sub

It was dark. The light that the submarine shone, headlights shooting out a powerful beam of light, that was consumed by the darkness. Surrounded by it. It might cut through the darkness, but in this place, it did not go very far. The two humans inside the machine were grinning, ear to ear. They had made it. They had gone deeper than any human ever had. Deeper into the depths of the ocean. The inside of the submersible smelled of sweat and human body odors. The humming of the machine was the only sound, inside and outside. Their ears were throbbing from the pressure and depth they had exposed their bodies to. One of them had his fingers around the control, calm, steady. The other reached for the glass on the dashboard. As if to teach and feel beyond it. A fish floated past it. Here, they didn’t move, they conserved energy. They also mostly didn’t have eyes. What would they do with eyes in this place of darkness, where even the light of the sun could not reach. The light that reached Pluto did not venture here. The driver thought of how he had made it here. His love for the ocean had begun when he had began to read trashy novels about the sea and megaladons. They fascinated him so much. Then he had began to study life forms that came from the sea. In college, it was only natural that he studied marine biology and minored in engineering. His partner was his life partner but also had majored in engineering from the same school, a small place in new haven, and they had both made it down here. The bump was small. Anywhere else, they might have missed it. But the sensors of the machine was super sensitive, and the water was mostly super still, and the place was super quiet. He felt his heart begin to face, a primal fear threatening to overwhelm him and to take over. Then he remembered his training, and took control. His heart still raced. But he was calculated, calmer. Subduing the primal beast of fear within was a mixture of luck, training, curiosity, and passion. Then it struck him. The same time as his partner. They had reached the bottom! They had reached the bottom? But humans suspected there was much more. That it was much deeper. He checked sensors on his dashboard. Yes, there were supposed to be thousands of feet beneath them. How had they reached the bottom? That didn’t sound possible. And then the bottom moved. And then they both screamed. As a groan rose from the depths. As the ground beneath them shook. From the stillness of the bottom, it was now as if there was nothing but an avalanche of dust and silt. Everything was shaking. The one fish in their sight darted out of it. Darted into the darkness. Thinking perhaps that conserving energy was not worth dying. And then the megalodon rose, and with it, the submersible rose to the surface.