Overt
“I think… We should be open about it. First, we can spread the word about it, try to rouse some suspicion, maybe, highlight all the other wrongdoings that any other members of the pack may have gone through.” You suggested.
“What do you mean?” The female wondered. “So like, just talk to people about stuff for a while? Share our experiences, and then see if anyone else feels similarly, if we could get anyone else on our side then?” She questioned.
“Yes! Exactly. I think if we just bring this to the people first and foremost, then we would all be able to work towards an even better outcome for us all!” You continued.
“You know what. That doesn’t sound too bad. I suppose.” The female mentioned. “I can’t see how this could go wrong in any way.” She continued.
Upon getting your peer-reviewed confirmation, the two of you started to execute the plan. For a while, it seemed as though you were both garnering a lot of support for your cause. Lots of people were on board, but somehow- something seemed to go wrong after a bit of time had passed. All the tensions- tiny things- all adding up, ultimately prompted you to approach the female seal once again.
“Hey. Amira, do you think we can talk a bit about this?” You asked. The woman quickly agreed, and the two of you quickly went off to find a more private place for you to discuss. “So, have you been noticing something kind of weird going on?” You asked. “Like, I don’t know. It just seems like we’re starting to hit a brick wall with our plan or something.” You continued.
“I didn’t want to make a too big deal about it or anything…” Amira started. “But honestly, I was wondering if it was just me… Or if it really was something going on.” Your heart almost leapt out of your chest with a rush of enjoyable adrenaline when she had agreed with you. “I don’t know what we can do about that? What do you think is going on?” She asked you.
“Well. I think it may have something to do with the outliers.” You suggested. “I mean, of course, not everyone’s been through this, though at this point, we’ve had a lot of the others on our side, but also, there will always be some outliers.”
“If that’s the case, then it seems like there may be someone out here pretending?” She started.
“Do you mean like, someone is only pretending to agree with us?” You pondered really hard for a moment. “If that’s the case, then maybe they’re not being open about this because they’re trying to sabotage what we’re trying to do.”
“Wow, that makes sense.” Amira was baffled by how quickly you were able to figure out what was really going on here. “Who do you think that may be, then?” She asked.
“Hmm. Okay, that one, I’m not completely sure about.” You continued. For a moment, the two of you sat around all day just talking about who it may be. Honestly, you didn’t really even notice that others were cutting their eyes at the two of you as you isolated yourselves. Stuck in your discussion, the two of you didn’t even notice the crowd starting to form around you as you two talked. It had been a while at this point, and honestly, you had been having talks like that for some time now and people had obviously started to notice.
Maybe it wasn’t for the better that you all were transparent and told everyone about your plans. Somehow, being surrounded by all the angry faces looking at you both caused the two of you to stop mid sentence. It caused you to feel a bit insecure about yourself and your decisions up until this point. You could feel your face flushing red and the energy you were receiving from them was completely negative. Someone stepped forward, breaking the silence.
“We’ve heard about what you’re doing. It’s inappropriate.” They confronted you two.
“What are you talking about? Didn’t you agree with us that the leadership is flawed? We need a new leader. Some new age for our pack, especially since everything else seems to be changing so fast.”
“I mean we agree with you to an extent but some of the stuff you’ve told us didn’t set well with some other members.” Another young female added.
“Listen. You’ve been telling everybody different things okay? That’s not right?”
“What! You’ve been doing what?” Amira asked, turning to you.
“It’s not what it looks like.” You said, almost a bit frantically.
“Is what they’re saying true?” She asked. Despite trying your best to talk your way out of the situation, the harsh truth was that they were right. Of course, you had to tell everyone different stories so that you can relate to them even more just to get them on your side. Now, it was all backfiring on you. Your stomach started to feel heavy with a cold brick of anxiety freezing up in your gut. Fingers and flippers fidgeted in anxiety as they continued to confront you.
This continued for a while, question after question and it was like an endless trial of judgment. It really hurt you. It made you reflect about everything you had done so far and the shame associated with your actions and exactly whatever the hell you were thinking when you made them.
You couldn’t really figure it out. It was almost as if something had come over you. Of course, it was something that’s not yourself compelling you to do bad things. It was more overwhelming to you than anything you ever experienced. You couldn’t help yourself, your legs started to move on their own and it was as though you had completely lost control of your body. Quickly, you shambled off into the ocean.
Others started following you, nipping at your tail and banishing you from the tribe. They chased you down for miles and miles and you could feel every muscle in your body fighting just to take you further away from there. You couldn’t say how far you had come, and you couldn’t even tell how long you had been fighting for but before long you could tell that the amount of fight in you was just about all used up.
Before long, you could feel yourself starting to fade. Your body was on fire from exhaustion but the icy cold depths of the cold ocean water started to take its toll on your. The joints in your body started to creak and you could feel yourself really starting to slow down. Eventually, they would push you down under water as they nipped at you and at one point when you went under, you felt yourself slipping out of the suit and back into your own reality.
You were jolted out of your little fantasy story like a rude awakening. Your body was a bit sore and stiff from everything, but after that whole experience, you were just happy that you could simply just try again if you wanted any re-do’s.
Written by Drifting Dragon on 11 December 2023
The end (for now)