When the dark things were driven from the world, they hid in the deepest and darkest depths of the ocean. Though few dark things were ever seen in the world again, below the surface, they made strange and terrible creatures. Dragons and myths of old sprang forth from the depths to plague mankind. But as the years passed, even those creatures born of the dark things’ hatred of all light and life changed and grew and became other creatures entirely. Thus it came to pass that the black shark swam in the ocean, but was neither an enemy of light or life, but an ally only to itself.

In a time when the shark had become a shark, but before those sharks which men would come to know in the golden ages and beyond swam the oceans, a shark was born colored the deepest black. When he swam below the surface, it would look as though there was only a shadow. And when he swam in the depths which never saw the sun, it still would look as though there was only a shadow. The shark could not see the sun, but only the myriad of shattered reflections it cast on the mirror of the ocean’s surface.

The black shark swam all the seven oceans of the world, and saw the coasts of all the lands of the earth. One such a coastline was a sheer cliff, and the shark would sometimes swim along it. Looking upwards through the glittering ocean at this rock wall, the shark happened to spy a bird flying from her nest. The shark was curious at this creature, floating through the air above the ocean in much the same way as he swam in the ocean’s water. He regarded the dove momentarily before departing.

In a sheer rock wall, a gray dove had built her nest in a tiny crevice. From there she could soar above the ocean, or above the trees on land. She could see the stars in the cloak of night, or dance in the salty spray of the waves. Few other birds built nests so near the vastness of the ocean, but the dove liked the cool air and the reflection of the stars and the moon at night. While other birds feared the unknown, and flew only into familiar skies, the gray dove sought out whatever new experiences she could find.

For this reason, the gray dove was not fearful when she spied the shadow of the shark circling below her nest. Every day the shark returned, and at last she flew low over the waves and cooed to the shark, “My strange and curious dark creature of the ocean, wherefore do you come to this spot, day after day and gaze upon the cliff? And what can you tell me of the world below the waves?”

The shark circled below the gray dove, the ocean’s water spraying her wings as his fin cut the waves. “I wonder at the world above the waves, and what it is like to soar amongst the fragments of the sunlight therein.” Thus the black shark agreed to tell the gray dove about the ocean, and the gray dove agreed to tell the black shark about the sky.

The shark told the dove about the many shores of all the lands of the world. He told her of the depths of the ocean, where living creatures shone like the stars at night. He told her all the legends sharks had passed down for as long as they had existed, and he described the sensation of swimming in the depths of an ocean which was vast and cold. At the wonderment of the dove in hearing all these tales, the shark’s only reply was, “I am a shark, and that is all.”

The dove told the shark about all the lands he could never see. She told him of the skies, and what it was like to fly among the stars and the moon. She told him stories of sights she had seen, which no other bird had seen, and what few other living things could know. The dove told the shark of what it meant to fly. At the wonderment of the shark in hearing all these tales, the dove’s only reply was, “I am a dove, and that is all.”

Day after day, the shark returned to the shore, and the gray dove flew to speak with him. At last the black shark said, “I have heard much of the moon and the stars, and I would like to see them with my own eyes, and know what it is to fly.”

The gray dove said, “Perhaps. I do not know if you could learn to fly. The sky is very far away.”

The shark and the dove spoke for yet many more days, telling one another all that they knew of their separate worlds. The gray dove made much of the ocean’s depths, often wondering at the lights below the surface, and wishing to see such things as the shark could see. At last the black shark said, “I would like nothing better than to show you those sights of which we have only spoke. If you wish I will take you to see them all.”

But the gray dove said, “Perhaps. I do not know if I could learn to swim, and the depths of the ocean are very far away.”

The shark returned to the coast day after day, for the ocean was vast, and cold, and lonely. The gray dove flew throughout the lands, and among the stars, and saw many things which even the ocean’s depths could not match. Day after day, the dove and the shark spoke, and told what stories they had. But whenever the shark asked if he might fly or the dove might swim, the dove said only, “Perhaps.”

For months the shark dreamed of nothing but flying, and so forever after, even today, sharks still dream of flight. For months the gray dove listened to stories of the ocean, and so forever after, even today, doves still carry the depths of the ocean in their eyes. But though the dreams of the shark and the dove would persist until the end of time, neither sharks nor doves nor any manner of beast could ever live in dreams.

The gray dove flew among the doves, and all other birds, but flew higher and further than any of them. The black shark sought out the depths of the ocean, those worlds never seen by any others, and carried what he saw to all other corners of the earth. In his travels the shark realized that the dove would always be a dove, and never a shark, and the dove came to know that the shark would ever be a shark and never a dove. Whether a shark may fly or a dove may swim, the ocean and the sky would always be too far away.

Perhaps the black shark and the gray dove may still live, and perhaps they still visit that great coastline of sheer rock. Perhaps the shark will see the stars or the dove will see the depths, someday. Perhaps, always, perhaps.