4 Sand fields

We swam through the kelp forest with father leading and holding my hand. The gentle swaying of the kelp catching on me and resisting my forward momentum. The dancing luminescent kelp leaves lulling me almost into a trance. I could feel myself getting tired and didn't know how long I could keep swimming like this. Fortunately, he would give us tiny breaks, he would stop to sniff the sea around him then corrected our course and kept swimming. I tried to emulate him but could not detect anything in the currents with my little nose. The kelp forest was all around me and kelp was all I smelled. We kept on for a while, the sea getting warmer as we went; the only indication of a direction that we were swimming towards something.

Quite suddenly we swam through the edge of the kelp forest. Leaving behind the safety of the leaves and into a vast open space. I could see no kelp in front of me, just sand dune upon sand dune stretching away into the distance. The sand was marked with luminescent creatures as they made their way to and fro. There were crabs, clams, star fish and reefs everywhere. There were fish swimming from one reef to the other and as I slowly looked up, there were thousands upon thousands of jellyfish drifting in the current.

Their soft glow an irresistible temptation to touch them. One drifted near me enough that I reached out and touched its soft fluffy head. My father suddenly jerked me behind him, away from the jellyfish and frantically hummed "Never touch the tentacles, stay away from jellyfish they sting." I nodded and cast my eyes downward thoroughly chastised. We waited for the jellyfish to drift away and kept swimming.

Our speed was much faster in the open waters, however, my fins were giving out and I was beginning to lag behind no longer able to keep up with his powerful fins. He stopped immediately, kissed me on the head and hummed "Eat this and stay here." I was grateful for the kelp leaves that he had handed to me and gobbled them up as fast as I could. He swam a distance away looking for something in the sand. He seemed to have found what he was looking for and signaled me to swim over.

He had found a little recessed hollow with no rocks or fish that looked inviting enough for me to rest in. I slowly sank into the soft sand closing my eyes and finally getting some rest.