On the 22nd of August, 1866, my grandfather, Dr. Smith, was on his way back to his two story brick house on Chestnut Street, in the middle of the city of Liverpool in the country of Great Britain. Betty, the maid, was hastily preparing a meal after looking out the kitchen window and seeing my grandfather walking towards the house. Betty had just put the food in the oven and the doctor was already almost home. I thought to myself, that if my grandfather is hungry then he will certainly make a big commotion of the meal not yet being prepared.
Betty shouted to me, “Peter, the doctor is home so early today. I fear that he will be angry for I have not yet finished preparing the meal. As you already know, your grandfather can be impatient and he is sometimes very ill tempered.”
“Yes, Betty; he does seem to be back early for it is not even four o’clock yet,” I said.
“Why has he come back so soon?” she asked.
“Perhaps he will let us know that himself.”
“Well he is almost here. I shall let you distract him while I finish the meal,” Betty said nervously as she closed the kitchen door behind her.
I was left alone to calm my grandfather. I knew he would be irritated about the food not being prepared. I worried about what I would say to him. How was I, a 17 year old boy, supposed to calm this impatient man down? Just then he burst through the front door to the house. He entered into the living room, which I was currently in, and headed straight towards the door to his study.
In his haste, he only muttered a few words before he disappeared into the study, “Peter, come and follow me!”
So, I followed him into his cluttered study. It seemed to be more messy than usual. Books were sitting on the floor as if he had swept them off of the table and just left them lay. His bookcases lined the walls of the room, and they were stocked full of all his science journals and papers that he had acquired throughout his life. He shut the door and locked the door behind us as we entered. My grandfather had always been secretive with his work and would never tell anyone what he was doing. All he ever let me do was sort through fossils and organize his books. I was never allowed to help with his work.
My grandfather was a tall man. He was thin and had graying hair that just peeked through his once completely black hair. His hair was the only thing that appeared to have aged. Many people say I look a lot like him, but I believe it was just because we have the same color of hair. His skin was darkened by the sun. He was well into his sixties but he looked youthful. After his wife died he always seemed to have sorrowful look on his face.
My grandmother had died about 25 years ago, at the age of 43 due to a severe fever. Before her death I had always enjoyed staying with my grandparents over the summer. After her death my grandfather had turned cold. He always seemed to be working on something. Never did he have time to enjoy simple things like family. I still stayed with him over the months I was not in school. My father always said that he enjoyed my presence, but he never seemed to show it.
My grandfather was not a medical doctor. He was a doctor in biology and worked at the university eight blocks from our home. Extinct marine animals were his favorite things to study. They amazed me as well, but not near as much as they fascinated him. He was fascinated by the size of the creatures. Most people just think about how dinosaurs once ruled the land when they think about the animals before humans. They do not think about what ruled the oceans. The massive marine creatures were what really ruled the world and they were even more ferocious than the Tyrannosaurus Rex. However, even with their massiveness, they could still move swiftly through the water.
This was what occupied my grandfather's time during the day, because he was so good at studying the fossils that are discovered, he has became well known around the world for his work.
Now we shall get back as to why my grandfather brought me to his study. I learned later that my grandfather had a colleague in Dublin, Ireland who had recently made a huge discovery in my grandfather’s field. My grandfather shuffled through some papers with an ecstatic attitude and instructed me to pack immediately. He said he wanted me to go with him so I could experience adventure and discovery.
“Well what shall we be studying?” I asked him.
“A few Irish scientists were studying the floor of the Irish Sea and discovered an underwater cave. This cave has overtime formed an air pocket and therefore the scientists could walk around the cave without having to worry about running out of oxygen. When this cave was discovered, it was noted that the ground had a peculiar look to it. So, the scientists took a closer look and were shocked to find that the cave floor was scattered with enormous marine fossils. So, this is why you must pack immediately and we shall be off to Ireland tomorrow morning,” he informed me.
“How is this marine graveyard possible?” I inquired.
“That is the question that no one has an answer for. My colleague in Dublin informed me in his letter that when they searched the cave, they could not find an end to it. They walked about a kilometer into the cave and saw no signs of it ending. They turned around and went back to the surface to report their discovery. For all we know, this cave could stretch on for hundreds of kilometers.”
After our discussion, we went downstairs to eat our evening meal, which by this time Betty had finished preparing. He had not even noticed that the meal wasn’t ready when he had arrived home. After dinner, my grandfather told me once again to go pack my bags for the trip. I obeyed this time and went to my quarters to start packing. I had so many questions and I am sure my grandfather had even more. This was a sight my grandfather must see for himself and I was grateful he was going to let me accompany him.
I had little sleep that night. I could not imagine what discoveries we were going to make in that cave. Maybe if we explored deep enough into the cave, we might find a live ancient creature in an underground lake. I know that would be impossible, but I like to think with an imagination.
Before the sun had risen the next morning, my grandfather had me awake and aboard the carriage that took us to the harbor to board our steamboat by sunrise. This boat would take us to the harbor at Dublin where we would meet with a servant  of my grandfather’s colleague. He would then take us to a hotel that we would stay in until the next morning. Once morning had arrived, we would then leave to go to the cave.
The boat ride was not very eventful. The trip was fairly short. We road on a comfortable steamer. The beds were nice, the servants were kind, the deck was clean, and the sea was beautiful. The Irish sea was calm and the captain was efficient. He left right on time and we arrived in Dublin within ten minutes of the estimated time. This pleased my restless grandfather greatly. 
We made it to the beautiful city of Dublin with little difficulties. The victorian style architecture matched that of England. The towering stone buildings were amazing to view. We met with a very nice servant whom accompanied us to our hotel. I could tell my grandfather was getting anxious, however, he did not show it through his demeanor. He seemed to always be writing in his journal which is something he does when he gets excited about something of importance.
The next morning came and we met with my grandfather’s colleague at the harbor. He informed us that he had arranged our trip to visit the cave. He lead us to a small sail boat which we boarded. The boat took us about a kilometer away from the shore and then headed north towards the mouth of the underwater cave.
While on the boat, a sailor told us about a crew of scientists that went to the cave two days ago. The scientists told the sailor that they had heard loud noises coming from the unexplored parts of the caves. The scientists reported that the sounds had filled their hearts with fear. They were scared that there was a monster in the cave. My grandfather just laughed with amusement at the sailor’s tale and pointed out that we were almost to our destination. Once above the cave, we had to dive off of the boat and into the water.
We had to swim to get to the cave. I was a strong swimmer, but it took all my strength to make it to the cave. The cave was pitch black, so grandfather lit his lamp and we could see again. I was stunned by what I saw. The ground was littered with innumerable amounts of aquatic fossils. There were even fossils of creatures that were not yet known to exist. It was like an ancient marine graveyard.
The cave smelled like an ocean breeze. I could smell a hint of a sulfur stench when I neared a wall. Mostly it was a salty smell. The air was cold, and I wished for a coat, but all we had were our diving suits. We explored the small cavern that was at the entrance of the cave, each examining  a few fossils, wiping the grimy mud off to expose the bones. The sight of the fossils made my grandfather eager to explore more of the cave.
He was curious as to where the cave went so we started walking. Though the water did not fill the cavern, the ground was still muddy. The cave was also noisy from the drops of water falling from the ceiling and hitting the ground. We walked for what seemed to be over five hours, or at least 30 kilometers in this tomb of ancient creatures.
After those 30 kilometers, the cave opened up a little to a body of water. It was just a pond,and we could see the cave continuing on the other side. I kneeled down and took a sip of the water with my hands. It was fresh and not was salty like I had expected it to be. The taste was like that of a cold mountain spring. The pond blocked our way, so I questioned my grandfather about what we should do now.
He responded with, “We shall swim, grandson.”
  I was nervous about my grandfather’s decision to swim, but I obeyed nonetheless. We dove in and started to swim towards the opposite shore. On the beach the shores seemed to not be far away, but now that I was in the water, they seemed like they were separated by an ocean of water. We were just about midway through the pond when my grandfather's colleague cried out in pain. As I swam, I caught a glimpse of him being pulled under the water about 100 meters behind me.
  I started to swim faster and with all my strength towards the shore. All I could see was the back of an ancient looking creature skim the surface of the water and submerge again. On the fish’s back I saw spines covered with a skin that appeared to shimmer white while underwater, but when above the surface, the skin was black. I gasped because the beast was swimming towards my grandfather. I cried out to him, but it was too late. I saw the head of a giant fish jump out of the water and swallow my grandfather.
I knew I was next. I heard a sound behind me. I turned around and all I could see were the two white eyes of the creature. I was frozen with fear. The monster was almost within reach of me. The creature opened its mouth and I gazed upon hundreds of large pointed teeth. At one last attempt of survival, I ducked my head under the water and swam away with all my might. The attempt was unsuccessful. The creature wrapped its teeth around my body. There was a sharp pain and I felt the grasp of death. Then everything went black. The ancient beast killed me. Our lives were ended, and our bones were now the most recent additions to the fossils that scattered the cave floor.