The year 2125; where the beautiful blue sky no longer glowed with the moon’s light but with neon beams, where it was not humans healing humans, but machines mending them. Where joy was found in the artificial world and children learned more from holograms than from their parents or books. Amid all these wonders, the most heart breaking change was this: nature was slipping farther and farther away from us. Where mankind was reaching the depths of space and even racing beyond time itself, humanity was being left behind.

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A long time ago the sea used to be clear as crystal. The blue water was alive and  unpredictable habitats happily lived in this home. Not only did ships sail and fishes danced in peace but also millions of people found deep solace just gazing upon it. Now it was no longer reflecting the sky; only thick, black water was there. Where once the echoes of waves could be heard, now there was only blindness, a darkness that brought no peace to anyone, only grief.

The saddest truth of the 22nd century was that the sea was dying; polluted, stripped of its purity.

At the coastal line of the beach a young girl lived with her family. Alera, sixteen, had a deep fascination with history. She was endlessly curious about everything connected to the sea, almost as if the sea called to her. While other teens her age found joy in the latest gadgets, Alera liked being close to the ocean and uncovering its mysteries, especially of the monsters living in there. Her elders would always stop her from going too near the ocean, saying that the monsters would capture her in a second, so she often resorted to the marine books in the town library instead for her research. 

Although Alera wasn’t allowed to step foot into the sea, she was an excellent swimmer in her local swimming pool. Her body moved like a fish, and she glided with the waves so effortlessly that it seemed she was more mermaid than human. She would often dream of swimming in the blue waters of the sea as well, like the ones that appeared in the pictures of her marine books. But the dream felt impossible to achieve as when she would wake up, the sea would still be black, and the tales of the monsters still floated on top of the pitch black waves.  

The mystery of the black sea was one that had always puzzled Alera. For her the idea of blue water simply seemed like fiction instead of an ancient reality. For as long as she could remember, the sea had always been black. With time, the monster stories had begun to sound more real in Alera’s head, especially when the faraway ships that used to appear once a while could be rarely seen anymore. The ocean had become completely vacant- even the birds avoided crossing over it. A doubt crept into her heart:

Perhaps something truly did live within those waters.

One day, Alera noticed the unusual appearance of bubbles popping up into water.

This must be because of the monster, she thought. It must be coming near the surface.

The entire ocean had turned into a  dark, bubbling, abyss of fear. Alera knew it was something unnatural, but what it was, was not understood. As much as the monster stories occupied her head, she knew in her heart there was more to the mystery.  The bubbling was soon accompanied by loud, spine chilling bangs of metal clattering, muffled thrashes of waves bursting from within. Alera watched, equally frightened and fascinated by the sight before her. She knew there was more to these sounds, unnatural bubbling, and the black sea, and she was determined to know what.

All night, she could hear the vicious sound of rusted metals clashing against one another which was followed by a terribly foul smell of chemicals and decaying waste all mixed together. Days passed but the smell still lingered. Alera started feeling a  strange pull from the sea, as if the water was dying and was whispering as a last cry for help. She wasn’t the only one. Many people living by the beach felt that unnatural pull by the water, calling them towards itself. As soon as they would touch the water a cloud of toxicity would suffocate them, as if they were trapped in a swamp. Too frightened to explore any further, many people left, vacating their houses to move as far away from the sea as possible. Soon, the beach had no more people as the residents. The only person that would come near it from time to time was Alera. 

People called it the wildest animal, but it was not. Rumors started spreading about the monster that has sharp cans of teeth, shards of glass for eyes, plastic wings and greasy black oiled skin, which was poisonous and had a killing smell. The monster had brought an unsettled chaos in everyone's life. Some people wanted to kill this monster but whoever went inside came back unsuccessful. Alera was deeply unsettled, her mind tangled in confusion as if two thoughts were waging a silent war against one another. On one side, her heart whispered, "Here surely lives a monster, one that will bring us all a great disaster.” Yet on the other side, her mind urged her towards the  possibility of something greater being the cause of all of this.

Alera decided that she could never be sure until she’d go and see for herself. She knew it was dangerous, but after years of swimming and reading marine books, she had a hunch that what she would find would not be a monster, but something much simpler. Alera took her most advanced underwater goggles and swimsuit and borrowed some diving equipment from the abandoned coast guard and headed to the shore. As her feet touched the water, the current of the waves carried her inside. She could feel threads of rope- almost net-like, beneath her feet as she submerged into the black water. Her heart was running a mile per minute. She was frightened and had trouble countering the strong current of the sea. To her confusion, every way she moved her body kept bumping into small objects. After struggling in the waves for a few minutes, she was finally able to tread the water and look around.

To her surprise, there was no monster. She could make out some vague shadows, yes, but as soon as she would swim towards them, they would turn into the strange, small objects that her arms and legs kept bumping into. No one was down there except her. No monsters, no wild animals, just thick, black water with dense suffocating human waste that looked like a giant monster. The pieces of broken glasses, soda cans,  fishing nets, plastic bags, oil spills, toys, accessories- all of these objects were those that she used to read about in the marine books. Suddenly, it all started making sense. The stories of the crystal clear water started seeming real. She realized that the monster was not an enemy to fight but a wound to heal, and that we can't solve problems by blaming others.  Alera wanted to stay longer and explore further but the toxic environment was getting too suffocating for her. When she came out of the water, her whole body was covered in oil. Her hair was tangled in rusted cans, and her whole body was wrapped in the mesh of a fishing net. It looked as if Alera herself was portraying the very image of the sea. 

Alera cried and thought, if I couldn't  stay underwater for more than a few minutes, then what about all those creatures, all those species, whose homes we have poisoned so deeply? 

Seeing her covered with sea waste made everyone believe what she was saying. She was determined to do more research on how she could help the sea. She spent days in the library reading countless books on recycling, water pollution, and rehabilitating the ocean. She knew that for the ocean to come back to life, they had to understand that the humans should stop dumping oil and waste into the sea and let it breathe by planting coral reefs, sea weeds, and mangrove, and use tools to purify dirty water. In the meantime, divers and researchers went into the sea to investigate the state of the sea. What they observed was the same as Alera. After that, researchers called up their expert team to explore the sea fully. They soon came to the conclusion that even though the sea had been deeply polluted, there was still some marine life left that could still be saved. The sea wasn't completely dead, some areas had baby fishes and coral sprouts that were struggling to live. And so, the process of rehabilitating the sea began.

Researchers published their report:  “We need to realize that the sea is suffocating under human waste. Humans can't bear a single minute of suffocation and rush to hospitals to solve their health issues, so why not the sea? We humans need to eliminate activities like dumping waste, carbon emission, oil spills, reduce plastic usage, which are harming not only the environment but us as well, and start taking active participation in ocean cleaning programs and awareness programs to inform others. The sea doesn't belong to us, we belong to the sea.  It's our responsibility to save it for our better future. If the sea dies, will we be able to live? We need to return the sea to its original state, like it was in the past, fully clear, pure, blue, and alive.

When people  listened to these words, they felt deep sadness and regret for their wrong actions. The fear of the monster that once gripped their hearts was gone, and in its place, a sense of responsibility had taken root.

Alera's contributions were applauded nationwide. She disclosed the mystery of black sea and proved that humanity was still alive. 

Alera found a new mission after that. Her passion for solving mysteries had turned into finding new ways to heal the sea. She knew deep down in her heart that one day she would be able to see the full clear, blue sea as well.

Save the sea, and save yourself.