Sal hopped out of her bed excitedly, she ran to the calendar to be sure of herself, and indeed she hadn't been mistaken, the last day to not be marked: September 23rd, written sloppily below it said "sal's 16th birthday" Sal had never been happier to see a waterlogged piece of paper than today, she sprinted to the door and nearly burst it open before running down the stairwell made of pure shimmering sapphire, she ran into the kitchen to see her father, Rupert, sitting by the table, mulling something over. "Papa?" she asked, "Why are you sitting here? Have you prepared for the day?" Rupert sat there frozen for a while before responding. "The tensions between the dynasty and the orcas are rising, we are in grave danger, my girl." Sal cocked her head and walked up to the table, before pouring herself a bowl of fish flakes. "Papa, you shouldn't worry so much about the Orcas. Remember when I was little and Sgt. Dicer came to play with me?" Rupert had no visible response to the statement, still frozen. "I had dreamed about this nearly 15 years ago, Sal. They ravaged our castle, leaving nobody behind," Rupert told her, clearly shaken. Sal simply continued to eat her breakfast. "Oh, Papa, you mustn't dwell much on a nightmare, especially one so aged. It is simply a projection of your own mind." Said Sal. Rupert leaned a bit in his chair. "Perhaps it was a vision sent by Neptune himself." Sal rolled her eyes. "Papa, you're too young to be senile, so don't get there," she said as she roamed upstairs to her mother's room. She quietly entered to see her mother still sleeping. "Mama, wake up! It is my birthday!" Her mother slowly awoke and exited her bed; she didn't speak, as per usual. Sal's mother was never very wordy; in fact, Sal could only barely remember hearing her mother's voice when she was very young. Sal grabbed her mother's hand and took her downstairs. "Well now," Sal said, "everybody is together! We can now celebrate my birthday!" Just then, her mother looked to the windows, her head turning more swiftly than the hungry eels when they see a meal. She rushed Sal to the window opposite of the one at which she glanced. Within seconds, glass flew every which way in front of them, speckling the floors in shards. A large figure stood before the broken window, wearing golden armor encrusted with sapphires. The armor appointed to a royal guard. Sal recognized the hair on the figure to be none other than the powerful Sgt. Dicer. "Hello, Rupert," Dicer said menacingly. Several more orcas swam in from the window. Sal's mother picked Sal up into her arms and jumped through the window behind her. As she swam, she heard screaming in the castle, the familiar voice of her own husband. Sal looked up to see the distant light of the surface growing. Soon, the orcas followed through the broken window towards them, swimming much faster than Sal's mother could hope to achieve. One of the orcas grabbed her mother's foot and dragged her down. Just then, Sal heard her mother's voice one last time. "Swim." Her mother let go of her, and sal swam away as fast as she could while the orcas were busy with her mother. In a few hours of constant swimming, Sal looked back again to see that the orcas had no longer been following her. Sal took a few minutes to breathe before going back to swimming relentlessly to the surface. After a week or two, she finally burst her head out of the water.
sorry for the monthlong wait
