Chapter 1: The Pet and The Owner

I used to be afraid of watching the sea at night. Every time I looked at its body of water which became a temporary replica of darkness, waves of horrible thoughts would come surging inside my head. It made me think of series of possible dangers that lie beneath the ocean's abyss.

Well, that was a long time ago, or at least, that was until light completely turned itself off from my life when my parents died. Since then, the darkness I hated the most became my solace, and the terrifying body of water was now giving me a sense of comfort.

I was sitting above a huge rock with my left arm placed around my knees. Right now, I was at the coast where scads of stones and dead coral reefs were present. No one liked to visit here because of how eerie this place would feel at night, except me.

I extended my right arm down to feel the cold seawater. The heat inside my body escaped from me, but the cold was nothing compared to the pain I was feeling now. I moved my hands and made some splashes of water. Smiling bitterly, I recalled all the mishaps I had encountered recently.

I got fired from my part-time job earlier for a petty reason. As a university student faring on my own to support my studies and daily needs without anyone's help, being late sometimes was unavoidable. I didn't understand why they had to fire me today when I was vocal about my hardships. I wanted them to at least show little consideration, but they had no qualms about removing me. Such perfect timing for firing me at the time I was in dire need of money.

I sighed heavily. I still have to pay my three months' worth of rent tomorrow. If ever I failed to compensate, the annoying landlady would throw out all my things outside the apartment before I even had the chance to pack them.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me of the last time I ate a decent meal which was yesterday. I removed my left arm from my knees to touch my empty stomach.

Easy there, my roundworms. You'll eat tomorrow when I find another job.

But this was not the reason why I was sulking at the beach at this hour. Truthfully, I was thinking about my scholarship that was now barely holding on to a thin thread of hope because I failed my thesis proposal this morning. I spent series of sleepless nights to come up with a better proposal. But, as soon as I shared my topic, the panelists waved their hands dismissively as if my presentation already bored the heck out of them.

They said they wanted a much more unique study—something phenomenal like saving the extinction of species and similar tropes. Tsk, were they thinking that I was a genius biologist with an excellent doctorate degree who was working at NASA?

Despite their high expectation, I had to do my best this time if I didn't want to be removed as a scholar. Giving back all the stipend they gave me was a serious dilemma I wouldn't ever want in my life.

I heaved a deep sigh. It was such a pain to carry all this burden alone. If only my parents had not died, I wondered what could have been with my life like right now? Would I still be this hopeless?

A strong gust of wind and the harsh thrashing of the waves surprised me. It took me a second to retreat my hand from the water, then I embraced myself as if it could stop the heat escaping from my body. However, my hands were as cold as ice that the heat I expected to stay wasn't felt by my body. It was then I felt the warmth I was looking for when a rivulet of tears started trickling down from my eyes. Grasping my shirt firmly at my chest, I cried all my heart out.

"Why did I end up like this? What did I do wrong? Why did my parents die? Do I really deserve this kind of treatment!" I screamed as my tears ran down my cheeks. I looked at the moon and pleaded for it like it was a wish-granting factory. For all the years of hardships I've experienced, I've never felt more tired and alone to cry like this. Now, I couldn't help it anymore. The emotions I kept inside my heart wanted to explode, and now was the time to let them go.

As if the situation could not get any worse, a huge wave came towards me and slammed me to the ground. I cried even harder, thinking that it was the response to my plea. Lying on the rock I have been sitting on with my clothes wet from the wave, I turned to face the moon above me, then I laughed. If the moon could talk, it would probably tell me how I looked so pathetic right now.

I shifted to a fetal position as I wept again. This time my cries were silent. The coldness of the wind and the harsh splashes of waves reached me, but I didn't care anymore. Closing my eyes, I wished my soul to be frozen by the coldness until I felt like drifting to oblivion.

Before I lost my consciousness, I heard a faint, snorting sound. With my shivering hands, I struggled to get up. A dorsal fin came into view, which was now illuminated by the moonlight. It made me nervous at first for initially thinking that it was a shark. But when it snorted again and rose its head to the surface, my eyes widened after realizing its identity.

Oh, God. It was a vaquita— the smallest cetacean and one of the rarest animals in the world!

I slowly approached to see the marine mammal up close. All the pain I felt a while ago was forgotten as I got entranced with this majestic creature. Thanks to the full moon above, it gave me enough light to distinguish its features.

Dark round patches were circling its eyes. It had a black lining along with its mouth that was shaped to look like it was smiling. It had a small, grey body that looked glossy and a large dorsal fin.

I thought my eyes were just playing with my vision, so I rubbed my eyes and stared at the creature once more. The vaquita was still there, unmoving as if wondering about my features as I was to it.

I couldn't believe it, was this creature really in front of me? Never in my life would I thought to see this creature at this moment.

I remembered our professor discussing vaquitas. As I recalled, vaquita species were scientifically named Phocoena sinus. They were relatives of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Out of all cetaceans, they were the smallest, so they were prone to get caught by fishermen who use gillnets for fishing. Since they were only endemic to the northern part of the Gulf of California, the population was small, to begin with. And now, because of illegal fishing operations, their number had reduced from ten to one individual left in the wild. This vaquita in front of me was critically endangered and the only remaining individual of its species; thus, it had been dubbed as the rarest animal in the world.

As far as I knew, many marine biologists and conservation groups have been trying to find and capture this creature to take care of it in a sanctuary made for vaquitas. But no one had ever seen this creature for years now; some said it even went extinct.

But right now, in front of my eyes, it was alive. It was breathing and even staring at me. I've never expected this to happen.

I reached my hand at the creature to try touching it, but the vaquita hurriedly plunged itself into the water. I felt a bit disappointed. I wanted to touch it, but it seemed terrified of me.

I saw its dorsal fin once again, but at a farther distance. My lips curved into a small smile as the feeling of relief coursed through me.

While staring at the creature's dorsal fin, an idea suddenly dawned across my mind. Wait, what if I study this creature and find a way on how to conserve it? If ever my research succeeded, I wouldn't be removed from my scholarship.

Who knows what might come ahead? I could be given an award for saving the last remaining vaquita in the whole world. If that happened, then I would not have to experience hunger again. I would no longer look for part-time jobs to sustain my daily life because I would be given many opportunities to work at top research organizations.

Moreover, I would become so happy with my life for finally finding a purpose, for helping a creature from becoming extinct. By doing that, wouldn't my life become better?

I stood up from sitting on the rock. My knees wobbled at the sudden change of position. Instantly, the coldness enveloped my legs, but it didn't matter. With newly-found determination replacing the agony in my heart, I muttered firmly.

"I will help you to survive no matter what. So please keep on appearing here, okay? I promise I will help you."

***

After my encounter with the vaquita last night, my excitement has been uncontainable ever since. Even when I was roaming the street while looking for possible part-time jobs early in the morning, I was smiling from ear to ear instead of my usual troubled expression.

I didn't manage to find a part-time job, though. However, I got lucky when an elderly woman with a problem bringing all her groceries asked me for help. She gave me a generous sum of money in exchange for helping her to which I gladly accepted. Perhaps I'll try finding a part-time job another day.

I finally ate a decent meal that I promised to my roundworms, then I got ready for school with happiness and excitement in my heart.

After my last class in Genetics, I immediately went to Mr. Leonardo Gomez's office, my professor, to tell him the new topic of my research study. The moment I opened the door of his office, his head jolted quickly in my direction. When he realized it was me, his expression softened.

"What brings you here today, Ms. Hayes?" His blue eyes focused on me over his black-rimmed eyeglasses. My eyes, on the contrary, couldn't help but gaze at his head which looked like a shiny ball of skin. Mr. Gomez was a stout, bald man. But despite his appearance, his knowledge and expertise in biology were unparalleled. I respected him so much

I sat on the chair in front of his table. "My proposal was rejected last time, Mr. Gomez. Now, I have a new topic that I want to ask if it would be plausible for me to study."

"So, what will be your study this time?" he asked, leaning his elbows on the table while crossing his fingers.

"I saw the last remaining vaquita in the world yesterday. Therefore, I'll have my research focused on how to save it from extinction."

He blinked several times. His mouth gaped, and he was speechless for a few seconds before he spoke again. "Y-You saw a vaquita? How? And where did you find it?" He bombarded me with more questions as I narrated what happened during my discovery of the creature, excluding the drama portion I did that night.

He still couldn't believe that I saw the vaquita with my own eyes. To convince him, I have shown him an image of the creature I hurriedly captured yesterday.

"That's a controversial study you want to attempt, Amara," Mr. Gomez seriously looked at me. Calling me by my name meant he was earnest this time. "That vaquita you want to save is the remaining individual of its species. Once the higher-ups know about that, they probably won't let a student like you study it. They will surely report it to the government about its appearance on the shore before the fishermen accidentally catch the creature on their gill nets again."

I went silent as he continued. "Let's say we would allow you. What if you harm the vaquita? Didn't you know that you will be pressed with charges for harming the creature as per the law promulgated by the government to save their species?"

I averted my gaze to the floor. Mr. Gomez was right, but... "I don't ever want to harm the vaquita, sir. I just wanted to help."

I looked up again and faced him. "I know it's beyond me for dreaming of becoming a savior of such a rare creature, but can I at least observe its behavior and characteristics? That would be the scope of my study. No else, sir. Just please, let me," I pleaded.

One of Mr. Gomez's hands shifted towards his temple, massaging that part as he closed his eyes. I patiently waited for him to finish reasoning everything out in his mind. I gulped when he glanced at me again, with more solemnity in his eyes.

"Are you sure you can do that alone? You know it'd still be a difficult study and requires much funds, time, and effort to execute. Wouldn't it be better to let the higher organizations handle it instead?"

I already pondered on that. I was aware of my skills as a researcher, and I admit that I could never compare myself to those already established marine biologists. True, my biggest problem would be the funds, especially now that I have been fired from my part-time job and I still had rent to pay. Now, my only option was to apply for another scholarship that covers thesis expenses. However, I bet it wouldn't be much to fully support my study. If ever that happened, I would have to apply for another job and lessen my food intake to one meal per day if it meant making my study a success.

I stood up from my seat in front of Mr. Gomez. "No, sir. I want to study this creature alone. I will do anything to do this. You know why I needed to, right?" I meaningfully looked at him in the eye.

He knew very well of my predicament in life. Since I started studying here, I have been suffering a lot since I was all alone. After helping me from being bullied, Mr. Gomez had become a sort of guardian to me. He even invited me to live with his family, but I refused since I couldn't burden other people. He stared back at me, and after a few seconds, he sighed.

"Just make sure to protect the creature from fishermen at all costs. I repeat, at all costs! You also have to finish your observation as quickly as possible so we can call the government about this. We can't risk the remaining vaquita in the world any longer!" He panicked.

I thanked him several times for letting me with my new study. He then handed me the application form for the scholarship I asked for, which I gratefully filled up.

***

It was four in the morning, but the sky was still dark. The atmosphere was cold, and the ocean waves were unrelenting. I could freeze to death or fall to the sea at any moment, but right now, my thesis was more critical.

With quivering hands, I positioned my camera and zoomed the lens until I got satisfied with the magnification. I focused on getting a good shot at the subject of my study. But rather than having the desired image, all I captured was the dorsal fin of the vaquita.

I cursed mentally. I was happy to see that the vaquita was here again for my study, but I didn't think it would be this difficult to see it up close.

I moved nearer until I was standing at the edge of this big flat rock I was standing. With my left hand holding a flashlight and the other holding the camera, I illuminated a particular spot where the vaquita was. The moment it raised its head, I took shots once again.

Before I got slammed by a wave for the nth time, I immediately turned back and reviewed the pictures I took. I scratched my head and frowned. The images were poorly captured, and the lighting was not enough to accentuate its features. But at least, it was better than the ones I've shot before.

I opened my bag and grabbed my last weapon: food. Slowly, I dropped amounts of fish and squid that I bought from the wet market at the water near me. Thanks to the elderly lady who needed my help, I got enough money to buy the food. To my luck, the vaquita immediately swam closer to eat the food I prepared for it.

As it was busy eating, I grabbed the opportunity to take as many shots as possible and also took videos of its behavior. Once I had enough photos for today, I would review all of the research materials I gathered to write my research paper afterward.

I put down my camera to observe the vaquita with my own eyes and steadied the flashlight I was holding to see the vaquita better. As I watched, I realized that it was a female vaquita because its body was longer than the average size of vaquitas. While eating the food I gave her, I also noticed her small spade-shaped teeth. Unlike dolphins, whales, and porpoises, vaquitas didn't have a long beak. I dropped another food at her, to which she gleefully ate.

It turned upside down which made me see her underside. I mentally noted that the top of her body was dark grey, the sides were pale grey, and its belly was white. While she was busy eating, I tried to touch its head to confirm if vaquitas were timid species, but I was surprised when it never scurried away when I pat her head.

Instead, she was nudging my hand as if it was asking me to pet her more. My heart fluttered at her cute behavior, so I gave her more food and continued to caress her head.

A sudden loud splash of water made me look up from adoring the vaquita's features. To my surprise, a pair of golden eyes stared back at me, or more precisely, glaring at me. I wasn't able to utter a single word when a gorgeous man moved towards my position and smacked my hand from petting the vaquita.

He warned me with such an authoritative, deep voice. "Don't touch my pet again. Or else..."

I was so speechless. I did not even hear the following words he said before diving back to the water along with the vaquita because of shock. The only things in my mind right now were his piercing golden eyes that felt like they pierced through my soul and his golden tail that looked like a molded gold that looked so divine as he swam away.

The sunlight has finally peaked at the horizon. For the first time, I did not feel the amazement that I usually feel every time I see the dawn of the day.

Instead, I was still baffled by the man with golden eyes and tail.