Four Basic Principles

CASS

3. Repetition
Repeating visual elements helps develop the organization and unity of the design.

The boat puttered closer to the beach, to what Jimmy called "the sardine run," whatever that was. I couldn't concentrate and wasn't really interested in finding out. My heart still jackhammered in my ribs, so hard I swore my bikini top fluttered.

"Did you see that? Did you see that?" Janna bounced in front of me, a huge smile on her elfin face. "Was that a big one, Manong Jimmy?"

"Young," he shrugged. "Some turtles bigger."

"Didn't it look so serene?" said Brix, sunning himself at the bow. "I thought it was moving slowly. And then we all realized it was leading us to our doom."

"God, yes," said Janna. "I was so busy chasing it, when I looked down and saw how dark and deep the water was, I almost had a mini heart attack!"

"How deep was that part of the drop off, Jimmy?" asked Tim.

"Very deep," the boatman confirmed.

"Good thing you were able to see it, Cass!" Tim turned to me. "I know you're afraid of open water."

Why yes, Tim. Good of you to remind me. That turtle was cool and all but I still thought I was going to die. I thought Jaws himself would swoop from the darkness under me and have me for brunch.

"It's fine," said Gelo. He sat so close to me, our shoulders touched. "I had her."

Ran kept her gaze resolutely on the water, but I knew she had her Spidey senses trained on us.

Because, shit, my hand was still in his.

"Ho-o-okey," called Jimmy, stopping the boat a few yards from the beach. There was a Caucasian woman gingerly wading into the shallow water while folks ate lunch in a restaurant on stilts above her.

"Huh?" I looked around. "Are we done already?"

"No. Sardine run," said Jimmy, as if that explained everything.

Ran slipped on her mask and snorkel and leaped off the boat. Almost immediately she surfaced, splashing furiously. "Oh my God! Eeeew!"

Brix followed her lead, and then came up himself, giggling and shrieking, "GIIIIIRRRRLLLLL whyyyyyy?"

I looked up as Janna and Tim followed and broke the water moments later, reacting like Fear Factor contestants.

"What the hell is going on?"

Gelo held my mask and snorkel. "Only one way to find out."

I gulped, pushed the mask on my face and tightened my life vest. Whatever gross/funny thing there was in the water, I just prayed it didn't have a taste for sleep-deprived, sexually frustrated women.

Gelo entered the water first and waited until I safely descended the ladder. Then he looked me in the eye and said: "On the count of three, we look down. Ready?"

I nodded.

"One..."

"What if they all rose up and attacked us?" To my left, Brix laughed maniacally.

"Two..."

What the fuck was in the water?!

"Three!"

I grabbed Gelo's hand and dipped my face into the sea.

It took me two seconds to figure out what I was looking at. It looked like millions of short, stubby seaweeds that waved...wait a minute, why were they moving like that?

From the edge of my vision I saw Ran dive into the middle of the mass and the little silver seaweeds parted in the flash of an eye, moving like magic worms.

I raised my head and screamed, grabbing for Gelo's shoulder.

"OH MY GOD ARE THOSE FISH? THOSE ARE FISH!"

Gelo laughed and held my waist. (Over the cockblock life vest, but I'd take it.) "I'm guessing that's why it's called a sardine run?"

I looked into the water again. My mind just wasn't computing what I was seeing. There were layers upon layers of the gray and silver sardines, so many on top of each other I couldn't see the ocean floor. They moved freakily, in unison with the current but in kind of horror-movie jerks, like they were guided by an alien intelligence.

"Oh my God," I said again to Gelo as I surfaced. "I can't see the bottom. What if there's, like, a giant shark below all of them, jaws open, and then he decides to rush up to the surface and eat all those fish, catching one of us in the process?"

"Man," he shook his head. "Jaws scarred you for life, didn't it?"

"I was three when I saw it and yes, it fucking did."

He held my hand. "I got you, remember? Just relax."

I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand so hard he winced.

"I promise. If I spot a shark I will sacrifice myself so you can save yourself."

He smiled and bit the snorkel, and I pretended that it didn't melt my heart, what he just said.