His Destiny

The Great Barrier Reef is a sight to behold for anyone, though nearly mandatory for divers to see it. It’s a spectacular range of colors and life, a unique exhibit of nature’s true potential. Arnold slowly swam around the outside of the reef, viewing it from a safe distance. It was his responsibility to not interfere with the reef’s life directly, as it was home to a diversity of species; clownfish, blue tangs, rays, whale sharks, etc. He floated above a rather empty depth, where he was about level with the reef. Oddly enough, he saw a variety of fish leave with an octopus out to who-knows-where.

He ‘stumbled’ in place as he watched a massive whale shark emerge from the reef. He knew they were harmless, but still, a massive creature emerging from the deep would shock anybody. He started to head in its direction, though moved up so as to not crash into it. Surprisingly, the whale shark altered its course back onto the diver. Chuckling, he wondered what that meant, though he remained calm. Watching as it grew closer, he started to hear the shark communicate, maybe with him? But then, before he knew it, it was on him. In the middle of a call, the whale shark’s mouth was wide open and he was pulled into it.

The shark’s noises immediately ceased as it started choking on him and he also ceased freezing. He started trying to desperately swim out, unknowingly sealing his own fate. He could hear a wet gulp around him and the throat grabbed his feet. Before he could make any further attempts, it gulped him down more, squeezing him hard on all sides. He saw the reef one last time through the fish’s maw before being fully swallowed. Luckily, the esophagus was short and he was quickly deposited into the stomach, though it was only slightly less tight. He still had oxygen for a while, but he wasn’t sure if it’d save him from becoming a much less fortunate Jonah.

The whale shark, named Destiny was freaking out. Though nobody was around her to hear at the moment, she said, “Oh no, oh no! I swallowed a human! What do I do, what do I do?” Her sounds were unintelligible to her accidental prey of course, though he could sense the animal’s panic. Its stomach wasn’t nearly as concerned with the ethics of swallowing a human, it merely accepted the meal that had been deposited, if rather big. She suddenly stopped swimming in circles and said, “Oh, I know! Marlin will know what to do,” and swam back to the reef.

Marlin was resting in his home when he was startled from drowsiness by a booming voice and the blockage of light. He muttered, “Destiny…” and exited his abode. Putting on a friendly demeanor he asked, “Yes, Destiny? How may I help… you…?” trailing off as he noticed something wriggling in her belly. She started, “Okay, Marlin, you know how I’m shortsighted and stuff? I need Bailey to help me around? Well, I saw a human outside the reef and--” Marlin cut her off by shouting, “A human?! Are they still out there? We gotta make sure the kids are okay!” He started darting off before Destiny continued, “No, no, he’s not out there anymore! He’s um, well, I was trying to talk to him and I may have reached him faster than expected, and now…” She blushed, rubbing a fin over her belly.

Marlin couldn’t believe his eyes and just chuckled, “You, you…” He took a moment to laugh and swam up to her underside. “Wow. So that’s a human in there?” She quietly said, “Yes,” but then louder and faster explained, “I-I didn’t mean to! It was an accident, I thought he was further away…” Marlin stopped her guilty dialogue and said, “It’s okay, Destiny! It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” He rubbed a fin across the bumps, the human seemed so big in there. But it must’ve been tiny to Destiny. She said, “It’s really fine?”

He swam back out from under her and said, “Yeah, sure! I mean, a human? Pff. This isn’t your Institute or anything. Just relax, go about your day!” He was all-around very cheery about the whole ordeal. Fine for humans to be someone else’s food for once. She asked, “Will he be okay? I mean, he had all the diver equipment on…” Marlin waved away her concerns and said, “Yeah, yeah. You know humans! He’ll be fiiiiine.” She seemed finally calmed by his words, so she smiled brightly at him and headed off elsewhere. Marlin sighed and finally returned to his anemone to rest.

Swimming around Destiny wondered what the diver in her stomach was thinking. She could feel slight struggles here and there, though she couldn’t see them on her underside. Inside the stomach, Arnold was attempting to force the fish to regurgitate him, though it seemed less likely with every moment. He had no idea how much oxygen he had left, or how much his suit was protecting him from the stomach itself. He couldn’t see the meter nor the pooling juices around him.

At worst, he still had his knives if he ended up needing to cut himself out… or not. He couldn’t feel his knives on his suit anywhere. He audibly said, “Oh fuck,” though no humans were around to hear. Destiny heard and felt a pang of concern for her human friend. She wished she could tell him it’d be alright, but he’d probably just freak out more. Instead she swam in a pattern she thought might be soothing for her passenger.

Arnold felt the stomach sway back and forth like a much softer and thicker hammock. It felt kind of nice, really. He could hear loud gurgling around him, along with what sounded like a sort of humming. Probably from the whale shark. He decided to take off his mask, as the stomach was mostly free of water. He found some difficulty undoing it oddly enough, but eventually got to it, dropping it into the stomach acids below him. He also decided he didn’t really need the oxygen tank or related equipment. Whatever it was at, it was low, and the cylinder killed his back.

Freed of the bulkier equipment, he finally relaxed into the fleshy walls. They shaped to his form perfectly and it felt nice. The noises and humming provided a wonderful white noise and he idly splashed his fins in the stomach juices, getting some on his face. It stung a bit, so he stopped that and simply started nodding off. As he sat in the stomach there was a brief noise as his discarded equipment left the stomach, followed by a muffled belch in the distance. He finally fell asleep feeling perfectly calm.

Destiny, outside, was surprised by her belching up the diver’s equipment. She said to her digesting food, “Oh, um, I hope you didn’t need that, Mr. Human!” The only answer was a gurgle, so she went back to humming and swimming. She was happy the human finally seemed to calm down, she knew Marlin was right. He’s a smart guy. She saw the school coming back, so she thought it’d be a good idea to swim over there and tell them all about her story.

Upon telling her story, the children were all immediately interested and several swam up to her belly and felt it. It was still decently lumpy as the human only just started to be digested. They made her burp a few times, which prompted collective “Eww”s. Marlin did his best to stifle a chuckle and Hank shot him an amused glance. He told him the story to him which resulted in receiving a high-five from the octopus. Ultimately though, Destiny’s food was forgotten by the next day, as per the norm for food.