Bleeding out on the concrete wasn’t how I expected my life to come to a screeching halt. The air felt thick as I was gasping for air. The stickiness of the blood was enough to make me want to die in general. A month ago I never would have guessed I would be drowning in my blood.

Growing up I was always in and out of trouble. Between skipping school, and running away I was a mess. I never had strong morals before. I never had shown compassion for anything.  Inspired by the losers I called friends I broke into SeaWorld.

“Climb the gate!” quietly shouted Asia.

Felix warned, “don’t fall Ana”

I didn’t know what I was doing. I was expecting to make it inside, look around, then leave. As I was walking around aimlessly I passed a few exhibits. I heard noises coming from the turtle exhibit. I thought to myself it could be a guard or the police looking for the delinquent who broke into a theme park. I rushed behind the bushes but, the dry earthy smell was nauseating. I knew I was going to have to find shelter elsewhere.
Impulsively, I stood up and sprinted towards the orca exhibit. It was dark and ominous but it was my only option. I stepped further into the exhibit looking at the reflection of the moon glistening upon the somber water. It was one the most serene things I've ever experienced.

Suddenly a whale rose to the surface. His eyes drooped and his skin was scuffed. I felt sorry for the poor thing. I sat there watching him gracefully swimming back and forth in his tank. After awhile I had decided that the coast was probably clear. So I got up, as I was walking out I heard a desperate but faint,
“Wait!”

Looking around I was terrified. Not a person was insight. I was going absolutely mad. I looked in the water and saw a droopy eyed orca staring me down. He let an eruption of words fall out of his mouth,
“Please don't be scared.”

“I won't hurt you.”

“Give me a chance.”

“This must be hard to beli…”

“Calm down!” I interrupted.

“How can you talk that's impossible.” I said amazed by what was happening.

“Well first things first I’m Finn.” he responded.

“I can read.” I said glancing at the sign on the tank showing Finn written in bold letters.

Finn then explained how he was the result of a genetic mutation allowing him to speak. I asked him if there were others out there but he didn’t know.

“Why’d you want me to stay?” I questioned.

“I saw the way you looked at me, I know a kind person when I see one.” he answered.

After a brief but informing conversation I heard heavy footsteps from behind. I realized I had to leave quickly and quietly. I leaned over the tank and softly said,
“ I’ll be back soon.” And then I snuck out the back exit.

The next day I checked my phone to see hundreds of messages from my friends.

“R U Ok?”

“Where R U?”

“ R U in jail.”

“ Txt me back.”

I ignored the messages I had to figure out how I was going to speak with Finn privately again. I thought about breaking in again but it was too risky to do it again the next night. The idea of getting a job there also popped into my brain but you have to be twenty-one years old. After hours of contemplating my situation, I decided to work at sea world.

My plan to get hired was simple. I would spew of a bunch of information that they wanted to hear. There was a fairly average looking man who interviewed me. His eyes looked as if he had longed for something. Perhaps a cigarette, the smell of his last one still lingered. The first question he asked was completely predictable.
“Why do you want to work here” he asked tiresomely.

Vivaciously I responded, “ I have always had a passion to work with animals especially the whales!”
He didn’t look impressed I thought to myself. Maybe my response was a little to unoriginal. I then started to worry he wouldn’t believe I was actually twenty-one.  To my delight however, he looked up from the from he was reading and said,

“I think I have the perfect job for you.”

I was thrilled, I knew that I’d have the opportunity to be near Finn again. The man then proceeded to explain the work my job entails. All I had to was clean the exhibit after the shows they put on. The next day I decided to show up to work before the show was over. Forcing Fin and the other whales to perform those tricks was inhumane. There was no compassion shown for those animals. It was like they didn’t realize animals have emotions. My chest grew heavy and my hearts strings felt as if they were being pulled down by anchors.
After the repugnant performance I rose to my aching feet and got to work. I swept the germ and dirt ridden floor. I cleaned up foul puke, rotten food, and blood from where a distastefully obnoxious girl had fallen and sustained a oozing wound. As soon as the last person walked away from the pool of sadness I stepped up.
I called out Finn's name.

“Where are you?”

I saw a huge figure rising towards the surface. I was so deep in thought about what I was going to say to him that I hadn’t noticed the blood dissipating through the water. Nervously I asked,
“Are you okay?”

A pathetic yes came from his mouth.

“You’re bleeding, what happened?” I asked promptly.

“They came for me last night.” he managed.

I grew impatient with his frank responses. I erupted with anger,
“What are you talking about Finn?”

“The night you snuck in a Seaworld administrator saw me tell you to hurry as you were leaving.

“He then called a group of experimental geneticists” he elaborated.

“They are experimenting on me and when I am deemed no longer useful I will be killed.”

Suddenly I felt as if somebody was watching my every. I turned around to find three individuals staring at me. They reminded me of doctors by the way they were dressed but their expressions were stone cold. Doctors also don’t carry handguns at least the ones I’ve been to. I could tell they didn’t know what to do with me. Finn looked at me with a face of distress. I then knew what had to be done.

“You can’t take him.” I screamed

The “doctors” looked at eachother and nodded. In a quick second one had pulled their gun out, turned the safety off, and aimed it at my head.

“You don’t need to kill her!” Finn yelled.

“Ana it’s alright, let them take me.” he bravely uttered.

“It’s not okay Finn, they are going to kill you!”

“Ana please.” he begged.

“If they want you they are going to have to get through me.” I said.

I was firm with my decision, they were going to have to kill me. I turned around to meet my maker. Staring down into the barrel made me realize I did have morals and compassion. But for me to show it a kind animal like Finn had to come along.

Even though I was going to give up my life for Finn, I had been ready to die for awhile; I just needed the right reason to leave. There was a loud bang and then everything became silent. There was a bitter sweet serenity as I was drifting in and out of consciousness and gasping for air.  I managed to utter a thank you to Finn and then I veered into the dark.