My My - APINK (open in new window)

A/N: italics are your thoughts

Your POV

The light. The light that pierced through the crisp, sparkling blue water was the closest contact I've ever had with the human world. I could feel the soft warm kisses on my skin from the fragmented sunlight as I lay quietly on my bed in the palace, forever dreaming about what lies above.

My sisters always told these wild stories after their trips beyond the surface of the water. "Fishes" with wings sung melodies infinitely better than the lullabies whales sung to their infants, and beautiful "seaweed" with exotic colors who's aromas were more captivating and alluring than the ocean's dainty corals. There were also instruments made from gold called trumpets, which made mellow but smooth buzzing sounds. Plus, creatures with legs, tails, and hair all over their bodies would stay around humans! How amazing is their world, I thought.

I haven't actually seen them in real life, but just the mere thought of human beings completely fascinated me. They didn't have tails like me and my sisters, but rather had these two limbs called legs. With these so-called legs, a person could do all sorts of unimaginable things like running, walking, and... something called dancing? Dancing. I didn't know what that was but just hearing the word made me feel all giddy inside. "Dancing." I felt tingles run up and down my spine as I let the word roll off my tongue. Whatever it meant to dance, I was definitely determined to do it one day.

Sighs were all that came out of my mouth. I had been waiting and dreaming anxiously like a nervous toddler waiting for his favorite dessert. Thankfully, the moment I waited for had finally arrived. Tomorrow, I will turn 16 and have my coming-of-age ceremony, which meant I could go up and explore the world beyond the surface of the ocean. But tomorrow seemed so far away.

"Flounder, tomorrow is finally my big day," I bragged to my best friend, excitement oozing out of every breath.

He smiled. "Your moment has come after all those years of asking and wondering about the world above."

"You know how my father always told me to seize the day?" I asked with a sheepish smile appearing.

"Yeah..." Flounder responded with a nervous look.

"I think we should seize today."

"What? What do you mean," asked the flustered small fish.

"I mean, we should explore. Just like we always do," I remarked calmly.

"Wait. Oh no. I know what you're thinking but you can't. It's against the rules and-"

"And what? Don't you want to see what