The Beach -part 1

[Steadfast]

This is the first half of a parable that the Lord is giving to me...
It has taken 3 monthes to get this far...

I will post updates as I get them..

Enjoy...


The Beach

There was a beach, that stretched as far as the eye could see. The sheer beauty of it was awe inspiring! The people from the main land would work and work, save their money and drive for hours upon hours to visit the beach. They would take rest in the sunshine and the warm water it provided, just to pack up and travel back into the main land and the labor that waited for them there.

Some, loved the beach, but could never dream of leaving their important jobs to move to the beach, so they stopped going all together, and saved their vacation money to install swimming pools in their back yards. The air wasn’t the same as the beach, the gorgeous beach wildlife was not there, and the view was limited to only their back yards. But the water was nice and that made them content and they eventually they forgot there ever was a beach. Over the years The Beach became more and more of an unpopular diversion. Eventually going there was seen as “slumming it” by the folks on the Mainland.

Soon, many more people had installed their own pools, and it became fashionable to decorate them to look like the beach, to relax at home, and swim in the safety of chemically treated, clean water. Their children grew up knowing only the safety and convenience of their swimming pools. A regrettable development but hey, they saved themselves the hassle of that horrible drive. Besides, now they had their own “beach” to go too. They did their parental duty and their kids had learned to swim, they were ready for any flood, but they never went back to the beach again… Besides the real beach was widely believed to be a place for only the elderly and insane. They would sit in there pools and say, “The beach, the pool, Its all relative…”

There was a young man, who grew up in wealth and privilege. He had never been to the beach. He enjoyed the water of his swimming pool and it even became a favorite spot to take his dates and girlfriends.

He grew up and his parents sent him to an elite university. The young man’s parents always told him he would become a lawyer someday, so he started taking classes in “mainland” law. He even joined the swim team. He wasn’t the best, but the girls liked to see him in his skimpy swim suite and that made his “love life” flourish. He thought, this was what “the Good life” was all about, but strangely, he was not content…

One day, while leaving the University pool, he walked past a fellow who was talking to a crowd of students. He was a very tattered looking man, sort of like a vagrant, it was clear he didn’t belong at the university! Most of the students laughed at him and kept walking. Some students became enraged at the sight of him and called him names like “Fish Boy” and “Gill Neck”. Some students just stood there, watching him, enraptured by his wonderful stories.

The young man found he was curious or maybe just bored. He knew he had never been to the coast before and found this rather odd guy interesting. He decided he would stop and listen for just a “few minutes”. The young man listened as the “Vagrant” told wonderfully vibrant stories of the sea! He would talk about “sea things” called “shells” and “coral”, Then he would produce one or two of these “sea things” out of his sand filled pockets! The students would pass them around and comment with “ooohs and aaaahs”. The “Vagrant” told them scary legends like the one that said that someday a grate tsunami would come that would cover the main land and forever drown all toughs who could not swim. The young man loved that one! The “Vagrant” would sing songs about the ocean too, and even made cool sound effects of “whales” and “sea gules” whatever those where. The weird guy even produced a “Conch Shell” and told them all to put their ears on it. He said that only those with ears that could hear, would hear the sea. The young man did so and he heard a soothing sound of swishing wind. The stranger chuckled at his surprise and told him, “that sound is called a wave”! The young man chucked at him and “waved hello”. The Vagrant laughed and winked at his joke and then did something even more amazing! He put his lips on the sandy “Conch Shell” and blew air in it and a glorious LOUD sound came out of it that split the air and sent shivers down the lad’s spin! Those “few minutes” with the Vagrant turned into a few hours!

The young man finally heeded his stomach and broke away from the crowd. As he ate lunch his mind was filled with echoes of the vagrant’s stories. His imagination was stirred like never before! He pondered why he had never seen reports of such a wonderful place on his “Mainland TV” stations. He was struck by how much more happy the “flat broke” Vagrant was then him. “I have everything I have ever wanted and still feel empty and alone! How could a man with NOTHING but pockets filled with sand and rocks be so HAPPY!” That night, as he fell asleep, the soft, and the loud, sounds of the “Conch Shell” pealed in his memory… “How could a sandy rock make two totally different sounds…? Wow…”

He dreamt of swimming in his pool at home. It was so small. Then he noticed one of the sides was missing. He was afraid that the pool had ruptured and that his parents would be angry that he had broken it somehow! Then He saw, through his swimming goggles that the water was limitless in that direction! He swam under water to where the wall of his pool had been. He desperately clutched the pool wall and looked out in amazement into bottomless wonder that spread out for miles before him!! The water went on forever! There were things swimming out there too. They were long, skinny, and shinny! Suddenly something was pulling him by the neck! It was a pool hook! His parents were standing outside the pool, they were shouting at him in anger, as they yanked him back! When he broke the surface of the water he heard them shouting, “Get out of our pool! What makes you think you are worthy of more water! We should have never taught you to swim! How dare you go where we have not! Get up! Get up! Get up!” Snap! He woke up in his bed hearing his alarm clock blaring at him. “Beep beep beep.” It was the most vivid dream he had ever had!

The young man LEAPT out of his bed and ran to where the “Vagrant” had been the day before! No one was there, except a few students who were passing around some shells and corral they had found laying where the Stranger had been. The young man asked the others, were he went. One of them said “Someone must have complained, he was taken away by the campus police. These sea things must have fallen out of his pockets.” The young man said “Where is this “sea” he is talking about?” A pretty college girl in the group said proudly, “The beach and the sea are 5 or 6 hours away. I went there once, when I was a kid, but then my parents built a pool of their own.” The young man said, “I have never seen it…” There were others there who had also not seen the ocean. “Well then, we should go see it!” Said the pretty college girl! The others shouted “Road Trip” and they began planning things out. They saved up their money by working odd jobs on the weekends. When a long weekend came, they took their college exams, loaded up the young man’s car and piled in for the long ride.

Eventually they arrived at the coast; it was 3am in the morning… They drove into a huge parking lot, surrounded by beach homes! The lot had signs posted that said “beach parking only” and “beach entrance - 2 blocks down”, so they parked there. Even though it was late, they were wide awake! They had all taken turns sleeping on the way and combined with their overwhelming excitement, there was zero concern for sleep! They jumped out of the car and hollered victoriously in the parking lot!

The first thing the young man noticed was how crisp and clean the air smelled! He reached back into the car to grab his half finished soda and noticed the overwhelming smell of humans and recycled air that was sill in the car from the trip. It made him feel slightly dirty. He coughed and stood back up and breathed deep the ocean air! And said, “aaaagh that better.” Then he walked around a little and shook his clothes out in a self-conscious effort to shed the car smell.

They unloaded their stuff from the car and started to walk towards the “beach entrance 2 blocks” away. As they walked, the “wave” sound they had all heard in the conch shell, became louder and louder. They wanted to hurry but they had so much Junk to carry that they had to walk slowly. The more they walked toward the beach the heavier the stuff seemed to get. They walked around the last row of houses and saw a large wall of sand with a path way made of wood going over it! The star filled sky was so big that the young man was convinced that the sand wall was actually a giant cliff and that the earth itself ended just past the sand wall. He shouted to the others “Oh, forget this! We should see this alone just the sea and us!” he dropped everything he was carrying and ran towards the path!

He ran over the top of the sand wall! Never before had he seen such an awesome thing! He dropped to his knees in the shear grandeur of the moment! The stars were brighter then he had ever seen and they seemed to go on forever, met only by the “forever” of the water that reflected those stars, making the stars dance across both skys. He had seen mountains, and was amazed by them, but they were nothing when compared to the sheer vastness of the view that lay before him now. The ocean was beyond belief! He simply had no context! “How could I have lived, without this, for so long? Why did my parents keep this from me?” He stood up, ran and jumped into the Sea of stars! It was warm!

Soon, some of the others jumped in too. Two were standing on the beach laughing at their joy. One was the Girl who was content to walk bare foot in the water and the other was another student who seemed awestruck and afraid of the massive body of water. The awestruck student left the beach and began hauling all their stuff onto the beach. He was content just setting up the chairs and watching the others play in the surf. They called for him to come and join them but he shouted back “I am Glad you found this! Really! Good for you! No, I am Happy here.. Besides, you guys are going to be sticky and sandy when you get out! I have been here before, and I never much liked the water. Don’t swim out too deep….You could drown!” He sat down in a big lawn chair he had brought, opened a magazine about mainland cars, and started to read.

The sun came up and the sky turned into a massive work of art! To better experience the glory of it, the swimmers came out of the water and reclined on their lawn chairs. The guy with the magazines asked them, “So, are you guys cold and sticky now?” The young man said “No, I feel clean… The water was very salty and spicy. So, it makes sense that you would think that. But No, surprisingly, I feel cleaner then I ever felt before. You should try it.” the other guy said “humph, that’s what they all say, you must be sticky and gross, you just can’t tell yet. You will come around.” The young man said, “Wow, have you ever seen such a Beautiful sky” The guy with the magazine shook it and said, “These Mainland Sport engines are far more beautiful to me then a boring sun rise. I’m glad you like it, now let me finish my article.” The others began to chatter among themselves as the watched the sky show in awe. Then they stared at the sea birds as they danced on the air and cheered as huge swimming sea animals jumped into the air and back into the ocean!

I gorgeous woman in a swimsuit walked past them. She said as she pasted by, “Hello it is so good to see you here.” She shook every hand and said, “Are you guys planning on a deep water swim?” The guy with the magazine said rudely “Ha! Not me! I’m not nuts enough to swim under that water! You can drown yourself if you want but leave me out!” She said, “The Sea wants only to embrace you. Perhaps if you just drank some of the ocean water you would be more interested in what it can offer you?” He then, tossed down his magazine, glared at her and said “You must be a ‘gill neck’ perhaps someday you will learn that your place is on the beach with the rest of us! Go take a dive!” The college girl then spoke up and said “Please don’t bother us with that crazy stuff. I don’t agree with it either. Please leave us alone!” The woman sighed and said “I will carry you, on my back, when I swim! May the Ocean strengthen you.” She turned and walked deep into the water until it was up to her neck. The young man stared at her as she leaned forward and took a long sip of the ocean water and the dove under the water. The pretty college girl was also watching and made comments like “Can you believe that? The nerve of that woman! What a freak!.. I just can’t believe it.....” The strange woman didn’t come back! The young man watched the water for over 20 minutes! But she never surfaced!

Just as The young man started to become seriously alarmed, he heard a familiar voice laugh long and loud! He turned to see “The Vagrant” standing there in a brand new, brightly cooler swim suit. He no longer wore the old weather beaten Jacket and his lone foot steps clearly lead from the direction of a really nice beach condo. “You Made It! How wonderful is THIS!” The man ran up to them, hugged them all very hard and shouted “I am so glad to see you!” to each of them! “How is the ocean treating you?” The young man interrupted the warm greeting by saying, “It is really good to be here, but I am afraid someone may be in danger!” The vagrant looked at him with genuine concern and said “What’s wrong”… The young man told him about the gorgeous woman and the more he spoke, the more nieve he felt, because the other students started to giggle at him. The Vagrant listened to the young man’s every word and sighed as most of the others walked away in boredom. He said “Don’t worry about her, she is ok, she is just deep water diving. You can do that too, once you have drank the ocean. It is normal…” “What?” came the pretty college girl’s voice from behind the young man.

“What did you say? Are you trying to suggest to my friend that only gill necks can swim in the ocean! I swim in the ocean at least once every other month and even go into the water over my head! And I have no gills! People like her are freaks….They are dangerous! By saying what she did is normal you are judging my swimming as not real! I have tasted the water and it never made me a gill neck! How can you say it is NORMAL! I liked you because I thought you were just a normal beach comer like the rest of us, but now I suspect you are a gill neck too, aren’t you.!”

Shocked and taken back by her rudeness the vagrant said calmly “Yes, I have the gift as many of us who live here do… What is wrong with that?” She snapped back, “Nothing, I am glad it works for you, but don’t lie to us by saying it is normal! My parents warned me a bout water drinkers like you… That’s why my family moved away to the mainland, to get away from your sort of ocean goers. You know, I bet that one day, you will drown! Come on, all he wants to do is to trick you.” and she grabbed The young man by the arm and began to pull him… The young man turned and took her hand of him and said “What is your problem! I never imagined you, who comes to the ocean all the time, would be so dry inside. Sir, are you saying that if I swim deep in the ocean, I will be able to drink the ocean and that if I do I will be able to breathe under water and never drown!”

The vagrant looked at him right in the eye and said, my name is not sir my name is Nathaniel and the answer is …. YES.” Nathaniel winced as the once “sweet college girl” called him a “lying, pretending, fish gill, who is fit for nothing but drowning.” She stomped over to the others and said “I want to go home now! It is your car so you better drive us back to the mainland!”

The young man didn’t understand why such a gentle man was suddenly being treated so badly by his own fellow beach goers. He looked out to the ocean and stood watching the grandeur of it all. I was the most beautiful peaceful thing he had ever seen. The memory of his dream and the desire to swim out of the pool and into the deep overwhelmed him… His future success of his career life and the way it was flowing felt so empty to him now. He didn’t want to study law anymore! He was in love with the ocean! And he knew it! He looked at his college friends as they started to pack up their beach things and did the first of two things he never imagined were possible just 5 minutes before. He untied his car keys from his swimsuit draw string and threw them at the girl. He shouted, “I don’t know what your problem is with Nathaniel! He has been nothing but a good man to you and you treat him like this? I suspect you are the one who is pretending! Here, take my car! I don’t want it anymore! Go ahead, if that is were you are most comfortable, drive back to the dry, ugly mainland. But I am going to learn about, live by, and swim in the ocean. For it is the first place I ever felt like I was truly home. If it is possible that I too can breathe water, then I want to do it! If not then so be it! But neither, your good looks nor your doubts will stop me from trying.”

Then to the surprise of everyone standing there, including himself and Nathaniel, the young man did the second of two things he never imagined were possible just 5 minutes before. Exhaling, He ran towards and dove deep into the ocean and then deeply breathed in as much ocean water as his lungs could hold!!!

Back on the beach they all stood there with their jaws hanging open, “Wow! Now that was incredible!” Nathaniel said! The college Girl shouted in horror, “He is going to drown!” Nathaniel sighed and calmly said “Far from it…” The college girl dropped her beach stuff and took two steps towards the ocean, paused in fear and doubt, and said to Nathaniel, “Aren’t you going to save him?” Still staring at the water Nathaniel answered, “Why…The Ocean has already done that…” She turned towards him in rage and shouted “You are the strongest swimmer here, why are you just standing there? Why aren’t you going in after him?” Nathaniel blinked at her rage, sighed and said “Because, the only person here, who needs rescuing, is standing in right front of me… you’re a good swimmer, why do you hesitate to dive deep and go after him yourself? I suspect it is because you fear the depth of the ocean and losing your control in its glory… Tell me, sister, what will you do when the final flood comes… can you tread water forever? The ocean is calling to you now… and you know it! I can tell you feel it! Come take my hand…Let me show you the glory of the reef and the other wonders that await you under the sea… Let’s dive deep together and then we can both join your friend.” She stood there, with one hand clutching his and her other hand clutching the car keys as the power of the ocean filled her sight and the wonder of it filled her soul. Time had stopped for her, and a tear ran down her face as she stood in the valley of decision.

The water filled the young man’s lungs! It was so warm… He opened his mouth and drank as well! The strangest thing happened! Instead of coughing and panicking his body felt calm and then there was a wonderful alien sensation of warm water filling him as if he were a pitcher made of Glass! His mind exploded with love and knowledge as if the ocean itself was speaking to him, but more then that, he suddenly knew he was also becoming part of it, as much as it was becoming part of him. He completely understood how rare and wonderful he was and yet, he also knew how small and powerless he was in comparison to the size, depth and love of the ocean that expanded forever before him. He exhaled…. and the impossibly loud sound of a whale erupted out of him! He sang an ancient song of glory that echoed into the depth of the sea. The young man sang his whales song for a long time! Just wrapped up in the joy and love that surrounded him… Hundreds of brightly colored fish were swimming around him dancing in breathtaking patterns of celebration as he sang. When the song drew to a close and the fish swam away, he realized a great deal of things had forever changed in his life!

The young man was no longer the same. The first thing young man realized was that the water was no longer a blur, he could see thru the water as clearly as he had in is dream. He was surrounded by breath taking beauty of a thousand colors! He had never known what a reef was but some how he just knew that is what he was looking at! He pinched himself hard and new he was awake! Then he fully understood that the person, he was, had in fact drowned, but at the same time he had not died! He had become a new creature. He understood that he was now a citizen of this new world for he could breathe water as easily as he could breath the fresh air of a clear day while standing in an open field back home... He wanted to see more of the bright reef colors that danced before him and swam just two strokes forward to see more of its hypnotic beauty! That’s when he realized that his two simple strokes had taken him 200 yards forward! He looked at his hands and legs and found that he was changed more then he realized! His fingers where long multi-colored fins and his legs where two great tails. He was surprised yet strangely not alarmed! He swam to the surface! As he broke the out of the water he found that he was floating ten feet above it. He had jumped out of the water like the fish he had seen earlier, yet for that split second; he looked and saw he had a normal hand! He was quite human again! Then he was under water again and he saw that his hand was nothing but fins! He slowly surfaced this time and pulled his fin out of the water to simply see his hand in the air! He did it over and over again; and each time his hand changed to fit its environment. The only thing he could say was… “Wow…”

That is when Nathaniel surfaced alone next to him with a big grin on his face!
Nathaniel shouted and hugged The young man, “Wooo Hooo! It is so GOOD to call you BROTHER! For that is what you are, my brother, because you are of my family! And, as you have discovered, you are a new creature and that makes you the same species as I am. As well! Yes! I knew you could do it! What is your name, my brother?” The young man answered, “My parents named me Zacar Tabel. The ocean called me “Zacar-yam” but you can call me Zak if you like!” Nathaniel said “Pleased to meet you brother! You have so MUCH to see and learn!” Zak smiled then frowned and said “Where are my friends, did they go back?” Nathaniel mourned “Yes, they all returned to the mainland, all of them.” Zak replied, “Well, I for one, am never going back! In fact, I am never going to leave the water again! This is Great!” Nathaniel chuckled and said, “I fully understand how you feel, many never want to leave, But alas, we have a responsibility to those trapped on the mainland! We must not hog the sea. It is for everyone. We are all called to leave the ocean to show the mainlanders what they are missing… But enough of that for now, I have so many things to show you!”

Nathaniel dove with Zak under the water and to Zak’s surprise Nathaniel spoke to him clearly under water! He told him of how the great king created the world and how the first man turned away from the great king. How the world was cursed to be an endless desert, where the only springs of water were brought forth by great desert patriarchs. These men would be those who turned back again to their creator and their reward for doing so was having the power to call forth streams and ponds right out of the hard ground. These bodies of water kept the rest of mankind alive and the great cities of the world grew around them. But as soon as the people of a city would take the water for granted the spring would dry up and many would die, others would make war with the cities that believed and still had water. He told how the “Great King” would raise up and a small remnant, which would turn back again to HIM and move away from the cursed cities, dotting the landscape behind them, with trails of small fresh water oases where ever they went. Zak remembered doing the research and writing a first class report in school of how the earth was once a desert place. He remembered how his teacher scowled at him when he turned it in and the injustice of how his parents whipped him for getting an “F”… Now he finally Understood why!

Nathaniel told Zak of the story of the great water bringer, the prince of creation, who came to save the world from the agony of eternal dessert and to become the eternal bridge for mankind’s separation from their true king! He told Zak the great ocean bringer’s name was “Yamel”! At hearing that name Zak’s spine tingled and he found that he was suddenly emitting light from the tips of his colorful tissue thin fins and the soft sound of a whale groaned sweetly from his lips!! “What was that?” Zak said! Nathaniel said “It is the normal reaction, that we all have, when we hear the name of above all names. Go ahead call on it!” They boldly spoke it over and over again and Zak found that the two of them had illuminated over 2 miles of the ocean floor the small bright fish danced around them and the reef answered back by bursting forth with colors so bright that Zak found he was squinting!

Nathaniel went on to tell Zak of how Yamel was a man of peace, but he told the “holy men” of his day, that his very ashes would bury the holy city. The good dessert people of Yamel’s time had misunderstood Him. They even lied about, tortured, and finally burned Him at the stake. Even though they hated Yamel, they also feared Him so much that they took Yamel’s ashes locked them away in a brass box and buried it in a fortified place with guards placed over it. A few Days passed and when they were celebrating His demise, Yamel himself broke free from the brass box as a living spring of water that was shaped like a merman. Yamel was the first born of the first mermen. However and He could swim and talk without an ocean to swim in! After proving he was alive again to his followers and the corrupt holy men, Yamel became the ocean and slowly flowed out over the two thirds of the world, giving all mankind and half of the animals time to flee to the high places! But to all those who loved Him and didn’t want to flee from him, Yamel gave them the power to drink of him and in doing so, transformed them into what Zak was now! As for the animal that refused to flee to land, they were changed into the animals of the sea! He etched his story right into the very base of the place now known as the Main land. It has been copied down by strong mermen who have dived so deep that they actually have seen it, written it and brought it up to us to read copy and study. And the holy city now rests in the deepest part of the ocean… So, all the oceans are not only Yamel’s kingdom but in fact Yamel himself! One day when the sea is filled with all the mainlanders your were sent to rescue; (if the flood does not come first) when you are diving, you will meet Yamel Himself! He will take you to live with Him in the holy city at the very bottom of the ocean, and you will never need surface again! For Yamel is not only the ocean itself but He also swims in it too.

Zak had heard rumors of this same story, but when the mainlander’s had said it, it was said with sarcasm and mirth as if it were the most ridiculous of fables! In fact, if he had not been staring directly at his fins while hearing it from Nathaniel, he would have still had hard time excepting it, when he had heard it now… But Zak HAD been looking at his fins and he KNEW the story was MORE true then the mainland’s very existence was true! He simply knew that Yamel was the first of all Mermen and only thru Yamel’s transformation alone, could Zak now become like Yamel! For not only was Zak swimming in the ocean that was Yamel, but Yamel was now inside Zak and He was forever swimming in the ocean that was Zak’s very soul. Zak was in Yamel as Yamel was in Zak! And Zak knew that if he were the only mainlander ever alive that Yamel would have done the same thing for just him! Now, Zak new he would never be alone again! Zak finally spoke and said, “Those pour people on the beach! They swim in the ocean, which is Yamel, and yet He does not swim in them, for they refuse to simply drink the ocean as I have! Thus they never become all they can be in Yamel! So, What happens to them when the Great flood comes?” Nathaniel looked away and wept as he said… “It is written, when the final flood comes, it is too late! For there will be endless water, yet nothing to drink for those who never drank before!”

Zak said, if the city of Yamel is at the bottom of the ocean, then why can’t we just swim there? Very few of us dare to dive even near that deep. The pressure is overwhelming even going deeper then this reef, some dive deeper then the great cliff and have great stories of seeing fantastic things and facing horrible giant sea animals but they are changed by these experiences and the others see them as strange and unstable. Zak said take me to this Great cliff… I want to see it!

They swam several miles and came to the most beautiful part of the reef. The colors at the reefs edge were amazing! The bright coral was hundreds of feet deep. It was like stepping into a birthday party for over a million people! The reef cascaded endlessly to the right and left and in the distance there was what looked like a dark blue wall. It was not a wall at all, it was the deep bottomless ocean thet fell forever out past the edge of the reef. There where thousands of mere folks like himself hanging out in the coral. They were chatting, playing, taking classes and picnicking on small fish. Zak let out a yelp of joy and more then several or the others turned and smiled as they faced him. Glory to Yamel! We have another brother! Zak said “I thought I was alone, or at least scarce! Look at all these people!” Nathan replied These people will always love you, for they are your Family now. You will never be alone again.” they begin to applaud, cheer and gather around Zak at hearing the fantastic news of his transformation! The love was overwhelming!

A loud nose suddenly split thru the reef… The mere folks looked concerned and fled in multiple directions. Most hid, some took up long spears and large nets. They schooled in a group and swam toward the great cliff… Nathaniel shouted, “Sharks! They are coming! Zak, you are too new to all this and thus need to stay hidden.” He shot off, took up a spear and joined the few who advanced towards the cliff. Zak could not hide. He was far too curious! He swam slowly behind his armed brothers to get a better view. Several mere folk carrying great shell horns came swimming over the edge and hid in the reef. Then several more gigantic fish with mouths filled with teeth came rushing up! They were huge! Zak would have been terrified by these swimming nightmares but instead whispered “Yamel” and instantly he was glowing and strangely calm . He looked down into the reef and saw hundreds of faces peering out of the coral in fear. This confused and angered Zak. The merfolk with the spears began to sing and glow as well. They stabbed at the great silver monsters and pushed them towards the mere folk who held the nets then they began to sing and lit up the water! The sharks were blinded and then bound in the nets and brutally dispatched by the merfolk with the spears. The whole mass was then dragged to the edge and cast over it.

Zak floated in amazement taking in the whole episode as the merfolk all around him slowly came out of Hiding and then continued with what they were doing as if nothing happened. Nathaniel swam up to Zak, his fins were bleeding and a medical merman was attending to them. Nathaniel said, “Why didn’t you hide like I told you? These are dangerous enemies look what happened to me as I tried to get away from one.” Zak said “Why should I flee or hide from something that is smaller then Yamel? Greater is the Yamel who is in me, then all the sharks that swim in His sea. The fact that I am Yamel’s son, means I am not one who should hide and I am more of a conqueror then anyone with a spear. Why should we even take up arms when we can sing with the authority of Yamel? How can you fear anything that swims inside Yamel’s ocean? Further more, why do you stay here in the comfort of this reef when there is so much more to see and know further and deeper in?”

Nathaniel said proudly, “You are young and still ignorant of a few things, you don’t know that the sharks guard the deep and that only a few of us are called to go over the cliffs, But I sense the courage of a great warrior in you.” Zak said “No, you sense someone who is so new to all this, that he has not had the chance to allow the luxury of the reef to blind him from his recreated purpose. Yamel is all good! There is no evil in him, or shadow of it! Those sharks are evil! To say they guard the cliff so that we cannot dive deep is to say that Yamel endorses evil. This is impossible. No, these creatures are aliens! They are invaders! They have no place attacking or limiting us! That is Yamel’s job not theirs. You say only a few of us can go deep…We all glow when we say Yamel’s name do we not? Why is that? Surly, this light effect is not just for our own pleasure. We must all be designed then to go much deeper, so that we can all light up and see the more mysterious places in the depths of the ocean. If this is so, then why do so many of us stay here on the reef when we a clearly designed for more? I say it is because of fear and doubt! Fear of the sharks and doubt in Yamel’s love.”

Nathaniel said, “The reefs of the world are a sanctuary for us! It is a place where we can come and learn. A place where the wounded come. A place where we can be together away from the beach away from the main land this is a place we the new and weak can be protected by the experienced and strong.” Zak was annoyed now.

He spoke boldly, “Nathaniel you are a wonderful Brother! You are the one who helped me to grow fins. And I can see the very real value of this place. A sanctuary is a place to grow, and to learn to overcome, NOT just a place to hide! There is still more ocean! More Yamel out there, then is found in the reef alone. I didn’t leave the beach and leap into the sea for nothing. I didn’t drink the ocean and change into this just to lounge about with my brothers and sisters on a reef just to go back on land to return again. It seems to me that the reef has become the merfolks’s second beach! I dove into Yamel, and He into me, so I could dive as deep into him as He has into me. If your going to dive at all, then I say, DIVE DEEP! If Yamel is for us then who can come against us! Who can attack Yamels elect? Who can threaten us! Who can tell us we are wrong? It is Yamel who died, arose and filled our world with His ocean, it is He, who is the only one that can intercede for us to the great king! Nothing can separate me from the love of the ocean! Not being land locked, or distressed, or persecuted on the beach, or suffering starvation, or stripped of my fins, or danger, or even the spear! Nathaniel, even if we are eaten by sharks and imprisoned on land, all day long, for believing in Yamel and for swimming in His sea, Yet in all these things, I know, we are more than victorious warriors through Him who loves us. For I am convinced, that neither death nor life, nor sharks, nor laws of governments nor their prisons, nor things present nor things to come in the future, Not the main land or the great deep beyond the cliffs, nor any other created thing living on land or in the sea, shall ever be able to separate me from the love of the king, which is in Yamel, my Lord! We are a royal race, a sacred nation, a strange people, that has been transformed to show all who would drink, the glory of the whole sea. So why should we fear anything except for fear and doubt itself!

And with that said, Zak shouted “further on and deeper in” and swam over the edge of the great cliff just as he had done before when he ran on the beach and dove head long into the sea! Just as before Nathaniel found himself surrounded by others, with his jaw hanging open in utter amazement. This time it was Nathaniel’s turn to struggle with a decision. The other merfolk looked at him with a variety of expressions of shock and surprise. He said, “The lad is right, I will not let the reef become my beach!” He grabbed a spear and over the edge he too swam, feeling more alive than he had in a long time.

Finding Zak was easy! He was swimming downward in a kind of ambling way and singing in a loud voice the song of the sea that can only come thru the power of Yamel! He was Glowing so bright that he illuminated the smallest particles in the water around him for 100 yards! Nathaniel was barley illuminated and redoubled his swimming speed to begin his close on Zak. Just when he did he heard a large “snap” sound behind him. “Perhaps that is the sound the cliff wall makes” he thought. They were much deeper then the postings of the “Cliff guard” now. One hundred yards away, Nathan could just make out great cracks in the wall of the cliff that seemed descend into oblivion! He was drawing near Zak now! Something big shot past Nathaniel and again he heard a loud “snap” sound! It was just in the edge of Zak’s light and then gone! Nathaniel was so close to Zak that he was now traveling inside the sphere of Zak’s light and yet down Zak swam oblivious of Nathaniel or anything else. Then between the edge of Zak’s light, and the wide open ocean beyond it, something shot past them but this time Nathaniel spotted the very end of the saw edged tail of a SHARK, just before it disappeared into the darkness! He called out to Zak! Zak turned his eyes to Nathaniel and said “Oh, hello Nathaniel, Did you see HIM too? HE was Just ahead!” The orb of Zak’s light rapidly shrunk in size as he turned to focus on Nathaniel. That’s when things began to happen very quickly.

Nathaniel grabbed a hold of Zak and cried out “Oh, Yamel! Illuminate my way!” Together the water became brighter then before when it was Just Zak singing, but just for an instant! They found were surrounded by SHARKS, less then an arm’s length away! And there were A LOT of them! Their malevolent smiles glittered in the bright light and they scattered, their dead black eyes having been briefly blinded. As the light quickly faded Nathaniel stabbed at one of the Sharks! He drew back his spear just to find the spearhead had been bitten clean off! “Swim to the Cliff Wall! NOW!” Shouted Nathaniel! Many loud snapping noises where heard all around them as the fled in darkness. Just as they closed on the wall Nathaniel shouted “Yamel, preserve us!” They saw the huge cracks in the cliff wall and swam into them! The cracks were about 2 arms wide and as deep as Nathaniel’s spear was long. Nathaniel crashed into the back wall of the crack and Zak smashed into him from behind. They turned to see five or six immense tooth filled maws biting desperately at the edge of the crack they were in. With a Loud “Snap! Snap! Snap!” the huge flesh reeking jaws futilely tried to close on the two mermen inside!

Nathaniel sighed, “Thank Yamel, It appears they can’t get us, as long as we hide in these cracks.” He continued, “What were you thinking? Didn’t you see the sharks all around you?” Zak said, “Oh yes, but because I could also see Yamel in the distance and as long as I sang to him they didn’t matter! It is only when you spoke to me, and I lost sight of Yamel, that it became sticky. Didn’t you see HIM too?” Clearly shaking in fear and flustered by Zak’s insane calm he said “NO! All I saw was You. Can’t you see, it is all true…? These waters are protected by these monsters! How are we going to get back? What are we going to do?”

That’s when they heard it! It was a loud high pitch screaming coming up from far below them deep out into the water. The sharks outside their crack turned and swam away. They looked out and in the distance and saw a beautiful Merwoman, dodging and weaving, flashing and attacking, all the sharks around her. She was surrounded by a cloud of her own blood. With each pass, the sharks around her barley missed vital parts of her but repeatedly took bites out of her fins instead. And as they did so she shouted “Yamel’s name, flashed brilliantly and desperately climbed for the surface!

Nathaniel was terror stricken and shouted, “I can’t believe this is happening!” Zak turned bright red and shouted out to the sharks “No, you will NOT! You will not attack my sister and LIVE! You do not have the authority to even show your teeth to a daughter of the eternal King! HOW DARE YOU!” Zak shot out of the crack like a torpedo! He shouted with the voice of the sea, so loud, it shook the place where Nathaniel was hiding in shame and terror! The sharks scattered as Zak became a bolt of light shooting thru them! A particularly large one was barring down on her and then turned to see what all the light and noise was about. The merwoaman heard it laugh low and dark as it turned towards the flaming thing approaching it! Nathaniel looked out and saw a great shark turn and shoot like lightning toward Zak! When the two missiles were about to collide, It opened it’s wicked Mouth and Zak shoot straight into it! It swallowed him whole and laughed in dark victory! It was over that quick.

“Oooooh, NOOOO!” shouted Nathaniel! And he wept bitterly, dark ink pouring from his eyes. The shark turned, still laughing, to finish of the mergirl who was stunned by the horror of what she just saw! That is when IT happened!

The great shark stopped smiling, and turned away in mid charge, yet again, from the merwoman. It eyes rolled over in its head as it started to glow, then it lit up and rapidly became a blinding light! The Shark, then let out a shriek of terror! And, much like a huge firework does in the late evening at county celebration on the mainland, the shark exploded like immense star with thousands of streamers of light shooting in all directions for over a quarter of a mile. And in the middle of it, still swimming, was Zak! But he was not hurt or confused, instead he darted strait at the next shark that was stupid enough to charge the merwoman! She heard zak shout “In the mighty name of Yamel, flee this place or die, you filth.” This time it appeared as if Zak shot straight thru the smaller shark ripping its tail off! The two pieces glowed bright and then “BABOOM” exploded in the binding light of binary stars, that both spread over 200 yards in all directions! The remaining sharks fled toward the wall!

That is when Nathaniel was seen shooting out of the crack in the wall, diving deep into the open mouth of yet another foolish shark, he shouted Yamels name! That shark exploded in yet another Star of brilliant light! The sharks were terror stricken! They fled for their lives in all directions!

Soon after this, both mermen swam up to the wounded female. Zak said “What are we going to do now? She looks so badly hurt!” Now it was Zak’s turn to be amazed! Nathaniel calmly swam up to her, put his front fin on her forehead and simply asked Yamel if he would heal her. Light passed from him to her and it was so! All three of them shouted and sang to the King of the Ocean! That’s when they saw it, for large part of the wall was still illuminated by the dead sharks quite well!
“Look at the wall!” said Nathaniel. Those aren’t cracks in it at all! There letters!” “And words and sentences too….Look, it must go on for miles in either direction!” gaped the merwoman. Nathaniel squinted and read the wall as the light around them slowly faded, “‘not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the---’ why that is from the sacred books! This must be the original which was written in stone by the very finger of the king as the flood covered the desert! And, Look that ‘m’ was the crack we were hiding in earlier!” Zak chucked and said “We truly were saved by His ‘mercy’! he he he.. How far down does that writing go?” they all looked down for miles into the darkness of the sea and fell silent.

Then the beautiful merwoman said. “To the bottom of the wall of course! Bye the way, my name is Ahavah! but I believe we have met before, But do to your transformation I am not quite sure. Were you one of the young men that was standing on the beach just this morning?” Zak shook her fin and said “Uumm, yes, I am, I drank the whole ocean and now I am here.” She said Incredible! You became my brother just this morning and already Yamel has used you mightily! How is this?” Nathaniel said “Zak is the wildest new brother I have ever seen. Before he came along I was terrified of swimming down here but not now! He actually shouted ‘further on and deeper in’. I have never seen anything like this day. But why were you down here?”

Ahavah said “I began diving deep around a month ago, but this time, the pressure got to me and I lost my resolve, panicked, and fled. You saw what the Sharks do to those who flee… But I cried out to Yamel in my weakness you two hansom brothers were suddenly there. Thank you!” Nathaniel grinned and Zak blushed, for she was the most beautiful person he had ever laid his eyes on….except Yamel of course. She looked him straight in the eyes and his heart raced and she blushed.

Finally tearing his eye off of hers, Zak said “If your going to dive, dive deep or not at all.. further on and deeper in!” Nathan said “Are you going with us sister?” She was still blushing and said, “No, I must spend some time with the sea to clarify my thoughts on a few things.” They both watched as she safely swam up and over the edge of the wall. A little disappointed yet thrilled to continue, Zak said “Ok, let’s go!”

Down down down they swam. The water started to get darker and darker. Nathaniel started to sing a song about the ocean and Zak picked it up. This caused them to glow enough to see each other. The deeper they swam the stronger the pressure became. Zak called out “The water is like ink! Are you still there? He felt a hand on his shoulder and heard Nathaniel say “We can make it. Hang in there.” Zak said have you ever been this deep Nathan said no but my mother told me once that the sand at the bottom glows bright! We just have to get there.” “Zak said, “The pressure is so strong… I don’t know if I can make it… My head is killing me.”
Nathaniel said, mine too, but push on! We can make it!

Silence fell and they swam on. The pressure was daunting now, Zak became to panic and said “I don’t know about this stuff is this really where I am suppose to be? Maybe we are making a mistake! Maybe the bottom never comes what if my head explodes! Where are you?” again he felt a hand on hos shoulder and he heard Nathaniel’s voice say “You can do it you are a mighty merman! Just a little more. Zak’s fin touched something big and ruff next to him. It startled him! Yamel preserve me! He flaired with light just long enough to find he was next to the wall of the cliff and then total darkness came crashing in again.. He began blindly using the letters as hand holds to help get him thru and he forced himself to swim down. “This is a mistake… I just am not sure anymore.. I…I…. It is just SO dark and cold.”

For the third time he felt Nathaniel’s hand on his shoulder. “You can do it, don’t panic! Just believe, You are not alone in this pressure, Just keep going.” Zak said Ok, your right! I CAN make it”. Zak shouted and swam down with all the remaining strength he had left. It was a desperate last ditch sprint into the darkness. Zak felt overwhelmed with panic but his friends hand was still on him. Zak felt himself begin to pass out, then he was shoved forward by Nathaniel’s hand as he spun into the abyss clutching his head.

Light! There was bright light below him. The pressure was gone. He opened his eyes and saw something below him that brought back memories of looking out of and airplane and seeing clouds below him. He breathed deeply and found the water was more pure then it had ever been before. He turned and looked up and saw the entire wall clear as day illuminated by the sand below and the light of the ocean’s surface much further up. The darkness was gone! He would have begun reading the 5 mile high scroll that stretch magnificently before him and endlessly to either side, but then he saw Nathaniel 500 yards up. He was clutching his head, and shouting desperately “This is the truth! I can make it!” as he swam down. Nathaniel came rushing towards Zak and blindly crashed right into him.

A long gasp of relief came out of Nathaniel’s mouth. Then he began to weep. “What kind of merman am I? I helped win you to the sea and it is my job to be your teacher! I swam after you to protect you, only to watch paralyzed in fear as you defeated the sharks just to panic with doubt right after that…. Thank you! If it were not for you putting your hand on my shoulder and pushing me thru the darkness and pressure I would have never made it! I am such a failure.” Zak said “What? Are you kidding? I never touched you! It was you that put your hand on my shoulder and talked me down. It was you that finally pushed me thru! I would have never had the strength without…..” They both fell silent and blinked at each other… Nathan grinned stupidly and started to weep again “Yamel! It was Yamel! That was his hand not yours! Not mine!” They shouted, hollered, wept, and marveled, surrounded by the bright glowing sand below them, the sea around them and the great scroll of the king before them.