Everywhere you looked, something sparkled. Usually it was just the sun peeking through the water above me. For some reason, under the ocean, everything was special. I felt like this was the most magnificent place in the world to be, and I would never want to be anywhere else but here.
Everything sparkled in my eyes because of this. I floated up to get a taste of the sweet summer air. I could hear the birds flying above me; I could see humans on the beach; I could feel hills growing on my arms as the wind slithered across my skin. Suddenly, I heard a loud horn. I looked to my right and behind a red buoy I saw a ship. I knew that I couldn’t be seen, but I loved looking at the humans. They’re like us with no tails. A human was walking across the ship joking with a friend. I saw another man trip and I laughed. Someone looked out to the ocean. I submerged quickly into the blue once again.
“Claire! You’re finally home! Where have you been? Mother needs help cleaning herself and it’s your turn!” my younger sister Lily exclaims.
“I’m sorry Lily. I was at the surface. I’ll go help mother. Are you making dinner?”
“Yes, oyster casserole with seaweed,” she snorted.
I swam upstairs to help my mother.
A few years ago my mother was at the surface admiring the sun when she was hit by a ship. She has severe brain damage from it and can barely do anything anymore. She was practically gone, but she was our mother and we had to help.
As Lily and I were eating dinner, she popped the question as she does every now and again.
“Claire, when do you think it will happen?”
I hated when she asked that question. What she meant was, “When do you think mother is going to die?”
“I’m not sure, Lily, but when it happens, it's going to hurt us. We're going to feel pain we didn't think we’d ever have, but, we need to be ready for that.”
Lily looked down at her plate and fiddled with her food. I knew it upset her but what could I do? Lily and I finished eating and cleaned up. I went into my room and  read for a while. It was around midnight when it happened.
“Claire!” my sister screamed.
I instantly knew what was happening by the fear in my sister’s voice.
“Bring her to the whale!” I yelled back to her.
Luckily before my mother’s accident, she bought us a new whale incase we ever wanted to drive far away or somewhere fast. Our whale was as fast as a speed boat.
  I swam downstairs and got the whale ready, once mom and Lily were downstairs we drove to the clamspital. We waited for what seemed to be years, when it was actually only a few minutes. I heard the heart-breaking sound of the flat line and I watched as the nurses tumbled into the room.
A few minutes later Dr. Lobserstien walked out of the room where my mother was held. He kept his head down while he walked to us. Once his eyes met mine, I knew what happened.
“Girls, I need to speak with you.”
I listened to the news in silence. Lily fell into my arms crying hysterically. My mother was gone. I looked around the room to see if anyone was there to witness our emotions. Nobody. I noticed something while I looked. The sparkle of everything, had disappeared.
The next few days were dark and quiet. We got a ton of sympathy letters and the whole town showed up to our mother’s funeral. My mother was very well known throughout the town. Everyone loved her. I  was sitting in front next to my sister and our family’s close friends. Looking around, I still couldn’t see any sparkle. What had happened to it? Where did it go? I was devastated that not one, but two of the most amazing things in my life were gone.
  After the funeral I took Lily home and decided I needed to go for a swim. I needed to get some of this off my mind. I swam up to the surface. The air was cold when I emerged from the darkness below. It was grey, and I didn’t see any humans along the beach. It was depressing. I decided I might as well go home and sleep. I couldn’t find my sparkle, so what was the point.
Days after laying in bed, Lily came into my room.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“Doing what?” I said blankly.
“Sitting in bed. You’re not swimming. You’re not helping around the house. I don’t think I’ve seen you eat in three days! Stop moping and get up! Mom is in a better place, and it’s not helping me feel better by seeing you act this way! She’s not in pain anymore! Why should we be? She would want to see us get up and make something of ourselves!” Lily yelled as her eyes and face became red.
“You don’t get it,” I explained. “Nothing is okay right now!”
Lily left my room with fury. I decided I needed to get up and go for a swim. It would make not only me, but Lily feel a little bit better. I swam a few miles away from the town. Farther than I usually would. I swam up to the surface not knowing what I would see. I surfaced.I saw the sun, it almost burned. Unexpectedly, the most amazing moment in my life happened. I saw my mother in the sun. I didn’t know if I was hallucinating, but I saw her. She smiled at me. I knew she was happy, and it made me feel better that she wasn’t hurting anymore. I haven’t seen my mother smile since before her accident. I felt a pounding pain in my heart. It was a good pain. I looked around and everything sparkled again. Everything was better.