literature

In the Waters

Deviation Actions

GirlWithAHat's avatar
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Literature Text

“Attention! Attention! There's one coming in! Get ready, everyone in position. Repeat: We have a code red!”
Motion disturbed the seaweed. Hands brushed it aside, eyes glowed in the twilight. Air bubbles rushed to the surface of the pond.
“Keep it down!” The coordinator waved about and tried to calm the others. It was always the same with them. They took their work so seriously they were exaggerating. But at least now the pond was calm and silent as before. He could hear the feet of a child approaching, and the face of a little girl came into view above the surface. The coordinator bared his teeth and so did the grindylows hidden in the weeds beneath him. Their pointed teeth were a scary sight in their broad open mouths.
“Ready,” he whispered, releasing only a singe bubble. “Set. Go!”
Everyone pushed themselves off the ground and rushed towards the surface with outstretched hands. Their yellow eyes shone with delight as they broke through the water. Their long fingers tried to grab the girl's ankles. She screamed and ran away. Giggling, they sank back to the ground.

“Good job, guys!” called the coordinator. He watched his friends leave, their green bodies were difficult to distinguish from the seaweed that was their home. He often wondered why they looked how they looked. Of course he knew who had created them, but still... Why did they do it this way? Were thin bodies with long fingers and toes really that scary?
A stubby tail, a wide mouth with dangerous teeth, eyes the size of soup plates; that was his people, born for only one purpose: to keep children away from ponds and marshes. And they took their task very seriously. Children were not allowed to drown in their home waters. Of course, it was said that they would eat them if they managed to catch them. But for some reason they never did catch anything...
The coordinator grinned. Humans were strange, inventing whole races to scare their offspring away from dangerous places. What good does that do if said race eats their children? Either they get lost or drown, or eaten. Really, humans should be happy that they, the grindylows, guards of the waters, liked fish and frogs much more than human children.
This is my entry for the Mythical Blind Date Contest. My date is the Grindylow, a lovely beast. ;)

Comments, suggestions and proof-reading are always welcome.

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Comments4
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carizzio's avatar
Cool story.

Those Grindylows sound like pretty nice guys. Not at all how I would have imagined them. ;)

I liked how you started the story. At first I thought it was about humans trying to catch some scary creatures. But the twist was awesome. :D