Belonging | Short Film Showcase | National Geographic

Foreign.

[Music] This is what I dream of. Sometimes it feels like I'm still there.

[Music] One amongst hundreds of others like me, to travel far to be here is without a name. Thank you.

We would watch the moon, rain the water darkened, then celebrations would begin, all of us together on the reef. Our home came alive. Remember that day? I remember him, but that was a long time ago. Let me tell you my story.

I am a square tail grouper.

[Music] And this is where it all began, shallow blue waters. I was a baby then, just another small spotted fish amongst so many others. These branches were safe for young fish like me. Many of us lived here together. It was crowded, but there was space for everyone.

It was a busy place. Pretty buddies seemed to be going somewhere all the time. Well, not everybody. Some of us found time for a nap. I learned so much, just by watching, how to swim so that no one saw you. Best places to keep a lookout on the reef, when to stick together, stay close to everyone around you.

My time in the lagoon taught me something about everyone and about the reef itself. Chimes danced on it by the day [Music] and the night. The delight of the corals summarizing most days I spent swimming around looking for food.

One day I heard a strange sound. A shadow went past above me. I followed to see what it was.

[Music] I reached a place I had never been before. What was this? Where was I?

[Music] These colors were new, the shapes odd.

[Music] I wondered about the shadows and if they would return. Something told me to leave.

[Applause]

[Music] Thank you. Back in the lagoon, restlessness began to take hold of me. One morning, chasing silverfish, I swam away from the reef. I swam further than I had ever been before, going [Music].

Curious, foreign. The light changed. This was a new place. It made me feel all—everything was bigger here, more open. At first, I was scared; they were big hunters here, bigger than me! There was so much more to learn, but I knew this is where I was meant to be—unlike home.

A few nights later, I woke up to see a few others like me swimming quickly over the reef. Said, "Where are they going?" I followed behind them. They weren't alone. By the time I got up, I realized there was something going on, and there, as far as I could see, fish swam around each other in huge numbers.

Thing like this before. Usually, I saw two or three others like me in a day, but today there were a thousand! The water vibrated with them. Where did they all come from? What was happening here?

[Music] I waited and watched for a long time that day.

[Music] I saw him. I thought he looked my way, but there were too many others between us. She was strong and confident. He swam with the magic of the open sea. He looked so free. He didn't swim with the hundreds of others nearby. Maybe he was new here too.

I watched him for a while. It's like that he was gone. In time I learned all about the celebration that happened for a few months every year when the moon was only a sliver in the sky. Others like me swam for a long time to come here. That was something special about this reef.

Everyone claimed a batch for themselves during this time. They were guarded aggressively. Came too close and there would be a fight. It's jostled with each other, and some got hurt. They flashed different colors to warn each other: brown when chased, white when showing their strength. When they locked jaws, you knew it was serious.

Do you see those scars? Sometimes the fighting was bad and didn't end well.

[Music] And they did all this for us! How they chased us around when they saw us! They left their territories and danced all around us. This was everyone's favorite move: a little shimmy to the left, a little shimmy to the right—and he got her!

We danced with them too, sometimes hidden from view. It was a much-awaited gathering, and as luck would have it, I did see him again after many moons had risen and said,

[Music] He did not perch on the reef slope like a lot of others there. They had to fight hard to keep their space, but he was not like them; he was different. I felt like he was waiting for me. Was he looking my way?

[Music] One day, I gathered up all my courage and swam up to him.

[Music] And since then, we found each other here every time. Spent many days exploring together. Our home was full of things to do. This favorite spot to get his teeth, and some days we even joined the others on their hunt. We were happy together, but it wasn't always easy here.

Sometimes the reef is stormy and rough, and it was hard to see in the murky water. On one of those days that I saw the shadow again, it went past above me.

[Music] Scared everyone.

[Music] This time it [Music] put things in the water that shined and sparkled. Something didn't feel right.

[Music] I saw him swim towards it, but I was so far away. It all happened so fast.

[Music] I tried to swim as fast as I could.

[Music] I watched as he got pulled up.

[Music] And then, just like that, he was gone. The shadows—they took many of us that day, one after another, and then they left. I followed to see where they were taking them.

Foreign ago. Things here look so different now. The water was nothing like it used to be. Earlier it had been quiet; now there were loud sounds coming from close by surrounded me.

Then [Music] I remembered this place like it was yesterday. I swam for a long time that day.

[Music] The place where I had grown up had forever changed. The corals were gone. Should I leave this place? But my body took me back to the only place I knew—my home, where I belonged.

S have risen and said, since that day. But I keep going back to the place where I first saw him.

[Music] Shadows come.

[Music] The celebrations are a memory.

[Music] There aren't many of us left here, but feisty.

[Music] I dream about that day. I dream about him.

Foreign.

[Music] Foreign.

[Music]

[Music]