The people often fed them with scraps of food whenever they came, so everybody won. 

“Hey, Aquarius, do you want to play snakes and ladders and come in? The rain’s getting heavier.” Said her brother, Aidan. “No thanks.” She said. “But I will come in.” She said, as she got up from her chair and headed inside.

She sighed a long sigh as she sat down on a chair beside a window. She couldn't stop thinking about that beach and the many memories that she had shared there with her friends, family, and her neighbors. Her heart didn't belong here in her house, but it belonged in the sea, swimming free for hours and hours with the unknown creatures roamed in the water. She would be free, free as the fish that filled the entire ocean and its entire existence, riding on an orca’s back into the sunset.

But ever since Mr. Coronavirus knocked on the door of many, there had been a lockdown, banning people from going out their houses at all. Many were foolish enough to open the door, and some didn't answer that door. There were even guards patrolling the land ensuring the people didn’t set a foot out their front doors. She couldn’t even hear the happy screams of the annoying kids anymore. “How quiet it is.” She thought to herself every day. She felt like a caged tiger, in a small cage, unable to do anything but eat, sleep, and use the toilet.

     She closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to be free again….

Aquarius woke up on a soft, sandy, beach, rubbed her eyes, and yawned. She scanned her surroundings. "Wow..." she said aloud. It was the beach, but.... it was so beautiful. She ran barefoot on the soft sand as she took in all the scenery. She saw many animals, insects, and trees. Lots of them. "Woah, a cherry blossom tree!" Aquarius exclaimed. "I thought these things only existed in Japan!" She recalled that her mother had told her that if she wrote a wish and hung it on the tree's branches, it would come true.

But since she didn't have a pencil or paper, she put both of her hands on the bark of the tree and said,

“Hello, tree! Please make this wish come true, because it's for the whole world. Please stop the coronavirus, and make everyone better so that all of us kids and adults all over the world can play freely and not worry about anything.”                   

    She then kissed the tree and kept on walking.

She wandered on, taking in the scenery once again. She observed that there were many houses and people on the beach with families. She also observed that nobody was in their houses. There were all out, scattered on the beach, splashing and playing with each other as if the coronavirus had never existed. It was only then that she noticed that there were no guards patrolling the land.

 For once, she was happy and relieved to her the happy screams of annoying kids.

She started walking in the shallow water, creating tiny ripples and scaring the tiny fish away. “Hey, don’t be scared, I won’t hurt you.” She said. Some of tiny fish came back and swam around her feet.

                                     Aquarius continued on.

Suddenly, she tripped on an old piece of coral and fell into the deeper, darker, water. She screamed for help, but nobody could hear her cries for help. As she sank deeper and deeper into the ocean, she felt something tug at her dress. She fought to stay awake, but ended up passing out. As soon as she recovered, she looked for her rescuer. It was an orca! She patted its head and thanked it over and over for saving her. The orca seemed to be enjoying the attention as it clicked happily all the time that she was apologizing.

The orca then turned and clicked. Aquarius figured that the orca wanted to give her a ride, so she hopped on.

 For a whole day, Aquarius rode on the orca’s back and enjoyed watching the tiny, colourful, fish in the sea, and exploring caves. She let her feet dangle in the water, trailing as in water, soft as silk the orca swam on. The orca also introduced the girl to some of its friends. Then, after they watched the sunset, the orca brought her back to the land. Aquarius knew what this meant. “I'm gonna' miss you buddy.” She said as she rubbed her head against its head. the orca clicked back sadly in reply. "Promise you'll visit me next time?" Aquarius said.

                                            The orca nodded.

“Aquarius. Aquarius. Aquarius. Aquarius AQUARIUS! ” “Huh…?” She said groggily. “Wake up, you’ve been sleeping for three hours straight.” Her mother said. She was standing over Aquarius holding a damp handkerchief. “Oh.” Aquarius said, disappointed, as she realized that it was all just a dream. But as she glanced out the window now clouded with tiny raindrops, she noticed something, the orca! She started to wonder if it wasn’t a dream, that is, until she reached into her pocket and felt a petal. She took it out and stared at it. The petal was one of the cherry blossom tree. It must have fallen into the pocket of her dress while she was making that wish.

 She smiled as she peered out at the sea, excited to ride on her friend’s back into the sunset once again,outside, one day.

                               But for now, she just had to wait.

                       The sunset looked very beautiful as she peered out the window frosted with raindrops and imagined her next dream outside

The end.