#memay

 It may have been her eyes fooling her, but Connie saw what looked to a huge statue resting deeper underwater. Close to the statue, the rocks that jutted up from the sand looked suspiciously like hands. The statue was shaped like a figure with long curly hair and multiple arms. 

Connie was not a great swimmer and she didn’t bring a change of clothes either. There was no way for her to investigate without eventually getting in huge trouble with her parents.She sat down with her back against the stone cliffside. 

She tried focusing on her book but she couldn’t read a single page, her focus drifting back to the statue in the ocean every few words. 

She groaned and slammed her book shut. She needed to learn something about that statue. Knowing she couldn’t swim there herself Connie decided to ask Beach City’s residents about the statue.

Connie first tried the doughnut shop. The shop was called ‘The Big Doughnut”, Connie heard the sound of a bell chiming as she entered the shop. At the counter there were two people working. Well actually more like one, one of the employees was looking at his phone with his feet resting on the counter. The other employee, a short, blonde haired woman smiled at her, with the patented ‘customer service smile’.  

“Welcome to the Big Doughnut, I’m Sadie. How can I help you?” Sadie said professionally 

“Uh hi Sadie, I’m Connie and I’m not really from here..”Stupid! Why would Sadie want to know her name? Just ask the question and stop being so weird. Connie mentally berated herself. 

“I wanted to ask about the beach?” Connie asked awkwardly as she approached the counter. 

“Sure what do you want to know?”

“Um So I was walking and thought I saw a statue or something, I wanted to know more about that..” 

“A statue.. Oh! I know what you’re talking about.That statue’s been here even before the town. A lot of people think it was built on land and then sea level rose and it went under water.”

The boy sitting next to Sadie looked up from his phone, “You wanna know something? All the ships that sail over that statue disappear, I’d stay away from it if I were you.” 

“Is that true?” Connie asked, her eyes wide with interest. Was it like the bermuda triangle or maybe-

“Lars!” Sadie exclaimed, punching the boy on the arm as he laughed.

Oh.

“He was just messing with you Connie. There haven't been any accidents regarding that statue for years.”

 “There were accidents before?” Connie wondered aloud.

“Yeah, I was a kid when it all happened. But people who went to that part of the beach late at night would say that they saw and heard things. Going to the beach after sundown was kinda banned after what happened to Greg Universe. Some people still try it though..” She explained“ 

What happened to him?” Connie pushed. 

“Well.. I don’t think it’s my place to say..”

“He went crazy!” Lars exclaimed, laughing. 

“Lars!” Sadie scolded him again. 

“He’s not crazy. He’s actually very nice. He just believed that he saw and heard those things just like everyone else.He just was really set on it being real.” 

“Thanks for your help.” Connie said before leaving the shop. That was, kind of useful. Connie decided. It definitely shed some light. 

She would have to get to the beach before the sun set so no one would stop her. And hope that her dad’s job would run just a little late to give her some time to investigate.  

She sat on the beach, the same place as before. Instead of taking out her book and reading to pass the time, Connie took out her notebook instead. It was supposed to be for school but she could rip out the page later. Connie wrote down everything she knew about the statue on the paper, which while it wasn’t much it was good to have all her notes in the same place. 

The sun was setting, she got no call from her dad yet. Which meant that her dad would be running late. Everything was working perfectly, this was the start of her magical destiny! She thought childishly. 

Things were not so perfect for long, soon after the sun had completely set, the wind began picking up speed. And Connie could hear a soft humming from under the water. The humming became louder and louder. Eventually something began rising from the water. It looked like an eel but it rose to towering height. It had dark gleaming skin and beady yellow eyes. 

Before it could spot her, Connie quickly hid behind a nearby boulder. She covered her mouth with her hands terrified that it would hear her breathing. 

From where she was she couldn’t hear or see what the eel was doing. Did it know she was there? Was it going to attack? 

Connie didn’t have time to process these thoughts because her phone screen lit up and began playing her ringtone on full volume. She fumbled but quickly declined her dad’s call. 

But it was too late, the eel let out an ear-splitting shriek. 

With a loud slam the boulders around her were shattered into pieces.  

The eel striked towards her, its huge mouth open wide. Connie darted away. 

But she quickly realised there was nowhere to go except for the ocean where she would definitely die. She couldn’t do anything else, she ran away from the eel and into the ocean.

 Closing her eyes as the eel raced towards her underwater. She realised that she would die without making a single friend. 

She braced for it, but the strike never came. Instead she heard a loud ‘thump’.