The Cure For Thalassophobia

Jenny Hanover was in the boardroom of her law firm practicing her presentation, when she suddenly found herself in the middle of the ocean. 

One moment, she had been looking down at the long oak table, the empty executive chairs, the beige walls, and just at the climax of her speech, everything disappeared and was replaced by that endless expanse of blue-green water. She gasped at the cold wet shock as she immediately sank, and spluttered as the saltwater entered her mouth. She felt the icy tendrils of the sea reaching into her lungs and burning, burning, as she fought to get her head back above the surface. Her woolen pantsuit weighed her down, and she clawed at them, at the water, at anything, as she sank deeper and deeper, down into the briny depths.

Then she was back in the boardroom. 

Jenny staggered and clutched her throat. Everything was back: the walls, the chairs, the long oak table. Her clothes were dry, her hair wasn't wet, and most importantly, she could now breathe. There was a moment of faint soreness in her lungs, like the memory of pain. 

Jenny cancelled the presentation and sent everyone home for the rest of the day.

Nothing of interest happened the rest of that week. 

On Thursday afternoon, as she was driving home, it happened again. Her home sat on several acres of desert, at the foot of the mountain, and as she turned onto the spacious driveway she felt that same wrenching lurch and she was in the ocean again.

She was still in her car. Water immediately began filling in and the sea around her frothed and churned as it swallowed up her vehicle, and she was fully submerged.

Her brain knew that it would be impossible to open the door until the car was completely full of water, but the rest of her knew she was in a metal coffin and still she tried, in vain, jerking at the handle, kicking and punching at the window.

Still she sank, and as she gulped the remaining pocket of air, she focused on a dark shape outside the window. 

It was some kind of animal, but it was much larger than her car. It had a broad, flat body with four long flippers, and a short tail. As it circled the car, the flippers made it look like it was flying through the water. A triangular head on the end of a long, long, neck curved slowly around, and looked directly at her through the windshield. Its mouth opened up to reveal hundred of needle-like teeth. 

It was a fucking plesiosaur. 

It began to gnaw on the glass and Jenny screamed.

Then she was back in her driveway. The car was dry, she was dry, and there was no Loch Ness Monster in sight. 

Jenny called in sick the next day.

On Monday, she had to fly to Las Vegas for a legal convention. Her law firm was meeting with their most important clients. 

She dreaded getting on the plane. If it happened again, and the entire plane went into the ocean, she was sure she'd be killed instantly. 

Fortunately, she was taken just as the gate agent was calling for the business select passengers to line up for boarding.

This time, she awoke at the bottom of the ocean. She was strapped to a metal table, surrounded by grey, humanoid creatures. She struggled against her bonds, and screamed, but nothing came out, not even air bubbles. She was drowning, but not drowning. 

The Atlanteans gathered around her and clicked excitedly. They were congratulating themselves. They had successfully plucked their savior out of time, from that distant possible future where Atlantis had long been destroyed. Now, with her knowledge, they might prevent that fate.

They waited patiently for Jenny Hanover to stop trying to scream. The gill transplant had been successful, but it took some time before newcomers stopped trying to use their own lungs and became accustomed to the sensation of ice water forever filling their chests. 

Some never did, of course, and writhed for days and weeks and months in their bonds, eyes bulging, their mouths making that silent scream. If they wept, the Atlanteans could not tell, because tears are indistinguishable from the ocean. 

Still, the Atlanteans had a good feeling about her.

-Dedicated to all of you who fear the open ocean. I'm sure this will probably never happen to you.

Author's Note: Sitting down to write with nothing but a blank page in front of you is cool and all, but it's pretty damn hard. Personally, I take notes. Blogger is turning out to be great for this because I can create a draft with a vague title, and then add to that throughout the day. What follows is a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the original notes for this story. I had the idea of suddenly waking up in the ocean, then I had a few sentences, then I built a little skeleton around those. It's not linear; by the way, for example the switching the protagonist's gender happened pretty late which is why the first paragraph says "It's she now" but most of the rest of the outline refers to a he. 

I regret not being able to more thoroughly develop the body horror of implanting gills. Could have been pretty gnarly. And she can breathe but still feels like she's constantly drowning, but the thing about time is it passes and as a human I do need sleep to go to work and make money to buy dog food or the mutts get really grumpy. Goodnight!

Oh and the name Jenny Hanover is a lifted directly from a Jenny Haniver, which is the carcass of a ray or skate carved to look like little devil/mermaid creatures. Google it!

THE NOTES:

Fear of the ocean, but guy isn't going into the ocean, he just keeps suddenly finding himself in the ocean. He lives in a desert. It's she now, and she's the boss of the company, or is gunning to be in charge. Business suit and all that.

Maybe spontaneous time travel? Not spontaneous.

Office building meeting in a suit and then boom he's in the ocean. Surrounded by prehistoric sea creatures. 

He'll be driving and then part of his car and his entire vehicle gets teleported and he's sinking and that's when he sees prehistoric creatures through the glass as he sinks.

He is going about to board a plane (set up what might happen) and teleports one last time. Or he is in the plane and goes to the bathroom and then teleports

Oh not spontaneous. He's actually a descendant of Atlantis and they're trying to bring them all home. Maybe they have to surgically implant gills but he constantly feels like he's drowning. She's supposed to be there to save them, but she's not going to because she hates it there but can't return. So she'll actually be the cause of the destruction of Atlantis, or at least do nothing to stop it.