Moonlit Coral
409 Words
The dawn light painted the horizon in soft hues of orange and pink, but Iris was already awake, pacing the deck of the Horizon. The haunting melody still lingered in her mind, clinging to her thoughts like salt to her skin.
“Morning, Sunshine,” Alex greeted, appearing with his ever-present thermos of coffee in hand. His eyes scanned her, one brow arching in that knowing way of his. “You look like you’ve been burning the midnight oil again.”
“I have,” Iris admitted, her voice distant and unfocused.
Alex tilted his head, his gaze sharpening. “You’re worse than usual today. Spill it. What’s going on?”
For a fleeting moment, Iris considered telling him. Telling him about the song the haunting melody that had seemed to rise from the ocean itself. But she hesitated, the words sticking in her throat. Instead, she shook her head and forced a casual tone. “Nothing. Just… couldn’t sleep.”
“Couldn’t sleep? That’s putting it lightly,” Alex said, his voice edged with concern. “You’ve been pacing like a caged tiger.”
Iris mustered a smile, though it barely held. “Let’s just focus on the dive plans for today, okay?”
By midmorning, the crew had prepared the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for another dive. Iris stood in the control room, watching the live feed as the ROV descended into the water. The sea grew darker, the sunlight fading into a dim, bluish haze.
The glowing coral came into view like a distant constellations bright, pulsing clusters of light that seemed alive in more ways than one. Iris leaned forward, transfixed by the sight.
“Zoom in,” she instructed.
The camera panned closer, revealing the coral’s intricate patterns. Each glowing branch was dotted with darkened patches, almost like burns. Iris’s heart sank. The decay was spreading faster than she’d feared.
“What do you think it’s from?” Rory, the young deckhand, asked. He had joined them in the control room, his eyes wide with curiosity.
“Pollution, most likely,” Alex said with a shrug. “Chemical runoff, micro plastics, take your pick
But Iris shook her head. “It’s too precise. Look at the edges of the decays it's almost like …” She trailed off, unable to articulate the strange wrongness of what she was seeing.
“Like what?” Rory pressed.
“Like something’s targeting it,” Iris finished quietly.
- Writer
