#mer!colin

Springtime. That middle point between winter and summer. The warmth between the cold and the unbearably hot. Rachel was most definitely a winter person, but the spring was nice.

Save for the mild allergies. But out here, that wasn’t much of a problem.

Hank encouraged her to take a vacation for herself. After all, she never really asked for time off and worked way harder than he thought she should (she would disagree). But a vacation sounded nice.

And besides...she missed the coast. The lakes were the closest she had, but they could never compare.

Out here, there was nothing but herself and the sea in the boat she’d rented. Nothing too large or luxurious. Just something comfortable enough for her to spend a couple weeks on. She didn’t anchor herself too far from civilization, thinking she might need to go back to shore and restock in the city. But for now, she had everything she could need.

Sitting on the edge of her boat with a bowl of cheap soup in her lap, the setting sun’s intense hues kissed her tan skin and made her look as though she was radiating warmth.

She never really knew what to expect. For all the vastness that she could see, she was never sure of what lay beneath the waters. Well, she was sure, but she knew that the ocean depths were one of life’s greatest mysteries.

Occasionally, she would notice movement somewhere in the distance. Dolphins or whales or seals en route, she guessed. But they always disappeared faster than she could discern.

Having nothing else to really focus on as she was eating her evening meal, Rachel dipped her toes into the clear blue water, the yawning depths darkening the further she looked.

And yet...something mysterious glistened underneath the sunbathed surface. Something that looked for a moment like a trick of the light. But it seemed too...real to be. Too specific. It looked like a large fish. A large brightly coloured fish. But that had to be impossible. Fish that large didn’t come in such colours and the only brightly coloured fish she could think of was an oarfish, and those were not only rare, but they were deep dwellers.