Aerwyn
Also an assignment...
Aerwyn
The ocean waves beat against the shore, recklessly, restlessly, relentlessly. Their whooshing voices imploring her to come from the beach house. The call grew and faded, pulling her from slumber, beckoning her to the water’s edge. Turning to face him, she pressed her ear to the pillow to block the brash roar, and studied his sleeping face, her love.
He did not realize that he was fighting alongside her that night. He did not hear the siren’s song curling into her being. He did not know that only his still, relaxed body and warm breath held her in this bed.
Giving in to their call, she rose from their bed. Crossing the room, she quietly opened the door and stepped onto the deck.
When the wind blew from the sea, she imagined the voices of her seal-kin calling. Her hair shimmered between honey blonde and mink brown in the rising light. The clothes he bought for her clung a little too closely to her body, touching her pale skin in places that tickled and prickled.
She heard him wake inside, whispering the name he had given her on the beach.
She turned her back to the sea and leaned against the porch rail, as he appeared at the door, sleepy-eyed and rumpled. Her heart skipped as it always did when she first looked on him, but today it stumbled harder. He was darker, touched by more than the sun. His bright blue eyes were this morning a deeper blue, like the sea before a storm. His mouth was drawn, a tighter line than before.
It did not matter to her. She drank in the sight of his body leaning against the door frame. She crossed the expansive deck and slipped long arms around his waist, laying her cheek to his warm chest. His heart thudded beneath her ear, steady and strong. She felt his chin nestle on the top of her head and she smiled against his skin.
“Can’t sleep?” His voice was husky.
Her voice would not, could not, answer him. How could she explain her dilemma to this man, born to earth, not water? How could she tell him that she would have to choose between her sea people and him? How could he possibly understand?
“I need to go into town later.” He smoothed a hand down her back. “We need groceries.”
“Don’t go.” Her voice pleaded.
“I must.” He laughed. “Or we’ll starve. We’ve eaten everything we had.”
“Don’t go.”
He didn’t understand.
The sea’s call swelled with every passing day. She was struggling to ignore the desire to retrieve her sealskin and slip into the inkiness of the sea. Each day she would go as far as the shore, going only toe deep, lest she not be able to resist the ocean’s tug. Once she was in the sea, back among her kind, would her love for him be enough to return her to his shore?
**
The sun sparkled on the waves rolling to shore and washing her toes clean of sand. She gazed to the horizon, seeking the bobbing heads of her seal kin. Her eyes were wet with their own salt water. Her stomach turned painfully with each caress of the sea.
He had gone to the small grocers, brought home staples. Then they had walked to the beach. He walked ahead of her, bending and picking up small shells and sea glass.
Farther down the beach was a cave, formed where the land had fallen to the sea.
Before she found him on the beach, she had rested there. There she had hidden her pelt. There she was afraid to return, afraid of temptation. Instead, she stood facing the sea, trying not to see how close he was to the cave. With every step, he grew closer to the mouth of the cave.
From the corner of her eye, she watched him as he crossed the stony barrier between beach and cove. Her feet ached with remembered pain. Her stomach flipped the moment he found the cave’s entrance. She allowed a tear to slip gently down her cheek. She turned to face the cave.
He was not gone long. As he approached, he yelled over the roar of the waves. In his hands, he carried her pelt. His face was stormy.
“I am going back up to call Douglas. Someone’s killed a seal in the cave.”
“Ryan, don’t.”
“What’s wrong, love?”
“I am sorry, Ryan. I did not know how to say it before.” Her eyes pleaded with him, filled with tears. “Hear me first; then decide if you want to call your friend.”
He looked into her eyes and nodded. “Alright.”
“You must put that away from me. A place I will not find it. Then I will explain.”
He peered at the skin in his hands. “Alright.”
**
The waves crashed onto the beach. A lone figure sat on the beach, tears washing her cheeks.
He walked slowly to her and sat beside her.
“I have put the pelt away. Can you tell me now?”
A fresh wave of tears ran down her face.
“I was born to the sea. I have visited your shore many times, seen you here on the beach. I wanted to be near you. Just near you. So I left my home in the sea. I stayed in the cave. I left my true skin there.”
She took his hand in hers. “I am sealskin. Selkie.”
His eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully as several minutes passed.
He looked into her pale face. “Will you stay with me?”
“You fill my heart like only the sea ever has. I still feel the sea pulling me, but I do not want to leave you. You are my…”
“Anchor?”
She shook her head. “No, home.”
He rose from the sand. He stretched his hand to her.
He did not realize that he was fighting alongside her that night. He did not hear the siren’s song curling into her being. He did not know that only his still, relaxed body and warm breath held her in this bed.
Giving in to their call, she rose from their bed. Crossing the room, she quietly opened the door and stepped onto the deck.
When the wind blew from the sea, she imagined the voices of her seal-kin calling. Her hair shimmered between honey blonde and mink brown in the rising light. The clothes he bought for her clung a little too closely to her body, touching her pale skin in places that tickled and prickled.
She heard him wake inside, whispering the name he had given her on the beach.
She turned her back to the sea and leaned against the porch rail, as he appeared at the door, sleepy-eyed and rumpled. Her heart skipped as it always did when she first looked on him, but today it stumbled harder. He was darker, touched by more than the sun. His bright blue eyes were this morning a deeper blue, like the sea before a storm. His mouth was drawn, a tighter line than before.
It did not matter to her. She drank in the sight of his body leaning against the door frame. She crossed the expansive deck and slipped long arms around his waist, laying her cheek to his warm chest. His heart thudded beneath her ear, steady and strong. She felt his chin nestle on the top of her head and she smiled against his skin.
“Can’t sleep?” His voice was husky.
Her voice would not, could not, answer him. How could she explain her dilemma to this man, born to earth, not water? How could she tell him that she would have to choose between her sea people and him? How could he possibly understand?
“I need to go into town later.” He smoothed a hand down her back. “We need groceries.”
“Don’t go.” Her voice pleaded.
“I must.” He laughed. “Or we’ll starve. We’ve eaten everything we had.”
“Don’t go.”
He didn’t understand.
The sea’s call swelled with every passing day. She was struggling to ignore the desire to retrieve her sealskin and slip into the inkiness of the sea. Each day she would go as far as the shore, going only toe deep, lest she not be able to resist the ocean’s tug. Once she was in the sea, back among her kind, would her love for him be enough to return her to his shore?
**
The sun sparkled on the waves rolling to shore and washing her toes clean of sand. She gazed to the horizon, seeking the bobbing heads of her seal kin. Her eyes were wet with their own salt water. Her stomach turned painfully with each caress of the sea.
He had gone to the small grocers, brought home staples. Then they had walked to the beach. He walked ahead of her, bending and picking up small shells and sea glass.
Farther down the beach was a cave, formed where the land had fallen to the sea.
Before she found him on the beach, she had rested there. There she had hidden her pelt. There she was afraid to return, afraid of temptation. Instead, she stood facing the sea, trying not to see how close he was to the cave. With every step, he grew closer to the mouth of the cave.
From the corner of her eye, she watched him as he crossed the stony barrier between beach and cove. Her feet ached with remembered pain. Her stomach flipped the moment he found the cave’s entrance. She allowed a tear to slip gently down her cheek. She turned to face the cave.
He was not gone long. As he approached, he yelled over the roar of the waves. In his hands, he carried her pelt. His face was stormy.
“I am going back up to call Douglas. Someone’s killed a seal in the cave.”
“Ryan, don’t.”
“What’s wrong, love?”
“I am sorry, Ryan. I did not know how to say it before.” Her eyes pleaded with him, filled with tears. “Hear me first; then decide if you want to call your friend.”
He looked into her eyes and nodded. “Alright.”
“You must put that away from me. A place I will not find it. Then I will explain.”
He peered at the skin in his hands. “Alright.”
**
The waves crashed onto the beach. A lone figure sat on the beach, tears washing her cheeks.
He walked slowly to her and sat beside her.
“I have put the pelt away. Can you tell me now?”
A fresh wave of tears ran down her face.
“I was born to the sea. I have visited your shore many times, seen you here on the beach. I wanted to be near you. Just near you. So I left my home in the sea. I stayed in the cave. I left my true skin there.”
She took his hand in hers. “I am sealskin. Selkie.”
His eyebrows furrowed thoughtfully as several minutes passed.
He looked into her pale face. “Will you stay with me?”
“You fill my heart like only the sea ever has. I still feel the sea pulling me, but I do not want to leave you. You are my…”
“Anchor?”
She shook her head. “No, home.”
He rose from the sand. He stretched his hand to her.
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