Barracuda

Chapter 1

She swam swiftly and purposely. Something inside her told her that she had to go to a certain location and mate. The instinct was so overwhelming that she could not ignore it. During this migration, she would forego eating until her copulation was complete. Such a maternal drive was common in nature and varied from species to species. Although she had an inherent duty, she swam warily. She felt a strange yet unseen presence in the waters she had entered. She had traveled a long distance, and this was her second mating
season. She had expected the shallow waters to be warmer, but not this warm, and she wondered what was causing that tingling sensation. Her species didn’t begin mating until they were two years old, and she had grown to full size during her three years in the ocean.

Her natural feeding grounds abounded in healthy prey, and she had developed great hunting skills. She knew she was larger and stronger than many of her kind, so she didn’t hunt in schools or packs like the others did. Still, with her hormones in overdrive, she felt trepidation. Something was not right. The lure of procreation was driving her, but things were wrong. The water was too warm. There was very little prey if she needed to feed. She was not used to traveling through the vastness of the deep blue water without seeing fish. The tingling sensation along her lateral lines increased as she neared her spawning place. As she entered the lagoon, she immediately felt an additional rise in the water’s temperature. Then she noticed how few fish there were compared to her previous visit.