Mist dusted the glassy surface of the water.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM280BKgnYv
Dawn, placid and cool with early spring,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0vgC3xSC4
the boy dipped the top of his head into the air.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHLljgNJgi
Gaze dark as jet scanned the shoreline771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbBP0GXPWFo
where homes sprouted moss beyond the sandy ribbon of beach.
A gull chopped a warbled caw,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOzwLAgZRb
Dipped then spun onto the brine.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkImAfQZRW
The seals had left him, preferring the safety of the jagged stones.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvENJYWqgF0
Cagily as a crab at low tide, he paddled with pale arms771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92hfr1Bqs1
towards the land.
The boy had once had a human name771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡISlh8QzwVI
one his tongue had never learned to say771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGnjuAvzbX
but that his mother had never forgotten.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapjg8Piwqi
The seals had called him their own771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1l3mIw31N
as long as he could remember.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0SWkhAyZGB
771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡavb2POIMY8
All was silent, as it hadn’t been in months.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡetfhuVidjy
Not since the giant, creaking monsters like iron land whales771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡds4OombR3Y
could be spotted amid a garden of smoke and noise.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZK6gMHMZgm
Noise that filled his lungs like salt,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiUUuBzYCr
the boy was terrified by the chaos and yet drawn to it771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdow3pt0pWy
as his humanity drove him towards the danger.
The seals did not argue. Nor did the gulls.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFT0p4czDbj
Fourteen years were enough to teach him what they could771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCaswcyaig
and now it was his choice to make.
Naked with wrinkled toes and fingers,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTD6IYb4Yp
Cold dripping from his black curls,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaAMh9O3zS6
the boy made landfall and crawled onto the shore.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpDCZmFTbm1
Legs like a newborn lamb, he stumbled up towards the village.
There was a white washed cottage with a row of sea roses,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD6rx8b51sv
frothy smoke trailing up from the chimney in the thatch roof.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiuygxpTSsB
The boy paused at an eruption of voices within.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3yKypTSfp4
He hid and watched.
A man with tall, shining boots of black771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvqMOJgGKf
buttons like bright shells down his barreled chest771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdZV0ycdtS
Gripped the arm of an old man,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡluSvslnthc
bent and craggy as rocks pockmarked by barnacles771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJiHCv2WhMv
slathered in seaweed.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcUOnoCkBs
771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDKSqmbSuG
On the old man’s chest, a strange symbol,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49duwyJJdr
a starfish in tide pools but bright yellow.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD4qsIF6MtE
Cut roughly and sewn onto his sweater771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjdiJlG36va
like the brands the boy had watched farmers give their cattle771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8weNGAbURD
on fields lining the grey ocean.
The boy had seen before what the man in his boots and buttons held.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoPIcnwHHp
When the noise had begun on the shores,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQ8IFFcyLn
he had seen them used before on other men771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKDoVXYc7R
a horrible bang and so much gore,771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSL7mRO0VMs
leaving drifting tendrils of smoky red in the water.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCxRXc8BxIc
771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0fepRNrLp
A sharp pop, like when the strong waves find a crevice in the rocks771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZreu91rgkJ
and the old man goes still on the soggy ground.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCpRhI7g5Z
The boy watches silently as the other man walks away without another look.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5a3KqtAUw
The old man stirs, a ragged breath that pains the boy to hear.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2L8mpsYiC
He edges up towards the cottage771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLVavBHwxB
crimson soaking between the cracks in the rock walkway.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoaa97fcIgH
The boys leaves bare footprints in blood that isn’t his own.
Crouching by the man, he grips his hand till it goes limp.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Ay43w1Jxg
The boy doesn’t know why he needed to do it.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1BFdCge8E
His couldn’t imagine not.771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqsE07dh3dM
One last look at the ruin of the world771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiqDtd1RSA
and the boy makes his choice.
He rips the cloth star from the man’s sweater771Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9BjSYp9LHn
and returns to the sea.
