A witch quit her job one day to devote her time to causing chaos and destruction. She cast a deadly spell. She believed evil was just as necessary as good in order to keep balance in the world. She also did it for amusement. She was bored. She hoped she might pick up the newspaper one day and read about the "tragic" aftermath of her spell. She set a story in motion and let chaos take over.

She didn't think a proper story could be told without a malevolent character showing up and causing permanent damage. The stakes had to be high, like the threat of a violent death. She conjured the most malevolent thing she could think of, which at that time was a violent shark with a preference for human flesh.

Jack and his son, Jason, were fishing that day. Jack was explaining to his son why he quit his job:

"I had to quit. I wanted more freedom. I'm an adventurous guy. I wanted to get out there and see the rest of the world. I know it might seem like a vacuous decision but wait until I give you the context. Something happened which gave my adventurous spirit the funding it needed for traveling around the world. My decision doesn't seem vacuous when you consider that my mother died and left me twenty million dollars in her will. I didn't know she had that much money.

When I told my boss and co-workers why I was leaving they didn't find it believable. They kept asking me if I was joking. I knew I was that valuable to my mother so of course it was all believable to me and also a bit surprising that she kept all that money a secret until death. I was that valuable to her because I was her only child that really stayed in touch with her and made her feel appreciated.

She always had faith in me. She told me I was clever and I could achieve anything I wanted. When I was in high school she told me to make sure I wasn't hanging out with the vulgar kids at school who lack ambition. She said I should be friends with clever kids like myself. Well, I ended up falling in love with one of the vulgar kids with no ambition. But I groomed her and made her better, and she taught me that sometimes it's okay to relax and have fun. She became my wife and your mother. My mother warmed up to her.

Having a beautiful girl visit your home frequently isn't good for a guy who has decided to be abstinent. It was even harder because I loved her and she loved me. When she just moved next door to me I called her the girl next door. She looked like the kind of girl who could grow up to be a successful actress. The kind that gets by on sex appeal alone without an ounce of talent to back it up. But there was much more under the surface than I suspected.

I tried not to let her charisma affect me but I failed. She offered to come over one day and help me improve my understanding of algebra. Naturally, that segued into us examining each other's anatomy. We made sure to test if certain parts worked as they were supposed to. The results were mutually pleasing but we both agreed that a number of follow-up appointments would be necessary. After that first time we could both breathe a little easier around each other. There was less tension in the atmosphere."

What seemed like an average day was about to mutate into something from a nightmare. You can kind of sense when something's about to go horribly wrong. You start to feel vulnerable and acutely self-aware. If you were there you could feel that average days were about to become scarce.

The shark soon found Jack and Jason. They were knocked out of their boat by something unseen but undeniably powerful. Jason was panicking and vulnerable and then the shark took his head off with one bite. Then, inexplicably, the shark left.

The loss of his son took its toll on Jack. He became aggressive. He could not remember any other time in his life when he felt so vulnerable and powerless. Now he felt like he always had to be aggressive and ready for an attack that could happen at any moment. Anywhere he went he felt vulnerable and had flashbacks of that tragic day he lost his son. Jack's advice to anyone dealing with grief was that the best you could hope for was assimilation of the pain until it becomes so familiar you barely notice it anymore.

The shark was spotted at a beach a week after the attack. No one got hurt. People stayed away from the water after what happened to Jason. When Jack heard the shark was spotted he hurried to the beach. Jack brought a spear with him to the beach. This was no ordinary spear. Jack had gotten it while on an excursion in Africa many years ago.

The spear was said to be enchanted with benevolent magic that guaranteed a successful hunt. Jack had been told that the magic would only work if the spear was wielded by a valiant hero. Jack told himself that he would kill that shark with or without benevolent magic. This valiant hero swam out and put all his anger into one powerful thrust of his spear straight into one of the shark's eyes and all the way into its brain. It died immediately.

The pleasure of payback didn't last. Jack still felt empty. His son was still dead. It was a short walk home but it felt long. Sadness was weighing him down. As he walked along that gravelly road, he told himself again that his son's death was his fault. Jason going fishing with him that day wasn't voluntary. Jack forced Jason to go with him. Jack fell to his knees on that gravelly road and cried. If it was voluntary Jack would only feel grief without the guilt of forcing his son to go fishing with him that day. Some circumstances in life can seem so cruel. Sometimes it feels like the whole universe is against you.