the sight scared me ; i remembered the dreams i used to have as a child where i was walking out to sea ( for no discernible reason , mind you ) , and would suddenly slip off of the sandbank into the dark and treacherous waters beyond , and i could feel a dark presence ahead of meperhaps it was a shark or a particularly nasty squid , or perhaps it was the fanged squid serpents we had been so unfortunate to encounter in the river our first year on pangaea .