Short Story: The Hydrequid’s Whisper

“Clear out people! Shipping coming in.”

Leo Granger looked up with mild interest from mopping the floors as the semi pulled into the transport garage. The Technofield Aquarium didn’t get many new animals anymore, not since they started the Intensive Oceanic Breeding Program. In fact, since they outlawed the capture of wild animals over a century ago, none of the zoos and aquariums had any wild-caught animals.

He went back to mopping.

“Be careful guys! She’s feisty.” The director of the aquarium, Jennifer Lumez, slowly opened up the back of the truck. Leo looked up again. What kind of creature was in that truck?

An eerie sound rattled the garage, a squeaky, shuddering squeal. Miss Lumez lifted the door to show the creature.

Inside the glass transport tank was nothing but a foot of  water.

“What?!” Miss Lumez sputtered. She glared at the three men who’d driven the truck. “I thought I told you to bring it!”

“She’s in there all right. I got this gash from her biting.” The tallest of the men pulled up his sleeve to show a bite wound.

What kind of creature would make a gash like that? Leo wondered.

“She’s hiding, then.” Miss Lumez looked at the men. “You know what to do.”

Tall Guy nodded and pulled what looked like a taser from his belt. He opened the door in the side of the tank and fired, sending electrical volts through the water.

An enraged squeal split Leo’s eardrums. Out of the door came the water itself.

The water landed on the floor right in front of Leo, immediately morphing into a magnificent creature. It had four long legs, a waterfall-like mane and tail, and a shimmering, diaphanous body.

A horse made out of water? Leo stared in shock and wondered at the spectacular creature. Her deep, aqua-colored eyes stared at him with almost a pleading look.

“Help me.”

Wait…

Did the water horse actually speak to him?

He wouldn’t know, because as soon as he opened his mouth, the men started toward the horse, and she disappeared into Leo’s dirty water bucket.

“Excellent job, Leo!” Miss Lumez praised, even though Leo wasn’t quite sure about what he had done. “Who knows where that beast could have run off to?”

“What… what was it?” Leo asked.

“A hydrequid, dear. I’ve been trying to find one for years to add to our menagerie.” Miss Lumez pushed up her glasses and grabbed the mop bucket. “I’m sorry, but I must take this so we can transport her to her new home.”

“But… how did you find her?” Leo sputtered.

“That is none of your business. But since you show such interest in her, you can be with Tabby on feeding duty.” Miss Lumez put the bucket on a wheeled cart and pushed it towards the big double doors.

Leo blinked in shock. What had just happened?

***

The next time he saw the Hydrequid, it was in its tank.

The Technofield Aquarium had the best and most advanced animal habitats in the world. Specific studies had shown exactly which habitats best suited the creatures, and those habitats were recreated here. To date, they were the only aquarium with all the species of whales and dolphins.

But unlike the other creatures who happily swam in their artificial homes, the Hydrequid looked unhappy.

Instead of a horse, as she was before, she was part horse with a scaled tail, like an equine version of a mermaid. Miss Lumez explained that this was her true water form; the horse form from earlier was her “landform”. The Hydrequid was swimming in circles, slamming against the glass walls in an effort to free herself.

“I should ask Todd to get some sedatives in her, before she hurts herself.” Miss Lumez grumbled. “All right, Leo, taking care of this girl is a critical job. She needs to have an ample supply of the kelp feed that we created, and if she doesn’t like that, we’ll figure out something else. She’s never to be let onto land, and only you and Tabby can take care of her. Is that understood?”

Leo nodded, although he felt more confused than before. Since when did creatures like this exist? Miss Lumez was always a strict realist until this point, scoffing when one of the employees brought in a recent news article that the Edinburg Aquarium had finally captured the Loch Ness “monster”, in truth a plesiosaur. And why was she so protective of it? The bottlenose dolphins alone had a team of seven handlers and feeders.

“Any questions?” Miss Lumez asked.

“Just one.” He pointed at the Hydrequid. “How is it possible?”

Miss Lumez blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I thought you said that creatures like that… thing didn’t exist.”

“I may have said that at one point.” Miss Lumez agreed. “But that was before I saw the evidence, the rewards. A creature like this is going to put our facility on the map.” She looked up. “Ah, here’s Tabby.”

Tabitha Edwards, or “Tabby”, was the newest Technofield Aquarium employee. She was only three years younger than Leo, at eighteen, and she talked to every animal as if they could understand her– even down to the crayfish. Today she seemed… different somehow. He couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Now, we’ll see how she likes the kelp.” Miss Lumez said. “I trust that she is in good care of you.”

“Of course.” Tabby said.

“If anything happens to  her, then you’re both fired.” Miss Lumez looked at her watch. “I’m afraid I have to run. I have a press conference to attend to advertise our newest addition.”

Leo and Tabby stared awkwardly at each other as Miss Lumez walked away.

Tabby glanced at the distressed Hydrequid. “It isn’t right.” She mumbled.

Leo blinked. “What?”

“It’s one thing to rescue a creature from the sea.” Tabby said. “Like they used to do at SeaWorld, long ago.”

“It was inconvenient.” Leo said. “There were so many injured animals they couldn’t keep up. And that was almost a century ago.”

“Well, she’s not injured.” Tabby said. “And we haven’t had a wild animal here in five decades. All the animals here were bred from wild ones. Capturing wild animals for zoos and aquariums is frowned upon. Why the sudden change?”

“She is an unusual creature.” Leo said. “It could bring in more visitors.”

“She’s unhappy.” Tabby crossed her arms, wincing as the Hydrequid slammed into the glass. “It would take breaking her spirit to get her to calm down; no amount of sedatives will extinguish her desire for freedom.”

“Well there’s nothing we can do about it.” Leo grunted. “So let’s just get the job done.”

He really hoped that he misheard Tabby when she mumbled, “We’ll see about that.”

***

“Come on, Hydrequid thing.” Leo grumbled, tossing kelp into the tank. “Eat.”

The Hydrequid had exhausted herself to the point that she was laying on the sandy bottom of her habitat, her once-bright eyes dark. The seaweed floated down to her, but she ignored it.

She’d been refusing to eat for three days. Miss Lumez was furious and said that if they couldn’t get her to regroup by the time the exhibit opened next week, there would be consequences.

He trusted Miss Lumez to find an irrational but still hurtful punishment for them.

“I don’t understand what Miss Lumez expects us to do, with her being so depressed.” Leo whipped around when he recognized the unusual muffle to Tabby’s voice. His coworker was dressed in scuba gear.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked.

“I’m going down there.” Tabby said. “Try to see if she’ll interact with me. The more I observe her, the more I think she has more of an equine’s mentality. She needs friends, and she’s lonely.”

“Right. And you’re going to dive down there and make this a regular episode of Heartland, right? Do a little join-up, get her to trust you? She’s wild, Tabs. Whatever “friendship” you think you have with her is in your head. She’ll come around.”

“You can’t understand.” Tabby pulled on her diving flippers. “You didn’t hear her.”

He stopped. “Wait… what?”

Tabby shook her blond ponytail. “Never mind.” She pulled on the mask, grabbed the rest of the kelp, and dove in.

“Tabby!” He shouted. “This is stupid!”

She swam down to the bottom, a trail of bubbles following her.

***

Tabby gazed down at the striking Hydrequid. She was a beautiful creature, but the independent look in her eyes was gone.

They’ve broken you, haven’t they? She thought, grasping onto the bucket.

She exhaled noisily, alerting the Hydrequid. She jerked up her head, swimming up from the floor.

That’s what I want to see. Tabby smiled. Move around a bit.
The Hyrdequid let out a creaky snort, somewhere between a horse and a dolphin. She looked at the kelp in the bucket.

Come on girl, it’s time to eat. Tabby silently pleaded. You can’t starve.

The Hydrequid swam closer, until she was face to face with Tabby.

“Show kindness, me.”

Tabby blinked, trying to stay calm. It happened again!

How can you speak to me? Tabby wondered.

“No know.” The Hydrequid flicked its tail. “Just do.”

How can you read my thoughts?

“No know.”

Why aren’t you eating?

“Not hungry. Miss home. Miss family.”

Tabby nodded. I understand.

“Male-friend understands me. Male-friend ignores me.”

You mean Leo? Tabby looked up at the surface. He doesn’t understand.

“Yes.” The Hydrequid sighed. “What name?”

I’m Tabby. Tabby held out a hand. The Hydrequid brushed against it, feeling solid under her fingertips despite her translucent body.

“I called Seashell.” The Hydrequid blinked. “You call me Seashell.”

Seashell is a pretty name.

“You friend?” Seashell gave a watery nicker.

I would love to be your friend.

“Friends home, they play.” Seashell said. “You play too?”

I can’t swim as fast as you. And I only have so much air.

“You climb on back.” Seashell flipped. “You hold mane. We play.”

Tabby’s heart was beating faster than ever. Yes, I would love that!

She slowly swam over to Seashell, grasping the floating mane. It felt like seaweed. She grasped it tightly and suddenly, Seashell was off.

It was more thrilling than riding the orcas, the whale sharks, the dolphins, and the humpbacks combined. Seashell was fast and she spun around in the water, taking Tabby on a wild ride.

She noticed that Seashell was swimming towards the surface. What are you doing?

“We jump!” Seashell squealed, her powerful tail propelling them out of the water. Tabby heard Leo’s scream of horror as Seashell jumped and spun, Tabby clinging on for dear life.

“TABBY GET OFF OF HER!” He shrieked.

Tabby opened her mouth to answer and lost her regulator.

***

Leo had seen the scuba diving regulator fall out of Tabby’s mouth after he yelled at her.

But Tabby still hadn’t surfaced.

“Tabby!” He screamed, staring at the water.

The eerie sound of the Hydrequid was his only answer.

It was all his fault. Tabby was drowning because of him. He had to do something.

He jumped in, fully clothed.

***

Get back to the surface. Tabby spun around in the water, kicking off from the Hydrequid’s back. She groped around for her regulator, but it was twisted away by the powerful current of the Hydrequid’s tail.

Which way is up? She struggled to regroup herself. She heard the sound of someone else jumping in.

Leo.

She could only hold her breath for so long, and the sand in the tank had been stirred up. It was now impossible to see straight.

Don’t panic, don’t panic. She told herself, slowly kicking toward the surface. The  Hydrequid swam by her, throwing her into another barrel roll with its powerful tail while shifting her goggles so water poured into her mask. Blackness edged her vision.

He was too late. He wouldn’t be able to save her soon enough. She was out of oxygen.

She twisted towards the surface in a final attempt as her mind slipped into darkness. The last memory she had was a vague sensation of something pushing her legs.

***

Leo burst to the surface, gasping. “Tabby!”

He couldn’t find her. The water stung his eyes too much for him to open them.

Something brushed against his foot. He remembered the Hydrequid.

It ate Tabby! His thoughts screamed. And now it’s coming for me too!

He saw a colorful spot below him.

Suddenly, Tabby emerged from the water, on the back of the Hydrequid. The distraught-looking creature stared at Leo. “Help friend! Help friend!”

The creature talked again.

“No time! Help friend!” The Hydrequid pleaded.

Leo grasped Tabby around the waist and dragged her to the edge. He rolled her over so her head was facing downward and slapped her back.

Tabby immediately threw up the water.

“Tabs!” Leo sighed in relief. “Thank goodness you’re alive!”

“Of course… COUGH… I’m alive… HACK.” Tabby looked down at the water. “Where is Seashell?”

“Seashell?” Leo looked around, noticing that the Hydrequid was swimming toward the edge. She nuzzled Tabby with her watery nose.

“Friend okay?” The Hydrequid asked.

“I’m okay, Seashell.” Tabby whispered.

“HOW CAN SHE TALK?!” Leo asked. “Animals can’t talk!!”

“I don’t know. Like I said, there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Seashell.” Tabby stroked the Hydrequid’s neck. “She saved my life, Leo.”

“I’m aware of that. But you shouldn’t have been swimming in there anyway.”

“Is very hungry.” Seashell said. “Food?”

Tabby smiled and dumped the kelp into the pen. “She misses her friends. She has a family back home.”

Leo sighed. “A lot of the wild-caughts do.”

“Could any of them verbalize?” Tabby pushed her wet hair back from her face. “We have to free her, Leo. The ocean isn’t too far. If we wait for a rainy night, we could smuggle her out of here.”

“No way!” Leo yelped. “We could get fired. I happen to like this job, and I am not going home just to tell my mom that I lost my high-paying job over freeing a creature THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST!”

Seashell narrowed her eyes, looking offended. “Exist? I exist. I live. I swim. I eat. How do I not exist?”

“Don’t listen to him, Seashell.” Tabby crossed her arms. “Fine then. You can stay out of it. Just don’t rat on me, okay?”

“This is dangerous, Tabs.”
Tabby looked at Seashell. “I think it’s worth it.”

***

Leo  wasn’t sure when Tabby was going to attempt to smuggle out Seashell. All he knew was that he wanted no part in it.

A week passed uneventfully. An oddly convenient leak in the bathrooms had closed the aquarium for another couple days, which infuriated Miss Lumez even more and ended with one of the janitors being fired. Leo considered it wise to just stay out of her way.

Tabby hadn’t spoken to him since that day, although he often overheard her speaking to Seashell.

He kind of missed it. Annoying as she was, Tabby was good for a conversation, especially when it came to funny stories. Now they just acted like the other didn’t exist, going about their work. Leo’s job was preparing Seashell’s feed and making sure that the water filtration systems were working. It wasn’t hard work, and since the janitor had been fired Miss Lumez chose Leo to take his place, giving him less free time to think about his worries. Tabby fed and handled Seashell– he wasn’t sure what else she did, because she spent all of her time at the Hydrequid’s habitat.

She was getting awfully attached to Seashell, especially since she planned on releasing her.

Maybe she would change her mind after all.

***

Tabby smiled as she heard the crack of thunder outside. Tonight was the night. The rain had already started, but she couldn’t leave until Miss Lumez went home for the night.

“When we go?” Seashell asked eagerly for the fifth time.

“Soon.” Tabby promised.

“When we get to sea, I show you family.” Seashell nodded. “They happy see you.”

Tabby didn’t answer. She was watching Miss Lumez walk out of the building, towards her car.

“She’s finally leaving.” Tabby exhaled. “Thank goodness.”

“Miss Lumez bad.” Seashell snorted.

“Very bad.” Tabby waited until the Mercedes had driven out of the parking lot. She looked at Seashell. “Come on, we have to move quickly.”

Seashell leapt onto land, her tail morphing into horse hindquarters.

“Jerry is still on shift, but he mostly stays inside his office.” Tabby said. “If we’re quiet, we won’t alert him.”

Seashell nodded and shuffled behind her, leaving damp hoofprints behind. “You come with? When I go home? You become part of family?”

Tabby didn’t admit that the thought had come to mind. “I can’t, Seashell.”

“We swim forever in ocean. I know Leader. He give you fins.” She shook her cascading tail. “You stay with me.”

“I’d miss life on land.” Tabby said. “But I can come visit you.”

“Yes.” Seashell nodded. “Must visit.”

They walked out onto the parking lot, Tabby quickly getting drenched. She pulled her raincoat closer and shivered.

Then she saw the headlights.

“Oh crud!” Tabby gasped, recognizing the Mercedes. Miss Lumez was coming back!

“Seashell, hide!” Tabby exclaimed. The Hydrequid melted into a puddle and Tabby looked around wildly for a place to conceal herself.

But the car was already parked in front of her.

“Tabitha!” Miss Lumez jumped from her Mercedes. “What do you think you’re doing here past hours? You know only the night staff are allowed at the aquarium past seven.”

Tabby’s mouth went dry. “I… I…”

“If this is about that Hydrequid…” Miss Lumez growled.

“She’s with me, Miss Lumez.” A familiar voice said. Tabby whirled around and saw Leo.

What’s he doing here? She wondered.

“Your janitorial duties require help?’ Miss Lumez sniffed.

“The Hydrequid was acting crazy. I was worried she was going to hurt herself. I called Tabby to calm her down. The last thing we want is for the Hydrequid to get hurt before the reopening.”

Tabby was stunned. I thought Leo didn’t want to help me.

“Fine then.” Miss Lumez grumbled, getting back in her car.

“Where are you going? You just got here.” Leo said.

“Thought I’d left some files. Turns out they were in the bottom of the car. I would have been home by now if you two weren’t being so weird.” Miss Lumez shook mud from her shoe with a grumble and restarted the engine. Tabby held her breath until she was safely away.

“Well that was close.” Leo said. “Where’s Seashell?”

The Hydrequid morphed into her land form. “Bad lady gone?” She asked.

“Yes.” Tabby looked at Leo. “Uh, thanks for that.”

“You owe me.” He said. “All right, where are we going?”

Tabby blinked. “Hun?”

“Well I’d rather not stand in the rain this whole time, and I’m sure Seashell would like to get home.”

“You’re coming along?” Tabby asked. “But I thought you said…”

Leo shrugged. “I already got on Miss Lumez’s blacklist. Doesn’t matter if I do one more thing.”

Tabby smiled. “Then I guess it’s to the ocean from here.”

“I know a shortcut. There are some steps down to the beach in the back.” Leo said.

Tabby rubbed her arms as she and Seashell followed him. I guess people can surprise you.

***

Despite the storm, they made it down to the beach safely. The sea was choppy with the wind, but Seashell was gazing at it like a toddler looking at a new playground.

“Home!” She squealed.

Leo heard replying whinnies from the sea.

It was a sight to behold. Dozens of Hydrequids sprung from the deep, flicking their brightly colored tails. They seemed to glow in the midst of the storm, shouting out joyously to their lost friend.

Seashell reared and jumped into the surf, melting into it. They didn’t see her again until she jumped up in her water form, her green and pink tail shimmering.

“Goodbye, Tabby-Friend and Leo-Friend!” She shouted.

And then the Hydrequids were gone. Thunder rumbled from above.

Leo exhaled. “That was amazing.”

Tabby smiled. “No kidding.”

***

Miss Lumez never could figure out where the Hydrequid went, and was greatly embarrassed after she revealed the next exhibit only to find her prize creature was gone. The media was so scathing she moved to Fiji and was never heard from again. But she wasn’t the only one. 

Leo and Tabby had also mysteriously disappeared that night, and despite extensive searches in the area, they were never found.

Where they went, only the Hydrequid herd knew.