With the last bite of her banana finished, Nicki threw the peel out of the cave before taking the coconut from her bowl. She smacked it against a rock-shelf along the side of the pool and cracked it in half. She left one half on the shelf and began to sip from the other.

As she drank, Nicki’s eyes fell upon her body beneath the water. She still couldn’t believe how much it had changed. During her time on the island, she’d grown to be 6’3 while her skin became naturally tan. Along with her toned muscles and swimsuit, she was a bombshell.

Nicki drank the last sip from the coconut and set it down on the shelf before washing some water over her head. As her hands slid down the side of her head, her fingers caught a strand of her hair which fell to her face. Its silver sheen glowed beautifully in the firelight.

Since Nicki first discovered the pool, she’d come to rely on its rejuvenating properties to heal her injuries. The first time she tried it, the water had actually washed away scars she’d had since childhood. But after a few years, she’d discovered that the pool didn’t just heal her, it also kept her from aging. Her hair was the only part of her body that was unaffected and continued to attest to her age.

Nicki pushed the hair aside and downed the other half of the coconut in one long drink. While the pool’s powers could feed her vanity, her grey hair kept her humble. It reminded her that she wasn’t immortal and that she had a life she wanted to protect. This thought stuck with her while she spent the next few hours in the pool.

. . .

The sun had begun to rise in the distance and illuminated the beach which went on for miles on both sides of Nicki. While she sat on the beach and ate her last orange, she leaned against a surfboard propped up in the sand and watched the sunrise. She was mesmerized by the red sunlight illuminating the violet sky and purple ocean around it. A few sandbars could be seen through the surface of the water offshore. It was a tranquil sight, but soon her eyes found the cluster of lights beneath the water.

- 00:00:28 -

Nicki climbed to her feet and ate one more slice of the orange before tossing it away. She pulled the surfboard out of the sand and began to walk toward the shoreline with it under her arm.

03. . . 02. . . 01 . . . 00.

The lights erupted into a single brighter light as the water above it rose and exploded. Nicki couldn't predict what would come out of an abyss beforehand, but once she saw the dark blot expanding beneath the water, she knew whatever was coming out was gonna be big. Very big.