18) Arthur's Seahorse

Arthur had been a criminal, wrongly accused of stealing fish food despite owning no fish. The jury did not see this as a flaw to the evidence that had been handed to them (eye witness testimony from the shop owner, the shop owner’s wife and a dog which could respond to yes or no questions through barking once or twice). For his crime, Arthur was banished to the sea with only a raft and a week’s worth of fish food.

It took four days for Arthur to wish he was dead. The fish food tasted like rabbit pellets found in the forest and the inside of his throat felt like strips of masking tape. The sea water teased him. He put his head out over the side of the raft and stared at the blue water. Salt water couldn’t be that harmful could it?

He dipped his hand into the water, and as he did he felt something rough with many spindly thorns. He pulled his hands back and saw something yellow under the surface. A nozzle shaped nose poked out of the water. As the rest of its head came out, it had the skull shape of a dragon and the arched neck of a horse. The head alone of this creature was larger than the raft.

If Arthur wasn’t so dehydrated, he might have believed he had come across a giant seahorse. He reached out a hand which trembled through both uncertainty and malnourishment. The seahorse pushed its head into Arthur’s palm. It rubbed itself up and down, causing tiny coral scales to crumble away like dandruff. The seahorse whipped its head back, signalling for Arthur to get on its back.

As a man with nothing to lose, Arthur rolled over the side of the boat and allowed the waves to carry him. The seahorse dived underwater and then resurfaced underneath him. Arthur put his hands gently around the creature’s throat. They were off, dashing across the waves with ease. Arthur’s cackle startled the seahorse. He wasn’t sure if he was really being taken back to shore. Even if he wasn’t, this was a pretty fun way to die.