The Irish Sea Dog (Copyrighted)

8/9/2019 The Irish Sea Dog (Copyrighted)

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Copyright 2010 by Joshua Safran.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information

storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where

permiited by law.


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Safran / The Irish Sea Dog / 2

THE IRISH SEA DOG

by

Joshua Safran


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Early it was; a bright Sunday afternoon on the ocean shore. The day was very calm and peaceful.

The wind was soft on my skin, tickling me, and making me giggle. The sky was clear, and

pelicans flew across the ocean in a rather symmetrical V-formation. The ocean crashed onto the

shore, robbing it of sand, as it retreated back into its salty consistency. I watched from the ocean

pier as children played in the warm sand, burrowing themselves in it, and building sand castles.

The children were laughing, and wore broad grins on their faces. The ocean shore was so

peaceful, yet naturally loud and roaring.

I felt a soft hand as it applied a gentle force onto my left shoulder. I saw my friend, Jonathan,

standing behind me, as his image reflected in the translucent sea. As I stared down at his

reflection, I collected a visual of a cornucopia of exotic amphibians. Swimming, and using their

fins as motors, they raced across my range of sight. I watched brilliantly at the speedy gray

mullets below me and at the ripples distorting Jonathans image due to the recently passed yacht

about half a kilometer away. Jonathan sat down beside me, to my right.

I suddenly heard a distant chuckle, and rotated my head to the west to find a young boy

playfully chasing his sister, sinking into the melting sand with every step. The young girl with

whom he was in pursuit of wore a broad grin stretching across her face, revealing her dimples.

They were enjoying themselves; therefore living life as they should. The bright sun pounded

upon my back with warmth. It felt good, and although it caused me to excessively sweat down

my forehead, I strongly needed a tan.


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Jonathan and I sat on the pier for hours, bringing us into the evening. As the night devoured

the sky, I wanted more and more to head back to the ocean house I was renting for the weekend.

As time came and passed, I decided it was time to return home. As I stood, motioning my good

friend to come along, a shiny door appeared before me. I shaded my eyes, for the portal blinded

me.

A voice spoke to us.

Come. Please, enter. You wont regret it. I promise.

The metal portal slowly opened. Jonathan and I both slowly stepped through the door

cautiously. We didnt know what to expect. We were nervous, a bit frightened in fact. As we

walked through, we heard the door slam shut behind us. We couldnt see anything because the

room was a black as charcoal. As I walked though the dark room, I could smell a mild stench

from the nearby sewers, and the floor creaked with every step I took. After a few seconds, the

lights turned on, and in front of us was a creature with the head of a dog and the body of a

human.

Greetings, said the mysterious looking creature, My people need your help.

W-w-with w-w-what? we asked in fright.

Our worst enemies, the leprechauns, have stolen the key to the chest of life, said the

creature, and we need you to find the leprechaun who stole our key, and return it to me safely.

It is in the shape of a star.

How do we find the leprechauns? I asked still shocked by the creatures appearance.


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You must walk and count exactly seventeen steps into the sea, and then swim south until

you find a brown-looking cave with gold coins surrounding it, said the creature.

O-ok, I said.

By the way, you can call me Eldridge.

Jonathan and I both shot smiles at Eldridge, as we walked back to the door. The door opened,

and we both walked towards the pier, and sat down. The gentle wind had turned into a cool

breeze, which made the hairs on my arms and legs stand at attention. We thought to ourselves,

shivering, and decided to comply with Eldridges request. We slowly looked around like owls

with large eyes, attempting to find a beach shack through the dark and muggy air. Soon enough, I

sighted a small looking shack not far from our location. I motioned Jonathan to come with me, as

we ventured towards the circular hut.

Hello, mates! shouted the shop assistant happily.

Hey, do you have any swimsuits and scuba gear in stock? we asked.

We sure do! the clerk said.

We paid the man twenty seven dollars and thirty-six cents. We then walked towards the quite

smelly bathroom, and changed into our new red striped swimsuits and put our snorkeling gear

on. We then walked towards the cool and salty water, and as we were about to begin our journey,

we saw a miniature leprechaun running in front of us with the key. We tried to chase him and

retrieve the key, but it was too late. The leprechaun had already disappeared into the ocean. We

knew we had to hurry, and quickly counted exactly seventeen steps into the ocean. We then

scurried, and prepared ourselves for a long swim through the repulsive looking water. We then


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flipped ourselves over, facing down, and began to swim towards the bottom of the Irish Sea. We

knew we had to be hasty if we were going to catch up to the green little Irish man and get our

key back.

As we reached seventy-five yards in depth, we soon spotted a peculiar looking cave. It had an

eroded brown color, with gold coins floating around it, just like Eldridge had said. We knocked

on the small door covered in moss, and it opened, revealing a gold painted interior, and a

beautiful crystal chandelier about the width of my hand. Jonathan and I peeked in and saw

precisely twenty three leprechauns walking around with keys and conversing with one another.

They all wore elegant green vests, red ties, top hats, and black shiny boots with gold buckles on

them. All we had to do was find the leprechaun with a key in the shape of a star. We looked oh

so closely, as soon came upon a scrawny looking young leprechaun with a star key in his belt

loop that shined far more than another other key.

As we watched that particular leprechaun prance around the small room, he soon recognized

us and tried to escape. However, we caught him by his top hat, and held him still. He knew

immediately what we were after, and reluctantly surrendered Eldridges key. We then, out of

courtesy, thanked him, and swam up to the surface. Jonathan and I could only imagine just how

happy Eldridge would be to have his key back. As we approached the surface, however, a shark

was swimming towards us. I managed, after scrimmaging around, to find a long and sharp stick

to jab at the shark. The sharks fin was badly damaged as we continued to fight the massive and

blue creature with a fierce look in his eyes. We eventually defeated the shark, as it swam back to

its dark and gloomy home in the ocean.


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As we slowly climbed out of the water, the current was like quick sand trying to pull us back

in. Jonathan looked around and found a nearby tree to grab. We both grabbed onto it, and used

the last of our long-standing strength and stamina to haul ourselves out of the water. A fly, no,

Eldridges top advisor flied to us, motioned us to hold the key high above our head. The portal

re-appeared, and we walked through, stumbling upon Eldridge.

Thank you. Thank you so much, said Eldridge.

Eldridge inserted the key into the star shaped hole, and opened the chest. All three of us

looked inside. Contained, inside of the chest, was a scroll inside a glass bottle. I reached for the

bottle and took the scroll out. I un-rolled the ancient and fragile piece parchment containing the

secret to life. It read: The secret to life is happiness.

Thats all, happiness? I said while shocked in disbelief.

Yes., Eldridge responded, Open your eyes. Observe and study it. Learn it and use it. Do it

and perfect it. Practice and master it; for only the wise can only understand life to its fullest.

The moral of this story is when you think you have it bad, others have it worse. Be happy and be

as happy as you can. Therefore, if you are happy, you are living life.

Copyright 2010 by Joshua Safran.

All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information


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storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where

permiited by law.

The Irish Sea Dog (Copyrighted)

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