Below the bobbing fishing boat, Mira glides through the coral kingdom in a flash of silver scales. She presses her palms flat against the glass-bottom hull and watches sailors scatter shiny coins into the water. She tries to reach them, but her fingers slip on the smooth glass. With a frustrated kick, she swirls up a cloud of gold sand.
A tiny green turtle bumps into Mira's shoulder, chirping frantically and pointing its flippers upward toward the sunlit surface. She grabs its shell and pushes, but the current tugs the little turtle sideways into a maze of tangled seaweed. She kicks hard and dives deeper, chasing it through the twisting forest.
Mira swims up toward the surface with the turtle wedged under her arm, but the boat has drifted away. Sailors are hauling up a heavy net that blocks her path. She shoves the turtle through a gap in the ropes and watches it bob helplessly in the undertow. A gull circles overhead, crying out.
Mira dives back down and drags the turtle to a narrow channel where the seaweed is thin and the water runs clear. She climbs onto a flat limestone rock and holds the turtle high above her head. The sunlight hits its shell like a beacon, turning it gold.
The turtle stops thrashing. Its dark eyes catch the golden light and shine like wet stones. Mira feels the water grow warm against her cheeks. And beneath her, a shadow rises from the coral — much larger than the little one she holds.
The mother turtle nudges her baby close with her broad snout. Then she turns and looks directly at Mira, blinking slowly, deliberately. Mira reaches out and touches the mother's smooth shell. She feels the steady, deep rhythm of the ocean beneath her fingertips.
Mira watches the mother and baby swim away into the deep blue. The turtle's bright green shell fades into the distance. She stays still on the rock, water rippling around her tail.
Mira turns her face upward. The surface shimmers above her like a ceiling of liquid light. She kicks her tail gently and begins to rise.
She reaches the glass-bottom hull and presses her palms against it again. Above, the sailors are gone and the boat rocks gently on calm water. She smiles.
Mira stays beneath the boat for a long while, watching the world above through the curved glass. Coins glint on the sandy floor. She gathers a handful and presses them against the hull, as if leaving something for the sailors to find.
When she finally swims away from the boat, Mira glides through the coral kingdom one more time. A school of silver fish parts around her like a curtain. She knows she will come back.
The water is cool and the sunlight is warm, and Mira swims between them with no worry at all. This world — the water and the sky — is both hers.
