Never-ending blue

The water was cold all around them and it was all they had ever known. The deep dark ocean, the never-ending blue. It was home.

They were floating, as they always were. Drifting aimless as life went on around them. A brightly coloured fish darted in and out of their vision, a dark figure spiraled into the distance calling out some beautiful song the echoed though the emptiness. Somewhere below them was the ocean floor and they wondered if they had ever touched the ground. They honestly weren't sure. They had lived in the ocean their entire existence and they had lived in peaceful harmony always letting the currents take them, never choosing where they ended up. Once or twice they had gotten close to land and every time they were swept away again before they could get a close look. Before they ever got a chance to actually understand what it was. They didn't mind of course. It was as it always was. And they didn't mind.

It was always dark underwater. They didn't quite know if it was night or day there wasn't very many ways they could find out. Night they concluded with much uncertainty. It was far too dark. But it was almost always dark so it really wasn't much to go off of. The shadows swamped the waters and even though they could see perfectly at any time the ocean did look different in the day. When they were close enough to the surface that was. The light would cut thought in brilliant shafts and sometimes they would even feel warm. The looked up now, unsure why but wanting to know for sure and saw that they were close to the surface. They could see the slight ripple of waves rolling back and fourth above their head. The repetition of it was beautiful. Ever so reliable. They didn't quite know what they would do without it.

Every day was the same, they thought to themselves and realised with wonder that never once had they taken agency in where they went. They looked around at the schools of fish and all sorts of other life swimming around them, moving, pushing their way though the water. They didn't wait to see where the ocean took them they went where they pleased. They paused for a moment and the another thought occurred to them. Nothing was stopping them. They hesitated for a moment longer then tried it themselves. With a gasp of wonderous excitement they found that it worked. They simply had moved through the water. It was easy, as if they had always done it. They tried again, slowly at first but quicker by the moment and soon they were racing though the water relishing the excitement that bubbled all around them. The world blurred into one being as they swam faster and faster, pushing against they currents they had once so dutifully obeyed. This is incredible, they thought to themselves and realised with wonder they could have done this all along if only they had thought to try.

Pushing ahead further and faster they didn't know nor care where they ended up. The idea that it was their choice to get there was more than enough. Hours upon hours it seemed they swam for too overjoyed to pay attention to anything else but the movement. The agency of it all. Then as fast as they were moving the world rose up towards them until suddenly they brushed something, grainy and small and thick and so tightly packed together, yet so easily moved apart. They stopped, pulling back in surprise and looked down and the ground the ground. They had touched the ground. At last they knew for sure. They reached out feeling the sand letting it run and scuttle and float all though the water it was delightful, beautiful. They looked up and realised they were much closer to the surface than they had ever been before it wouldn't take much to touch the sky now. All of a sudden they felt reservation. They didn't know what would be up there, if it was their place. They didn't know if they should leave the ocean that had always been their home.

Looking around they realised with dismay that life had disappeared. None of the animals they loved so dearly had followed them this close to the shore. Looking up at the surface above them once again they watched the waved roll and crash and they knew one thing for certain. Life will always move forward. It will follow. They wanted to see what was there, despite their reservations. They wanted to know to experience and to share. The world was so much bigger than they had known it to be and it could be bigger still. They realised they needed to have the courage to take the first step.

One step, two step, three step, four. Closer and closer they moved to the surface, heavier and heavier the water became. Still they pushed forward ignoring all which told them to turn back until finally their head broke the surface and they gasped in cold, crisp, light, air. They looked ahead at the shore that seemed to last forever and moved forward and forward until the very last bit of them left their home.

Standing there on the shore, on the strange and unknown land they breathed. It felt weird and new and right. Taking another step forward they wobbled and then they found balance and knew that this was where they were suppose to go. They looked around them unable to do anything else and fully took in their surroundings. Then out of old habit, and long hidden wish they looked up and gasped.

They sky was awash with twinkling white and they found themselves lost in the beauty of it all. It was like nothing they had ever seen. Nothing that they would ever have imagined. The air was cold all around them and it was all they had never known. The deep dark sky, speckled with stars. The never-ending blue.

And it was home.