Once upon a time, a very long time ago, so long ago in fact that the words that you see written on this page hadn't even been invented yet, there lives a wee tiny blue lobster named Andre.
Andre was not remarkable in any way, and he mostly did what the other lobsters did, but he always felt that he was destined for things greater than scavenging and crawling under rocks and into cervices all day.
Things were about to change for Andre, and they were going to change in a way that only could be described as somewhat unimportant in the grand scheme of things, but where important in the life of the little lobster.
It was a rather stormy December evening with waves crashing upon the shores of the nearest landmass. The winds were blowing out of the north and the waters that had not found their way back into the sea had turned to ice. Everything just out of reach of the water was covered with a thin clear coating making the area look as if it was encased in glass. A light snow was fall, and in the areas that weren't wet, blew about and swirled forming little white tornadoes that look wondrous against the black rocks of the shoreline beyond the beach.
This was the night in which it happened, it was the night in which Andre decided to do something else with his life. He knew that he had to do something and what was going on in the world above the waves had absolutely no bearing upon his decision to act at that very moment.
He left the safety of his hole beneath a rock and headed toward shore. A moonbeam had broken through the clouds and lit the shore like a million tiny light bulbs, and everything sparkled - it was the most beautiful thing that Andre had ever seen and he knew that he had to have a closer look and had to experience this sparkly wonderland firsthand.
The closer he got to the shore, the stronger was the pull of the sight as well as the action of the wave. The closer he got the harder it was for him to turn away from the sight as well as it being harder for him the counteract the motion of the waves. And still he had to go on whether because this was what he had to do or whether this was what he had no choice in doing didn't matter any more.
Then it happened, a wave caught Andre when he didn't expect it and lifted him to the surface. He was at the mercy of the waves as well as the wind and the little snow flakes that swirled about him and disappeared forever once they hit the water. Andre was riding the waves as they went to and fro from the shore though he was spending more time going to than going fro.
As his travels took him ever closer to the shoreline, he thought to himself that if it wasn't so cold above the water, he could get used to riding the waves and letting the waters carry him wherever they want to take him. He was riding upon the crest of one particular wave when he ran out of ocean. He found himself on land in the midst of the sparkly wonderland. It was at this point he realized that this probably wasn't the place for him to be at that moment for the harder he tried to move in any direction, the more his little feet slipped and slid in directions that weren't necessarily in the same direction.
After much struggling, Andre found himself wedged between a couple of rock with just enough water flowing in and out to make it at the very least livable. Being worn out from the struggle, he decided that he should try his best to get some sleep and face his fate refreshed at the first light of day. The first light of day came and went and by the time Andre finally awoke, the water temperature of his personal death trap had risen to the point of being rather warm. He wasn't quite sure if he preferred the freezing cold of the night or the scorching heat of day, but he knew for a fact that if he couldn't free himself from between the rocks, he would die a slow horrible death and all his brothers and sisters would have absolutely no idea what had happened to him.
He struggled and struggled throughout the day, and discovered along the way that he was stuck so fast that only a miracle could save him from certain death. During the entire process of his going to meet his maker, he noticed that his skin had turned from a blue to a sort of light purple to a pinkish shade and then finally near the last of day, a bright red.
As night fell and his watery grave began to cool off, he had lost all hope of surviving his little adventure and gave up struggling against the inevitable and he decided that it may be for the best for him to just go to sleep and to never wake. Andre had lost all hope of seeing the next morning and all hope of ever seeing his family again.
And if this story happened to be a tragedy, it would conclude at this point with one dead lobster that no one knew had died trying to live the life of adventure, but unfortunately this story had not been written in the aforementioned genre so it does not end there.
For you see this night in which Andre had given up all hope was the Christmas Eve - the holiest night of the lot. And as he closed his eyes to sleep the eternal sleep of death, Andre heard off in the distance a sound like he had never heard before. It was almost like two bits of shells banging off each other near the edge of the water, but it was different and he didn't know how so, yet it was. And this sound that could not be identified grew closer until it sounded as if it was almost upon him and then it stopped and everything grew quiet except for the lapping of the waves upon the shore.
Then Andre could hear a clomp, clomp sort of rhythmic sound that seemed to grow louder and louder as if some large beast grew near and he feared for certain that his time upon this earth was drawing near to its conclusion. Still wedged between the rocks, all he could do was look up toward the heavens - he couldn't turn around, he couldn't escape. Andre decided that he would greet his fate with a smile if a lobster could actually smile, and it would be all over.
There it was, a giant creature that was blocking out much of the moonlight that had previously lit Andre's final resting place. "What have we here?" asked the voice and although Andre knew that he shouldn't be able to understand the strange creature, he did so nonetheless.
A wave of terror enveloped Andre; he shook to the very core of his existence. He had to get away and he had to do it now. "Now, now, little one, you have nothing to fear," said the creature in a manner that seemed to somewhat reassure Andre and had made the shaking slow, but not completely.
Then a large black shadow began to get near to Andre. It seemed as if all the stars in the sky were being extinguished one by one. The shadow was getting closer and closer. Everything was turning to black. The entire world that Andre had known for the past day was turning to black, and the blackness surrounded him completely and there was nothing. Andre reached down into the pit of his soul and managed to bring forth the last bit of courage he had. That exact bit that is stored within for just such moments that little extra that one is surprised to find within themselves. This little bit of courage is what he would face the creature with, and nothing more.
Andre could feel the waters about him start to move, and he knew that the end was near. It was just a matter of time and all would be over and done with. He felt relieved that his struggle would be over soon and his body felt warm and tingly all over. He was at peace with his fate so as he could feel the blackness surround his body and begin to pull he from his trap, he didn't put a struggle and resigned himself to his fate.
His little body began to be freed and he felt light as if he riding the waves though there was no resistance from the waters pushing upon him. He was free from the rocks though the darkness surrounded him, but he was free.
"Well, little one, Mrs. Claus said she wanted a little lobster for Christmas, but ho-ho-ho, I don't think this is what she had in mind, ho-ho-ho."
