Mist dusted the glassy surface of the water.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtReQvQuY0B
Dawn, placid and cool with early spring,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRf6qnvdfAg
the boy dipped the top of his head into the air.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yqSL88j5d
Gaze dark as jet scanned the shoreline643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBaFvVPOBS8
where homes sprouted moss beyond the sandy ribbon of beach.
A gull chopped a warbled caw,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujpEWqnfTX
Dipped then spun onto the brine.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKcoFjs4Ouj
The seals had left him, preferring the safety of the jagged stones.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSF5XhlJCcO
Cagily as a crab at low tide, he paddled with pale arms643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1o8L2ETCn
towards the land.
The boy had once had a human name643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7CRqiGDom
one his tongue had never learned to say643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTawibZsLHz
but that his mother had never forgotten.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPnMrKKBdk
The seals had called him their own643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YDXGCx1a3
as long as he could remember.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84rGaqMwTF
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEF32h4qtBL
All was silent, as it hadn’t been in months.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZcB5fki6t
Not since the giant, creaking monsters like iron land whales643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qx49EPZof
could be spotted amid a garden of smoke and noise.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeFtUCBaPpP
Noise that filled his lungs like salt,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeOWoemMVqM
the boy was terrified by the chaos and yet drawn to it643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFUDiIn071
as his humanity drove him towards the danger.
The seals did not argue. Nor did the gulls.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ02MrssU4h
Fourteen years were enough to teach him what they could643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVxu98JhCO
and now it was his choice to make.
Naked with wrinkled toes and fingers,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZf6iKZzjmS
Cold dripping from his black curls,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjv0W33Bjuo
the boy made landfall and crawled onto the shore.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkYdiOPTOMi
Legs like a newborn lamb, he stumbled up towards the village.
There was a white washed cottage with a row of sea roses,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1S4FnRDVlw
frothy smoke trailing up from the chimney in the thatch roof.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi8lYdwtUsC
The boy paused at an eruption of voices within.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF0r7o2CKb
He hid and watched.
A man with tall, shining boots of black643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDztxqof6ea
buttons like bright shells down his barreled chest643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2pkbXUHkg
Gripped the arm of an old man,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZC2VX5xiH
bent and craggy as rocks pockmarked by barnacles643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ847OhCr96M
slathered in seaweed.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EhefYo9fA
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxYOLlxzMY
On the old man’s chest, a strange symbol,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhl6OVBY5k4
a starfish in tide pools but bright yellow.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMMlusyWBg
Cut roughly and sewn onto his sweater643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSP0Nxg0Hkn
like the brands the boy had watched farmers give their cattle643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGA4o8GHqz
on fields lining the grey ocean.
The boy had seen before what the man in his boots and buttons held.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPZbnh723y
When the noise had begun on the shores,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5yukVb6KV4
he had seen them used before on other men643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDpvOramU4D
a horrible bang and so much gore,643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRzJozF0wBK
leaving drifting tendrils of smoky red in the water.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovSN48flzl
643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Q22Dx5UBF
A sharp pop, like when the strong waves find a crevice in the rocks643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0Z9saAtYv
and the old man goes still on the soggy ground.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVNA49ywcAe
The boy watches silently as the other man walks away without another look.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdXyaV3DYPb
The old man stirs, a ragged breath that pains the boy to hear.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmHKQdwiAzH
He edges up towards the cottage643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWiX3FcT5BH
crimson soaking between the cracks in the rock walkway.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Fi1Z4wGOh
The boys leaves bare footprints in blood that isn’t his own.
Crouching by the man, he grips his hand till it goes limp.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GxHMCfeT1
The boy doesn’t know why he needed to do it.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ080avtbv5c
His couldn’t imagine not.643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrjVmVCkXUB
One last look at the ruin of the world643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTll8bDhy4A
and the boy makes his choice.
He rips the cloth star from the man’s sweater643Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAeLsTBwQV
and returns to the sea.
