Mist dusted the glassy surface of the water.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qMPb45TDK
Dawn, placid and cool with early spring,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFVqAw7jdy
the boy dipped the top of his head into the air.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKheD9IpmQO
Gaze dark as jet scanned the shoreline716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4up3eCpoj
where homes sprouted moss beyond the sandy ribbon of beach.
A gull chopped a warbled caw,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVV0quBntm1
Dipped then spun onto the brine.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrsImBBwBcs
The seals had left him, preferring the safety of the jagged stones.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy95Ez6dVke
Cagily as a crab at low tide, he paddled with pale arms716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYyXJawoor
towards the land.
The boy had once had a human name716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyOE81AM9lJ
one his tongue had never learned to say716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSY7EACZbLK
but that his mother had never forgotten.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6o4gLAVUc2
The seals had called him their own716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJijT7zcCG5
as long as he could remember.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSrC2goOPDg
716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV3qHhtE6g
All was silent, as it hadn’t been in months.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUve2WCZkl
Not since the giant, creaking monsters like iron land whales716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWTpun9utX
could be spotted amid a garden of smoke and noise.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5sqpk1sFlP
Noise that filled his lungs like salt,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2779UuFzHq
the boy was terrified by the chaos and yet drawn to it716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkd403GYJx
as his humanity drove him towards the danger.
The seals did not argue. Nor did the gulls.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeAhDfrJBX0
Fourteen years were enough to teach him what they could716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPrLE5G9E7
and now it was his choice to make.
Naked with wrinkled toes and fingers,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbldSNgJ8CD
Cold dripping from his black curls,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVSRpWAgT7
the boy made landfall and crawled onto the shore.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvRB2xRWZu
Legs like a newborn lamb, he stumbled up towards the village.
There was a white washed cottage with a row of sea roses,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ112MnfZll5
frothy smoke trailing up from the chimney in the thatch roof.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVWVAVqiKa
The boy paused at an eruption of voices within.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMsK5WbAGi0
He hid and watched.
A man with tall, shining boots of black716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf84FG0EnTq
buttons like bright shells down his barreled chest716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Vd8UUmnZ3
Gripped the arm of an old man,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFfli8Habg
bent and craggy as rocks pockmarked by barnacles716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqo5u47jMS
slathered in seaweed.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2E6stsI98j
716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaYAQtEHG9o
On the old man’s chest, a strange symbol,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyFQL7PfQi
a starfish in tide pools but bright yellow.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUhhjOKnxj6
Cut roughly and sewn onto his sweater716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKKSuuILzvC
like the brands the boy had watched farmers give their cattle716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9VNaa7Hc1
on fields lining the grey ocean.
The boy had seen before what the man in his boots and buttons held.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOpLaB9zoc
When the noise had begun on the shores,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdd2zGzJzIG
he had seen them used before on other men716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTct5i5Oez
a horrible bang and so much gore,716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpRsouNypuL
leaving drifting tendrils of smoky red in the water.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC06jR7sccd
716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb5mSpJCeUY
A sharp pop, like when the strong waves find a crevice in the rocks716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQi23YV0Zqj
and the old man goes still on the soggy ground.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEQfFz0tXy
The boy watches silently as the other man walks away without another look.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYcGsPxj6Yd
The old man stirs, a ragged breath that pains the boy to hear.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4KOKbaBxn
He edges up towards the cottage716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdwmtRwxtt8
crimson soaking between the cracks in the rock walkway.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1njLmlfvV
The boys leaves bare footprints in blood that isn’t his own.
Crouching by the man, he grips his hand till it goes limp.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5XMJoFrpl
The boy doesn’t know why he needed to do it.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNpVRH0DKU
His couldn’t imagine not.716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpglnYD5t2a
One last look at the ruin of the world716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14iJRbFHHy
and the boy makes his choice.
He rips the cloth star from the man’s sweater716Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbV5NBtSP76
and returns to the sea.
