The Hunting Ground
by Siri Paulson
Have you ever heard of an aquatic shapeshifter? Traditionally, we have preyed on divers, waiting in the guise of a clownfish or a piece of coral reef until they and their black clicking boxes come too close. Have you wondered how sharks can appear at swimming beaches out of nowhere, or why experienced divers sometimes fail to surface?
Our talents go beyond shifting from one finned creature to another. We are the sudden riptide that draws you under and never lets you go, the rogue wave that sweeps you off the seawall or flips your boat. We follow lone yachters bent on circumnavigation, unwisely testing their will against the sea. We know why the Mary Celeste was empty and how Amelia Earhart screamed when she died. The monster shark you have only dreamed of, the creature of the deeps that will not come near the bathyscaphe's light--those were us.
