Wendy tapped Marissa on the shoulder. “Do you remember the diving sign language?” Wendy asked. Her voice sounded nasal with her mask covering her nose.

“Sort of,” Marissa said.

Wendy went over all the key signals, demonstrating them with her free hand. She had to hold on firmly with the other so she wasn’t knocked from the platform. Marissa held on with both hands throughout the review.

“Got them?” Wendy asked.

Marissa signaled okay.

“All right!” Wendy said, slapping her on the shoulder.

“You ladies ready?” Wynn asked. He had joined them at the stern of the boat, taking a seat on the gunwale.

Wendy said she was all set. Marissa merely nodded.

“Follow me!” Wynn said. He put in his mouthpiece, then somersaulted backwards into the water. Wendy followed almost immediately.

Marissa put in her mouthpiece and took her first breath of the cool, compressed air. Turning her head, she looked longingly into the boat. She caught sight of Rafe as he disappeared below. Glancing back into the water, she saw some algae stream past, then some seaweed. The current seemed swift, heading out to sea.

Unable to delay any longer, Marissa grabbed hold of her mask, let go of the boat, and plunged into the water.

The instant the bubbles disappeared, Marissa was astounded. It was as if she had leaped into another world. The clarity of the water was beyond her expectations. She was surrounded by butterfly and angel fish. Thirty feet ahead, Wendy and Wynn were waiting at the lip of the channel. She could see them as clearly as if they were suspended in the air. Below her the sand sparkled, giving her the impression she could see each and every grain. Looking to her right and left, she saw walls of coral in fantastic shapes and colors. Behind her she could see the bottom of the boat with the shark cage suspended from its cable.

Without the slightest effort Marissa found herself carried by the current toward the other two.

After everyone had exchanged okay signs, they started to swim out of the channel, veering to the left. Marissa paused at the channel’s edge and peered uneasily into the eerie abysmal depths. The sound of her breathing echoed in her ears. Fighting against a primeval terror, she shuddered to think of what creatures were lurking in the cold, black vastness.

Marissa saw that Wendy and Wynn had already left her behind. She swam hard to catch up to them, scared of being left alone.

Her fears were soon overcome by the sheer beauty of the world around her. All her phobias vanished as she found herself enveloped in a silvery cloud of cardinal fish.