Feeding A Leopard Seal Pup

• Renee Attard, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2014

The dark, murky water makes it hard for me to see. I have to succeed. For me and for my pup. I am a fearsome underwater predator. I need to live up to the standard of my kind. Noting that I was running out of air, I went in for the kill. My prey was fast, but I was faster. My prey stopped to see if I was still following. That was its mistake. I shook my prey with the same ferociousness I would have if I was fighting for my life. After my fresh kill was devoured, I came up for air. Seeing land, I swam towards it and after a few unsuccessful attempts I was up. I was forced to swim for hours on end today as prey was scarce, so I took this opportunity to rest. Awoken by the sound of a boat I looked around. An ugly creature with no fins and no claws was in front of me. It had pale skin with no tail only legs. My dad before me had told me about these creatures. It was a human. Scared, I fled for the water. Once in I was able to put a considerable amount of distance between me and the human, I suddenly noticed that I was so busy fleeing that I swam straight into another seal’s territory. A strong aggressive male was travelling towards me at high speeds. He snarled at me and showed that I was not welcome here. Turning to the other direction, I fled yet again. Exhausted, I glanced at how far I needed to go. I was close. Catching a penguin who had strayed from the group, stopped hunger from creeping in. A high pitched whistle grabbed my attention. A pod of orcas were racing towards me. Why now when I was so close? My only hope was to get to land. The orcas were gaining on me bit by bit. Barely stopping to take a breath, I just kept on swimming. The orcas were closing in now. Clumsily, I scrambled onto land. I had made it. The orcas, seeing that the hunt was over, went to see what other prey they could find to satisfy their stomachs. A defenseless leopard seal pup came up to me making a loud cry, which I then knew was mine. I regurgitated all the food I had eaten in the past few days. I paused to reflect what I had just done. Me a mother of one, had faced countless terrors in order to feed my pup. The sea with all its wonders had spared me. I know a lot of other seals who weren’t so lucky. Life no matter how short it is needs to be enjoyed and appreciated. I knew I would have to go out again tomorrow but for now I rested contentedly with my pup.