Leo is a lonely fisherman. He owns a small apartment in Le Havre, but he prefers to sleep on his fishing boat. Day in, day out, he sails out to sea, catches some fish, checks his crab traps, and goes to the market to sell his wares.
Leo is very bored. Today, particularly so. As he looks out at the calm blue sea, watching a small sailboat in the distance. He thinks to himself: “I have a sailboat, I can go anywhere. I shan’t be bored any longer.”
And so Leo set sail southwest, in a direction he had never sailed before.
But as he sails further, doubts creep in: what if he never finds his way back? He notices the small sailboat behind him had vanished entirely from sight. He feels a sudden lurch in the boat, as if something beneath is trying to pull him down.
The water swells beneath him, dark and roiling as a massive shadow looms below the surface. A monstrous shape bursts from the depths, spraying water onto the deck. It speaks: "Hello, little land dweller. You have entered blorg military training space. We are rehearsing for the 18th of July celebrations. It is dangerous to stay here."
A small blorg soldier, no taller than a crab trap, pops up beside the giant. It screeches in a high pitched voice: "Doeth the iiiintruder cooperate? Yesh? Or shallll we prosheed to its exterminashion?" Leo stares at the tiny blorg soldier, bewildered by its presence, as he instinctively reaches for a nearby fishing net for protection. The big monster swats it away casually. "Little man," it booms. "Take your boat directly south of here. An escort turtle will meet you there. You seem like a nice enough fellow. I'll trust you to comply. Do not linger, man, for the next blorgs you meet might not be as kind as I."
The little soldier and the tall giant glower at Leo as they recede into the water. The fisherman blinks hard, wondering if he’s been in the sun too long. However, he’s always been the kind of man that keeps his wits about him, so he knows this to be no dream. He turns his boat south, and starts rowing. The wind is lazy. His sail does not help him. He rows harder and harder, beads of sweat falling into his eyes. He worries about what might happen if he stays here too long. Finally, he sees something in the distance. Round. Small. The turtle? Or something else?
It is in fact, no turtle at all. It is a small island. Not even so. A large rock, a small, sandy beach, and a small palm tree. But that rock looks a bit like a turtle. The resemblance is uncanny. It’s got a shell-like shape. Is this what the monster meant? Is Leo to keep out of the way by disembarking on this little mound of land? The fisherman looks around. Nothing. Blue, quiet ocean. Oh, but there’s another shape out in the east. Underwater. It’s moving. Leo does not want to risk another encounter with these odd, and frankly quite scary, sea people. He rows towards the island.
But the shape seems to realize Leo's intent. It accelerates. Leo feels a churn in the pit of his stomach. His arms ache in complaint as he rows faster and faster. He can see a purple-ish color under the water as the shape gets closer. Beads of sweat form on his forehead. Suddenly, the boat hits the small beach. Leo feels a moment of relief wash over him before he is ejected from the boat by the impact, and falls undignifyingly onto the sand.
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