This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
#StorySaturday is a Guest Blog weekend experiment in which we invite people to write about science in a different, unusual format – fiction, science fiction, lablit, personal story, fable, fairy tale, poetry, or comic strip. We hope you like it.
The deep
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A submersible climbs down the ladder
of the black water rung by rung
to where the crushing pressure
would end a human like a tin can
though glowing fishes swim by unbothered
their heads like meteors burning up.
At the floor, filamentous crabs
drag pale claws through the current
while mote-like animals sift downward
in a snow that falls for miles
and giant fronded worms stand in crowds
waiting for their arrival.
Next door to our apartment
is an old dog with threadbare skin
dying. Deaf and sightless,
she makes a keening at night
trying to recall the sound of her voice
or learn whether people still exist
but all she hears is a pressing quiet
that echoes with distant whales.
Although everything around is darkness
the animal gives off her own faint light.
She wants to find the bottom but
can’t quite travel deep enough.
~~~
Image Credit: NOAA
Previously in this series:
Tinea Speaks Up—a Fairy Tale by Cindy Doran (fairy tale, talking animals)
Animals Exposed to Virtual Reality Hold an Emergency Meeting by Ferris Jabr (fairy tale, talking animals, video)
The Making of a Mutant: A Fruit Fly Love Story by Ricki Lewis (fairy tale, talking animals)
Step One: A Medical School Pivot Point by Samyukta Mullangi (personal story)
A Noble Betrayal by Kirk Klocke (lablit)
