Alone.

That feeling never seemed to fade. No one ever spoke to her, even the fish tried to avoid the building. It didn't matter anyway because the fish couldn't talk, nobody did.
When she found a small hole in the wall of where she lived. Peering through, catching a glimpse of the beauty of the Ocean with the most vibrant of colours and fish she had never seen before. How she longed to adventure past the walls and yet that voice haunted her, stopping her every time she dared satisfying her curiosity.

"Never leave this room, never go to the Surface."

What seemed like forever passed by when she had explored every inch of her room and read all the books she could find. Most of the time she lounged on the sand, combing her hand inside it, lifting and gazing as grains scattered through her palm floating down to settle once again, sometimes if lucky she would find a shell. Mostly Common Limpet shells.

However, the days continued to grow tedious. A part of her considered leaving, nothing happened when she stayed so what would it be like if she left?
She wondered if she would be swept away by a current or perhaps someone would appear...

At least she wouldn't be alone any longer.

From what she could see of the small part of the Ocean, it was something out of a dream. The possibilities of what was beyond overwhelmed her, the taste of salt dancing along with her tongue.

If she just poked her head through the hole and nothing happened, maybe, she could go out completely.
Her hand began to tremble as she swam to the hole. The seaweed that grew near her shell collection was already down to only a few strands, with the rarity of fish swimming through her room she would need more food eventually.

The thought allowed her to stable herself, no one could be mad at her for leaving if she needed to get food, right?

So she placed her hand in the negative space from the outside to her side, her pinky twitched. There was nothing to lose, her hand shot through the hole while her eyes stayed closed, waiting several seconds before peeking through her lashes. Discovering her hand was very much still there, wiggling her fingers and watching as bubbles rose above.
Testing even further by shoving her other hand inside easily, nothing appeared to change except herself; She could feel something within her stomach soar, a new voice within her mind drowning any reservations.

Without another second passing by she waved her tail furiously and with a little sucking in of her belly, glided out of the hole and felt a warmth wash over the back of her scales.
She simply floated there with only the slight movement of her eyes moving, swarms of fish all around with some mingling with the coral reefs, shells scattered around like little treasures. The blue expanse of water stretching farther than her eyes could see, the life around her causing the Ocean to buzz with each ripple.

As she swirled to see the light that bounced against the ground for herself she was ready to accept any punishment for leaving her room, at peace with seeing up close the beauty that waited for her. But all she saw was light, a warm caress across her cheeks and spreading across her body.

Those years spent waiting for someone to appear, waiting to explore meant nothing and everything all at once.

She placed an arm over her eyes, lips curling up in a smile. Not caring if it was all taken from her now if she was plucked from the Ocean because she had finally seen it. She felt it, within her.
Of course, the fish were still silent, she was still alone...But now she had seen what laid beyond the stone wall, the words that held her back now only became questions.

Every moment she stayed there more of that light feeling filled her, the light floating through the Ocean causing her scales to sparkle.
For her, the world she had known stopped. The seconds passing by feeling more like a miracle as she imagined it, in the centre of her chest she could realize a light beating that grew quicker. A word she remembered reading once feeling like the right description of what she felt, the first word to leave her lips.

"Free."