Mist dusted the glassy surface of the water.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdyfups4Zq
Dawn, placid and cool with early spring,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWU6KDmEH20
the boy dipped the top of his head into the air.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxR91Y8QQP
Gaze dark as jet scanned the shoreline680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqP1lV0YaCm
where homes sprouted moss beyond the sandy ribbon of beach.
A gull chopped a warbled caw,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvVQkfXRvC
Dipped then spun onto the brine.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowWvX8O9kV
The seals had left him, preferring the safety of the jagged stones.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrnMFXgf6EV
Cagily as a crab at low tide, he paddled with pale arms680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnzfmZvXvq
towards the land.
The boy had once had a human name680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDckIn4Li4
one his tongue had never learned to say680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDnNEHpfro
but that his mother had never forgotten.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllugahOphi
The seals had called him their own680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcCXhJaiim
as long as he could remember.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3ysOFpm75
680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4gOmnxWjx
All was silent, as it hadn’t been in months.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoa6Z9SHXgh
Not since the giant, creaking monsters like iron land whales680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvrw5ySFyIx
could be spotted amid a garden of smoke and noise.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ87wNYsXkD
Noise that filled his lungs like salt,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRhWPYFmEO
the boy was terrified by the chaos and yet drawn to it680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjF0Od2Nq9
as his humanity drove him towards the danger.
The seals did not argue. Nor did the gulls.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC4m6wvf3eH
Fourteen years were enough to teach him what they could680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFfMtXzzH3
and now it was his choice to make.
Naked with wrinkled toes and fingers,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeyl9NJdXtq
Cold dripping from his black curls,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSCXhZE1nZv
the boy made landfall and crawled onto the shore.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkWu2wg6FI
Legs like a newborn lamb, he stumbled up towards the village.
There was a white washed cottage with a row of sea roses,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEtQX6xxZz
frothy smoke trailing up from the chimney in the thatch roof.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jFoEZmPB6
The boy paused at an eruption of voices within.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mAkfSVAjj
He hid and watched.
A man with tall, shining boots of black680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRkX2alhax
buttons like bright shells down his barreled chest680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1VUxsUvsJR
Gripped the arm of an old man,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHD07WQBqT
bent and craggy as rocks pockmarked by barnacles680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf0fXNyQuWU
slathered in seaweed.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLl8BQmCI0O
680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbuJuHTYPHC
On the old man’s chest, a strange symbol,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfs84oNBl7x
a starfish in tide pools but bright yellow.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzHfOVAFRT
Cut roughly and sewn onto his sweater680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqcjUf748vw
like the brands the boy had watched farmers give their cattle680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg40UrNPjBN
on fields lining the grey ocean.
The boy had seen before what the man in his boots and buttons held.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkiZn7TInU
When the noise had begun on the shores,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYOzxeRl3I
he had seen them used before on other men680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLMkVC3M86
a horrible bang and so much gore,680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfMNDJByrOo
leaving drifting tendrils of smoky red in the water.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchnA8T5TJw
680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxRUibnF7y
A sharp pop, like when the strong waves find a crevice in the rocks680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVtY81dYgq
and the old man goes still on the soggy ground.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFd4ZkO6fvM
The boy watches silently as the other man walks away without another look.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKXxpzROF6d
The old man stirs, a ragged breath that pains the boy to hear.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLOob9HOnn
He edges up towards the cottage680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhfCozhX8iF
crimson soaking between the cracks in the rock walkway.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zuWyuHG5M
The boys leaves bare footprints in blood that isn’t his own.
Crouching by the man, he grips his hand till it goes limp.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1H9rPKTSjF
The boy doesn’t know why he needed to do it.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3hIyD50Y1
His couldn’t imagine not.680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNVafEntCUD
One last look at the ruin of the world680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbouruP25xE
and the boy makes his choice.
He rips the cloth star from the man’s sweater680Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tiuWCBXEI
and returns to the sea.
