Her steps echoed hurriedly across the submarine's main corridor. Pristine steel pipes line the walls, transporting precious air and water. After months of waiting Lynn had finally built up enough courage to admit her love to Dr. Allen. She opened the main hatch and strolled into the piloting bay. Like normal, he was staring hopelessly at the monitors around him. Discarded coffee cups and nutrition packets were scattered across the room- not from him but from her during her previous shift. At the sound of the door opening, he turned, surprise written all over his face.

  “Lynn, what are you doing up here? Your shift isn’t for another six hours.” The two of them manned the submarine in alternating twelve-hour shifts. His was noon to midnight, while her own was midnight to noon. It was currently 6:14 p.m.

  “I know this feels sudden and like it's coming out of nowhere, but I can't keep it a secret anymore. I'm in love with you. Every day and every night you're all I can think about. I know it might be frowned upon, you being my boss and all. But ever since I met you three years ago, I've known you were the one for me.”

  He looked back and forth between her and the floor. “Lynn. I genuinely like you as a person, a colleague, and even a close friend but I don’t see you in that way. I certainly didn’t mean to give you any type of impression. I’m sorry.”

  “I can’t just unfeel my feelings. Dr. A, I’m in love with you.” She rushed forward and kissed him before he could respond. His rough hands grabbed her shoulders and flung her to the ground.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? How dare you say that to me in the most remote place on Earth! I’ve already told you before, and this is the last time. I’m happily married. I will never leave my wife for you. Now get the fuck out.” Spit flew from his mouth, and his face was turning bright red.

  “I’m sorry, it's just-it’s-uh.” She couldn’t get the words out through the deep sobs.

  “GET OUT!!!”

  Hundreds of miles below the surface of the Earth, Lynn was on a lonely submarine, crying on her bed. She kept willing herself to stop crying, but tears wouldn't stop falling. What series of bad decisions in her life led her to this wretched metal box? She felt the type of loneliness where loved ones surround you, but you still feel alone. Her heart ached, and a migraine was creeping its way in.

  Stifling her sobs, she crawled onto her small desk chair and watched the swirling darkness from her window. Lynn was so sure that Allen loved her back that she followed him on this wild goose chase to find life out here in the darkest reaches of the Earth. It's clear now that he just wanted to use her and never expected her to confess her apparent feelings for him. There was always chemistry between the two, but now it seemed as if he was manipulating her naivety from the start.

  Her parents tried to warn her when she first developed the crush: "Look sweetie, he's twice your age, and I just don’t think it’ll work….." and "Look, you'll figure it out one day. These things take time." They always acted like they should have full control over her life. At the time, she thought they didn’t understand her, but now she felt like a complete and utter fool. The migraine in her head slowly faded, and her neck tingled like someone was watching from afar.

  Who are you?

  The thought infiltrated her mind and yet was not her own. The voice was deep and slow, completely unfamiliar to her. She blinked rapidly, realizing a giant set of eyes were watching her intently from the water. They must have appeared while she was deep in thought. "Holy shit, I'm finally losing it; I'm hearing voices in my head and seeing things." The yellow eyes tilted slightly as if a head was cocked over, watching her questioningly.

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  That doesn't answer my question, yet the answer proves some intelligence behind your tiny skull.

  Lynn glanced back to the door of her room. Should she run and tell Allen what she saw, or would he just call her a lunatic? Undoubtedly, their sonar would have detected something so large if it was real. Could this be some horrific side effect of stress? She looked back at the window, but the eyes were gone. She drifted off to sleep, confused and exhausted.

  The sonar screen was blank like always; nothing alive had been detected in the few weeks since they’ve arrived. She opened the log files from the day before to check when the visitor had appeared. The page for yesterday was blank, like every day before. Further evidence that she was losing it. She shut down the computer and went back to her room. It wouldn't hurt to skip a couple of shifts while Allen calmed down. The pipes that lined the long hallway creaked and groaned as she passed. The submarine itself was disturbed by Lynn’s state of mind.

  The first thing she noticed as she walked back in was the set of yellow eyes in her window, watching her intently. No intrusive thoughts entered her mind this time; the eyes just sat patiently.

  She hesitated before speaking, butterflies fluttered in her stomach. “My name is Lynn. I come from the surface. What ....or should I say, who are you?"

  I am known by many things, but a simple name you could call me is Ken. What is the surface? Is it another part of the ocean?

  Lynn couldn't help but let out a boisterous laugh at the name and the absurdity of the question. "You must be imaginary because only my imagination could come up with a name and question that absurd." The eyes slowly blinked but said nothing in response.

  "Well, Ken, it's a pleasure to meet you. The surface is hundreds of miles above this ocean. It's like the sea floor but without water. As for the reason why I'm here… I guess you could say that I've always been alone, and for some reason, I thought coming here would solve my problems. I think my coming here was me trying to run from them instead of trying to fix them."

  An awkward silence filled her mind,the air, and the water as he considered his response.

  I also feel lonely. Could we perhaps be friends?

  A month passed, and Lynn and Ken's friendship blossomed. She spent most days in her quarters reading and "talking" to him. Allen seemed to either not notice her absence or not care because he had gone about business as usual. After a month of silence, Allen finally went to speak to her. As usual, when Ken wasn't there, she was bored, waiting and watching at the window.

  A slow knock thumped on her door, and before she had a chance to get up, it opened. Allen opened his mouth, probably to say some rehearsed line, but stopped and looked around the room covered in trash and dirty laundry.

  She broke the silence first “Hey.”

  He looked up and met her eyes. His normally blank face had a guilty look to it. “Hey. Look, I know the way I acted was out of line, and I just wanted to apologize. I don’t want your last memories of me to be me hitting you. I’m sorry.”

  Lynn turned her head back to the window. “ It’s okay. I forgive you. You can leave now.”

  Allen stayed in place. “That’s not all I wanted to say, but I’ll leave soon. It’s time for us to head back up. Our supplies are at the caution levels, and we have nothing to show for it—all of this time and money for nothing.” He slumped his head down and sighed. When he left the room, he didn’t close the door.

  Lynn knew Ken must have a way of hiding himself from Allen's prying eyes and technology. Finally, two familiar, loving eyes appeared at the window. "Ken! I've been waiting forever today to talk to you. You’ve been gone so long. Are you okay?” She beamed at the window.

  Just out hunting and scaring any predators away from you, darling.

  Her expression soured as she thought about what Allen had said. “I don't know how to say it, but we're heading back to the surface soon.” Tears came to her eyes as she thought of losing someone as close to her as Ken. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to live after losing someone like you.”

  How much longer do we have?

  "Honestly, not much longer, just a day or two until we are too high up for you to find us anymore.

  I enjoyed our time together too. Our conversations brought me great joy. Goodbye, friend.

  The submarine shook violently, the lights flickered at the disturbance. Walls began to shrink and crumble. The Kraken tore apart the ship, finally eating its food. Two hungry eyes disappear back into the void.