Choices (short story)

### Synopsis

After being warned of an ambush by Thurku'ali, Trident dives into the water and hears the voice of her god, Poseidon.

### Author(s)

Kai Sara

**"Choices"** is a short story.

## Text

The last thing you heard as you closed your eye and plunged into the salty seawater of the harbor was Thurku’ali’s gravelly voice shouting, “Where the fuck are you going?”

Holding the golden pike in your hand, you felt at ease as the water was displaced beneath you, rushing up along your body and filling the gap above as you sank. You inhaled deeply, felt the ocean enter your lungs, yet you did not drown. Instead, it was like you’d breathed the freshest air -- unlike the sand and smoke of the city above, the water felt clean and refreshing. Then again, the tides were your home; your very name taken from a fisherman’s implement: Trident.

Trident.

“**Trident**.”

You heard the voice clear as a seagull’s call, despite being underwater. The last time you heard this voice, years ago now, you were likewise underwater… in more dire straits. He saved you that day, and you pledged your life in service to him. And here he was again.

Your first instinct was to open your mouth to speak, but the voice simply said, “No words, my champion. Listen.”

If that is Poseidon’s command, then that it what you shall do.

The water stirred around you, but you kept you remained still and kept your eye closed, trusting in his words.

“Fate is a vast ocean. Tides toss and turn, forcing you along. Yet men swim, they struggle against where the ocean wishes them to go.” As he spoke, you felt currents violently pull you down. You recalled what it felt like, having fallen off your ship in stormy seas -- how the very ocean felt like a beast with a thousand hands, dragging you down to a watery grave.

“Why do they swim? The ocean is mighty and they are but mortals. The effort ought be futile.” Still, you sank deeper and deeper, so far beneath the surface that if not for the gift of Poseidon in your hand, you would surely drown.

Then suddenly, silence. You felt no movement, heard no sound. For several long moments, there was nothing. And then the voice spoke again.

“Men swim because it is a choice. They swim because when the ocean pushes them this way and that, all they have is the decision of where to wade. For if they remain paralyzed by the ocean’s vastness, they forfeit what power they have.”

Slowly, you began to rise. “I will not tell you what choice to make, my champion. But I will tell you this.”

Your ascent grew faster and faster, like the strength of the entire ocean was pulling you upwards, desperate for you to reach the surface. “The choice you make might well be their life. They walk into flames only you might douse.”

With that final word, you finally breached the surface, sending a large spray of sea upwards that came cascading back down all around you. The last thing you heard the voice say, almost in a whisper, was a gentle, “Open your eyes, Trident.” And so you did.

The sun had dipped below the horizon, the last vestiges of its light making the evening sky look like fire. It appeared as though hours had passed since you dove into the harbor, but it only felt like mere minutes to you. Just how long were you down there?

You swam to a pier and pulled yourself out of the water. The walk home was short, but when you’re consumed with as many racing thoughts as you were, it dragged on impossibly long. By the time you got home, you almost collapsed from an exhaustion you didn’t know you had until you stepped in the door.

It was going to be a difficult night.