Life was pretty good on the rock.
That was, until the seals arrived. At first, they obeyed the gulls, the first inhabitants of the rock. Now, the place is a stinking mess. Nothing good has come from the once symbiotic relationship. But that did not stop some from benefiting from this now toxic relationship. Prawns were after all a highly sought-after commodity.
Trevor was like most gulls on the rock. He never worried where his prawns would come from, neither did he try to sell them on the black market which was now bigger than ever. Yet, the thought never left his mind. He could try it, just once, but what would he benefit from it? How would it impact his standing in the society that he tried to build for so long?
No, he thought. This is not the way.
Trevorr left his nest for the day, his daily prawn haul. The usual spot, he thought. He flew to the familiar rock where Zacharia left the bag of prawns, but there was nothing there. He sat and waited, but nothing, and no one showed up. This was concerning. Something was wrong. Zac was never late.
Zac was never late.
Seaspray wet Trevor's feathers. The sun was setting. The cold wind rustled his feathers. Something was wrong. That was obvious from the fact that Zac was not here. But also the fact that everything was too quiet.
Thats when Zacharia breached the water with a bag in his mouth.
"Sorry for being late, mate" he said dropping the bag in front of Trevor.
"Is everything fine?"
"Yes," Zac said with a hesitation in his voice he could not hide.
"You sure man?"
"Yes, don't stress it," Zac said before jumping back into the water.
The eerie silence returned. Trevor was alone on the rock which he did not want to be.
He sat and waited, maybe something will happen, maybe he will not see the sun rise again. Things have been tense the last couple of days. But he tried to stay out of everything. The black market stuff was not for him. But you never know when something might happen.
Trevor flew back to his nest with the bag in his mouth. The fresh stink of the prawns woke memories in him, good and bad. He tried not to think about it too much.
The same eerie silence was present at his nest. He placed the bag down but did not open it. He knew something was about to happen.
Lights suddenly shone onto him. The voices of many shattered the silence; he did not know if it was fear or admiration. Every eye was on him. Two seals bowed down next to him. Many prawns lay at his feat. Zacharia hopped toward him.
"We got them, boss."
Trevor looked at Zacharia with absolute confusion. Was he the boss?
Postscriptum, The End
The story was unplanned. The photograph inspired it. I also acquired the help of 