"Wow...."
"I guess it's morning"
"My whole body hurts, it's so hard to sleep in the middle of the street."
A boy, with short wavy brown hair says that as he gets up from what appears to be a small hut made of wood that is located on the side of the street.
The boy's name is Fritz, he is 12 years old and an orphan, on the other hand, he is also poor, which is why he has to sleep in the middle of the street.
Unfortunately, the boy never got to know his parents since they both died. So he only survives on food and things given to him by his neighbors and friends.
"I guess at this time of the morning not many people are awake."
Fritz says that, as he scratches his eyes and prepares to leave his little hut.
As he does all that, his belly sounds a lot from hunger, but unfortunately he has nothing to eat.
"I don't know if it's polite to do what I have in mind."
"But...."
"I think I'll visit Roxanne, I bet I can have breakfast with her."
Fritz mentions the idea of going to Roxanne's house and they have been friends for a long time, you could say they grew up a lot, they are almost like brothers.
Finally, Fritz leaves his cabin and begins to walk through the town located on his island, which is right next to the island called "forbidden".
During Fritz's walk to get to the center island, it is almost impossible not to think about the inequality that can be seen.
The farther away the island is from the castle, the more poverty, disease and famine can be seen. So, Fritz's island is the island where there is more poverty, adding to it that is where you can see more robberies, murders and riots because security is very little, to the point of being null.
It is impossible for Fritz not to think about the purpose of humanity's continued existence, after all, there is 0 contact with the outside, humanity has only been limited to live in lands in the middle of the ocean to ensure their safety, because as we have been told, the continents are full of these monsters and try to move there, for some would be an assured death.
The only way to live is on these damned islands, where the rich have everything and the poor have nothing. Is this really living?" What would be the difference between living here and out there? Would it make a difference? Is being threatened daily by hunger and poverty not the same as being threatened daily by these monsters?
"I guess there are a lot of questions going through my head..."
"And none of them have answers."
After saying that, Fritz stops on the bridge, and begins to look off into the distance, just where in the distance the beginning of the continent can be seen.
"Even if I think about it, I would never dare to set foot out there, I guess I'd rather die in here than out there"
"But I think for the people of these islands, they could use some hope that there is a future out there."
After saying that, fritz stands thoughtfully looking out towards the mainland.
"I could never fight a beast, they terrify me, the thought of being eaten to death by one is my nightmare every night."
Fritz says that, but within moments he is distracted by the sound of the sea, as if something large was moving.
"Huh?"
"What is that?"
Puzzled, Fritz approaches the edge of the bridge, to verify who is making that sound.
"Could it be a person who just fell off the bridge?"
Fritz pokes his head out slowly, while shivering slightly.
As he watches the sea, he doesn't manage to notice anything, just a sudden movement in place as if someone had passed by.
"Well, I guess it was just my imagination..."
Fritz says that, as he lets out a nervous laugh.
"Fresh meat..."
"A child..."
"What will it taste like...?"
Then, as a surprise, those words as if coming from a tunnel begin to echo in Fritz's ears and subconscious, terrifying him a little.
"Come on..."
"You've got to be playing a joke on me right?...."
Fritz says that, while even his eyes and words tremble with fear.
Then...
And slowly...
A large shadow begins to make itself felt coming from the depths of the sea, leaving Fritz paralyzed to the point that he can't even take his arms off the bridge and stop looking towards the sea...
After a few seconds, the presence in the sea begins to become more evident.
Finally, out of the sea jumps a beast that has 4 small legs, is green in color and has a very large jaw. Also its skin is very similar to that of a suit of armor.
"¡¡!!"
The beast points its open jaw towards Fritz's face, ready to devour him.
"Haaaaaaaaaaa!"
Fritz lets out a scream and manages to dodge it by throwing himself backwards, but falling backwards in the process.
Although he was saved, he was completely paralyzed when he saw the giant beast in front of him.
You can see how his jaw trembles and he can't get the words out.
"I will taste your flavor..."
"Whatever it takes..."
Fritz heard again those words ringing in his ears and was completely dumbfounded since he doesn't know where it comes from.
As a reaction, Fritz started to hit his head and both ears, thinking that he is in some kind of paranoid crisis, or hunger drove him crazy.
"That's it."
"Stay there, meat."
"Don't move."
Fritz heard those words again and put both hands on the bridge.
Then, he began to hear the sea getting too rowdy.
"¡¡!!"
Then, hell appeared in front of him. For, the beast makes a leap. So that its mouth pierces the floor of the wooden bridge, getting stuck just a few centimeters away from Fritz's hand.
After that, the boy urinated and his whole body became completely paralyzed.
Amidst a mixture of the sounds of wood breaking and the voices in the boy's head, the beast managed to cross the bridge and climb up.
"This must be a nightmare!"
"This can't be happening to me just today!"
"I must be dreaming!"
"Of all the wood I must not be awake!"
The boy quickly got up and started running across the bridge amidst screaming and watery eyes, adding snot dripping from his nose.
"Eat!"
"Eat!"
"Eat!"
As the boy runs from the chasing beast, the voice begins to echo in his head again, disturbing him even more in the terrifying situation he is going through.
The boy does not think of turning to look at the beast at any time, he only listens to its terrifying footsteps that cause a rumbling behind him, the vibration even feels it in his legs.
The heat emitted by the beast can even be felt on his back as it gets closer and closer to him.
"Aahhhhhhhh!"
"Help me!"
"Somebody help me!"
The boy runs as he cries out for someone's help, but no one comes to his aid. Because at that time of the morning everyone is probably still asleep.
"Noooooo!"
The boy decides to turn around for a small second, but his breath hitches as he sees how the beast has its jaw open and is ready to take a bite as soon as it gets the chance.
Besides...
The distance between them is getting smaller and smaller, if the boy doesn't think of something fast, he will be devoured in the blink of an eye and die a painful death.
"Help me, please!"
Even though the boy is running with all his might, his nervousness causes him to see the road getting longer and longer so that he can finally leave the bridge.
Then...
The boy decides to throw himself with his body to get to the island faster.
"¡¡!!"
The beast also propels itself forward, with the purpose of being able to at least take a bite out of the boy.
It manages to bite one of his feet.
In the process the boy manages to feel the coldness of the beast's teeth biting his foot, but luckily it only bit his shoe, to later remove it.
The beast's momentum was too little. So it ended up falling until it hit the floor of the bridge and broke it due to its weight, falling back into the sea, generating a great noise in the process.
The boy was very lucky and managed to hit the shore of the island.
He is totally hyperventilated and begins to crawl backwards in a seated position, while not taking his eyes off the sea at any moment. He has just completely lost sight of the beast.
The boy's gaze also wanders to the surroundings to see if there is anyone nearby, but as if it were the worst day of his life, there is no one around, only houses that seem to be empty, fishing rods and the sound produced by the wind itself.
"I guess I must be dreaming"
"I must be dreaming"
"It's impossible that one of those monsters could get here, not with the remoteness we have from the mainland and the supposed shield protecting the islands."
"It's impossible isn't it?"
"It must be impossible!"
The boy begins to enter a state of crisis while talking to himself and hyperventilates even more, in his face you can see as if he is about to laugh, a consequence of the madness that the damn situation is producing in him.
...
"Hey kid, isn't it too early to be playing?"
Then, the boy hears a man's voice and feels someone touch his back.
The boy turns around, being very scared and looks from head to toe at the man, only to realize that it is a man in his 70's using a wooden cane to help him walk better.
The man smiles at Fritz and gives him a hand to help him get up.
"Tell me, child, isn't it too early for you to be awake?"
The man, with a very kind aura asks Fritz that question.
Fritz, with a still traumatized face tries to answer him.
"Y-yo"
"I-I."
But he just stutters in the process.
"Come on kid, calm down, you're acting like you've seen a real demon."
Sir says that, as he lets out a laugh, then starts coughing.
"Excuse me sir, are you all right?"
Fritz asks the gentleman that, putting aside his recent disturbing scene he just went through.
"Yes. Boy, don't worry, I'm fine, it's just old age."
The gentleman says that, as he walks to the side of the island to sit on a seat that is located right next to a fish rod. That area is located on the shore so that fishermen can catch fish without having to stand for so long.
The gentleman sits down, and begins to look out to sea.
"Yes, sir."
"I wouldn't sit in a place so close to the shore if I were you."
The boy says that, while shivering.
The gentleman hearing that, starts to laugh and holds up the fishing rod.
"Come here, boy, sit next to me."
Fritz hearing that, hesitates for a long while.
"Come on boy, come on, don't leave me here alone or are you afraid of some fish?"
The old man says that, while he throws the rod into the sea to start catching fish.
"I'm not afraid of fish..."
Fritz says that and starts walking to later sit down next to the old man.
"And tell me boy..."
"Why were you so scared?"
The old man asks Fritz that, while on his face again a smile forms.
"I..."
"Eh..."
"It's nothing..."
Fritz considers the option of telling him that he just saved himself by a hair's breadth from being eaten by one of those beasts, but maybe he would be considered crazy by that nice old man.
"Nothing?"
"Come on kid..."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"It's obvious something just happened to you."
"Just look at what that bridge just looked like..."
The old man finishes saying all that and subsequently refers to the current state in which the bridge was left.
"It's clear that you didn't cause that, did you?"
"I don't think you have the strength to provoke something like that."
"Besides..."
"What happened to your shoe?..."
"I don't think you only wear one shoe on a daily basis."
The old man says all this while smiling.
Fritz thinks for a moment and decides to tell him the truth.
"I was on my way to a friend's house, which is located on the central island..."
"And so..."
"When I was crossing that bridge, something got on it and started chasing me, trying to devour me."
"I don't want to look like a madman..."
"But I dare say it was one of those beasts."
Fritz, says that and closes his eyes, preparing for the old man to start sneering.
"You know what... boy?"
"I believe you that you were running from a beast."
"But not the kind you find out there."
"After all, no maritime beast has ever been recorded, right?"
"Or else, we wouldn't be able to consume the delicious fish."
The old man says that, as he pulls a fish out of the sea and drops it into a bucket.
Subsequently, he throws the fishing rod back into the sea.
"Well, you're right, sir."
Fritz agrees with the old man and begins to calm down a bit. After all, there are no sea animals capable of devouring people.
"Nevertheless..."
"Maybe you ran into that sea monster everyone's talking about, kid."
"And if so, consider yourself lucky."
The old man says that, while lightly tapping the boy on the shoulder.
"Sea monster?"
Fritz asks him that question.
"It is a giant animal that lives in these seas, the fishermen have put a very big price on it, as its taste is estimated to be very delicious."
The old man says that, while sticking out his tongue.
"That sounds very good!"
Fritz rejoices, as he regains his appetite, as he is a fan of new flavors.
"Tell me boy, do you like the sea?"
The old man asks Fritz that question.
"Well..."
"I'm not afraid of it as such."
"But it does give me a bad feeling."
"More so considering what happened to me today."
Fritz answers sincerely.
"The sea is the most beautiful thing in the world."
"The fish in the sea are usually very calm."
"It's more..."
"That fish you saw, they mention that its teeth only look sharp, but it doesn't even hurt when it bites you."
The old man comments all that to Fritz.
"Maybe you are right, sir"
Fritz answers him, as he decides to break his fear and stands up to place his hand in the sea.
"I had a son, with whom I used to fish while we chatted, the same way we are doing now".
The old man comments that to Fritz, while the happy face he had begins to disappear.
"He died, helping the people of the islands, he died out there, on the mainland".
"He was like you, he was also afraid of the sea, but he managed to fight that fear and trained day and night to join the high-ranking soldiers. That way he could contribute to finding hope out there."
The old man says that, while directing his gaze towards the mainland.
"Excuse me, the question, but how did he die?"
Fritz asks that, while swallowing saliva. Since, the lord might take the question as disrespectful.
"A beast devoured him, while he was saving a companion who had been surrounded."
Hearing that, fritz lowers his head.
"I'm very sorry to hear that..."
"I shouldn't have asked..."
...
"Don't worry, boy, my son was a good person, but what I told you is for you to understand that change is made when you lose your fear of the sea, you must connect with the sea if you want to grant a hope to humanity."
"As some soldiers do it by exploring the outskirts, we fishermen do it by giving quality food to the people."
"The sea is the beginning and the end of everything."
Those words, were imprinted in Fritz's brain.
"I think I will begin to see the sea and what is out there in a different way..."
Fritz says that, while he still remains crouched down looking at the sea.
"This time I'll get a taste of you, kid."
Then, in front of the boy, jumps from the depths of the sea the same beast of a few moments ago, with its jaw open and ready to devour Fritz.
Fritz watches in confusion, unable even to express his emotions in time.
He sees the entire inside of the beast's jaw, how he could fit the whole thing in there with ease.
"¡¡!!"
Then, the old man quickly gets up from the seat and pushes fritz backwards, saving him in time, but receiving the bite in the process, breaking all his bones and shredding the old man's flesh.
Subsequently, the beast began to pull the old man down into the depths.
"Nooooo!"
Fritz stands up and grabs the old man's arm, to pull him towards him with all his might. So that he doesn't take the old man that the boy began to like him.
The scene becomes very depressing, because the beast is slowly tearing the old man's body apart, all the blood falling into the sea and Fritz is still trying to save him.
Then...
"Boy..."
"Never fear the sea..."
Fritz heard those last words of the old man, to finally the beast drag him into the depths of the sea.
"Aaaahhhh!"
"Aaaahhhh!"
"Aaaahhhh!"
The boy began to scream and cry desperately as he realized that he still had in his hands the severed arm of the old man, which was detached from his body.
Afterwards, the boy drops the arm and faints...
Losing consciousness.