A few days later she broke surface, having waited until the terrible sun had departed on it�s journey around the edge of the world. There were little dancing lights and much noise, as little creatures in the distance played like the schools of tiny fish that lived in the depths. She had watched them the past few moons; had grown to like these simple creatures. Some had even played with her. They would set out into the sea in small shells that rose and fell with the waves. Then they cast into the ocean large looped objects made of some seaweed like substance that was not alive any more. She played with these, tearing into them and once in a while dragging the little craft they set abroad in behind her. She felt very close to them when this happened. The only thing she did not understand was when all the other littler sea creatures got entangled and hurt in this seaweed. The land creatures would then haul them in and disentangle them, but rarely returned any to the water. They seemed to enjoy her playing with the seaweed though, making loud noises and jumping around a lot - although she never showed herself to them.
It was a beautiful land. The long white beaches and those unfamiliar things that rose into the sky - a little like underwater reefs - but somehow more definite, and all in similar patterns. Perhaps these were creatures too, she thought as she rubbed her back against them. They felt lifeless, but the other, smaller, creatures that jumped around and made nice melodious noises with their bodies were definitely alive. She was drawn by the sound and the light and the strangeness. Leaving the safety of the ocean behind her, she went among them, writhing and twisting as they did in time to the sounds. They seemed as delighted as she was, pressing their bodies against her and making more noises. She noticed they had four tentacles, and were perhaps related to some of the other sea creatures that were her friends. She felt like she belonged here, and wriggled even more, jumping around as they did. A procession formed as they wound among the rock shells (she had realised that these fragile creatures lived among these shells much as the little scurrying things in the sea that had similar tentacles). When she felt short of breath, she drank from the vast vats of liquid that they all carried and partook of. It was different from the water she lived in, but made her feel all at once more strong, and lighter on her feet. Soon everything started to go hazy, but she felt wonderful, although she would remember no more of the night.
She awoke in the morning suddenly, short of breath. Her head throbbed as if she had butted a reef, her back was burning up from the sun, and long pieces of seaweed bit into her body. As her head cleared and eyes focused, she realised that she was surrounded by the same fragile little creatures; who now jumped and made noises much the same as on the night before. However, this time she felt uneasy. The cords were biting deeper and the hard objects that they threw at her did not taste like food. One of the creatures suddenly rushed at her with a long sharp swordfish beak that, for some reason, reflected the sun. As it went into her hide, she realised that these creatures meant to harm her. With a roar of pain, she tore the cords that surrounded her and rushed back toward her beloved ocean, crushing many of the little creatures underfoot. They jumped higher and made louder noises. She reached the safety of the ocean and sunk deep into its depths to nurse her wounds. Later, when she tried to make some sense of her encounter with these creatures, she decided that the burning rays of the sun must turn these creatures� heads. After all, at night, they had been perfectly friendly.
She continued to roam these same spaces, although she never again made contact with the land creatures. She had fallen in love with the land. The sprawling beaches with the beautiful white sand that she could roll about in for hours. The specially beautiful sea creatures that lived in the clear blue waters by the beaches. However, she never again went anywhere near the strange land creatures with four tentacles who lived and moved around in shells. She could not understand their ways.
On Salcette beach, in Goa, stories are told to this day of the sea-monster that emerged from the ocean to participate in a Goan carnival. In the beginning, people had thought it was some strange new puppet with men inside controlling it�s movements. No one had been scared, for the monster had been gentle - at first. Older inhabitants will even swear that they danced with it. Although it turned violent and killed many of their kind at dawn, they will still tell you (when they have drunk a good quantity of fenny) that on that night, the magic of the music, the fenny, and the spirit of the carnival had once lured even a sea-monster to partake of the legendary Goan hospitality.