Child of the Sea

The sea, able to change from calm to stormy in the blink of an eye, beautiful in ways most do not comprehend, save for a handful. Many do not know the emotions of her, the sea, how she strives to protect her children, to stay alive, despite everything the whole world is doing to her, destroying her and her family. She loves her children, innocent and peace-loving, hoping that the world will learn to love too, instead of fighting against one another all for the sake of fighting. How stupid they are!1

***2

Dancing on the cliff was something Starla had always wanted to do, with the sea underneath her and the sky above. And that was exactly what she was doing now. However, this was to be the last dance she would ever dance. Forgetting all the woes of her miserable life, she just danced, carefree. Singing softly, she danced and danced, her long golden hair whipping around her. Those amethyst eyes of hers saw only the sky, until she fell off the cliff, splashing into the sea below.
“Oh my God! Don’t tell me she fell off the cliff!” Shinn exclaimed, leaping over to the edge of the cliff. “Why isn’t she trying to stay alive?! Oh man.” He quickly took off his shoes and jumped in after Starla.
After much struggling, they finally made it ashore, with Shinn dragging an unwilling and spluttering Starla behind. The beach was deserted, without the least sign of a human ever being there. Breathing hard from the “swim”, Shinn tried to get his breath back.3

“What were you trying to do? Shinn scolded Starla harshly, his dark red eyes blazing wildly. “Die? Why didn’t you at least struggle?”
“I never asked for your help. Anyway, I would have died too, if you had not interfered!” she retorted. Shinn stared at her, unable to believe his ears.
“Why would you want to die? Life is precious and beautiful; we should always try to live it to fullest. You will regret dying so young!”
“That’s what you think! You wouldn't understand! Nobody cared for me ever since I could remember. Everyone shunned me just ’cause I come from the orphanage. Life meant nothing but survival for me and even that is difficult. Surviving one day was already an ordeal and a great feat for me. Why should I live then? My sister died, leaving me alone. Might… as well die…” Starla broke into tears, sobbing uncontrollably from recounting her pathetic life. Shinn’s eyes softened, understanding her pain.
“Listen to me, listen to what she taught me,” Shinn told her.
“I too, led a life with nobody caring for me; at least you had a sister. I had wanted to die, contemplating it one day while sitting on a beach just like this. It was sunset, nearing twilight, a beautiful time. Finally making up my mind and decided to die at that time, I waited for it, preparing to throw myself into the sea, letting her wash my sorrows away. Then she appeared behind me suddenly, out of nowhere.
“Why do you want to die? Don’t you want to live, to enjoy life before Death takes everything away?” she asked me.
“NO!” I snapped. “Life is cruel to me, she hates me, letting others tower over me, never letting me enjoy a single moment of happiness. Why should I live, you tell me? Might as well die NOW!” Twilight had descended; that was the time I should leave. I leapt into the sea, not caring about the mysterious girl who would most likely try to save me.
Immediately, the sea kept me in her cold embrace, and I fell lower and lower into the sea. Just as I closed my eyes, waiting for Death to take me to his home for I will go willingly without a fight, I felt someone tugging me, pulling me higher and higher, far away from the bottom of the sea which would have been my tomb. I thrashed of course, reluctant to return to the cruel world, but that someone was much stronger than me, for I had not eaten much for days, and pulled me back to the surface. Normally, a person would have been grateful if he or she was saved from drowning, but not me. I had wanted to die, and being deprived of that, I was furious. My savior, obviously, was the girl I had talked to just seconds ago. She had saved me, regardless of what I had told her.
“WHY DID YOU SAVE ME? I HAD WANTED TO DIE, BUT YOU, YOU JUST HAD TO PULL ME OUT, DIDN’T YOU?” I was so mad at her, I practically screamed at her. Then I realised that she was not wet, not even a little bit. “Hey, what are you?” I saw her eyes, amethyst-coloured, become lighter, a perfect match with her shoulder-length blond hair…” Shinn trailed off. Suddenly, he realised that the two girls held a resemblance with each other.
“Hey, she looked like you!” Shinn exclaimed.
Starla just stared at him without a word, only her eyes betrayed the anger toward him that still laid in her. Not knowing what else to do, Shinn continued with his recount, soon losing himself in it.4

“I’m a Child of the Sea,” she said simply. “And I cannot allow people to die, to drown in the sea, just because they don’t want to live anymore. The sea will never accept people who want to die like that.”
“A Child of the Sea?” I asked, bewildered as I had no idea what that meant.
“Come, I shall show you one of the wonders of the world: the sea.” With that, she dragged me into the sea, telling me firmly, “Never let go of my hand, not even when something attack us!”
I was bewildered and confused, but regardless, she took control of the situation. She led me into the sea, and we dived down. 5

“Look, the dolphin mother is caring for her baby,” she said, pointing. I cared naught for them, wanting only to pull free of her grip and drown.
“Let go of me! LET GO!” I yelled, twisting and turning in every way, all in the hope of being free from her.
“Hey, stop it!” she scolded. “You really want to die so much, don’t you? Fine, I’ll let go of you. Good-bye, I hope when you’re reincarnated you will learn to love life.” With that, she really did let go of me.
I couldn’t breathe; the water was pressing against me, trying to drive the last bit of oxygen out of my lungs, and I was sinking, slowly but steadily. I realised that somehow, I had been breathing perfectly well underwater, until now. The survival instinct in me kicked in, whether I wanted it to or not. Some part of my brain wondered why I had not struggled to stay alive just now when I had wanted to, nearly drowning, but now I was trying so hard all for the sake of living just slightly longer. Flaying, I tried to swim in the water, hoping to break through the surface, but water closed in on me everywhere, giving me no hope of escape from the merciless sea. A sarcastic voice whispered in my head,
“Isn’t this just great? You’re finally gonna die! But despite that, you are still trying to stay alive. How ironic is that!”
“Oh shut up! What do you know?” I snapped at my ego, but secretly, I agreed with him. I did want to die, but why was I trying so hard to stay alive?
“You don’t want to die just yet.” The words hit me hard and I realised that they were true. No matter how hard I tried to stop myself from struggling, my body would not cooperate, trying its best to sustain me to the end. I finally understood that some part of me wanted to continue living.
Even after realising this, it was too late. Without oxygen and the lack of food for too many days, my tired muscles, having strained so hard to let me survive for a bit longer, could not carry on anymore. I knew that this was it, my time was up. Unable to do anything against my protesting muscles, I went limp, knowing it would be futile trying to force them to carry on. They had worked hard, giving it all their best during the last few moments, in the hope that their owner, me, would learn from this mistake and not be as stupid in my next life. I closed my eyes, blacking out shortly after.6

She was the one who saved me, as I had known all along; she would never leave me alone to die, drowning in the sea. Leaving me alone like that, she had hoped that I would learn that I had been wrong, that we should live, and not die. I learned it the hard way, because I had refused her offer to teach me without my very life at stake. Of course I thanked her; it is basic manners to thank someone who had saved you from dying. She smiled at me, saying nothing. We were at the bottom of the sea, where I had hoped would be my grave not long ago but not now, not ever. Then, she stood, pulling me up with her. Remember, by holding onto her hand was how I could breathe underwater. Therefore, when she stood, I stood too, her hand linking us together. Without a word, she swam to the surface of the sea, dragging me behind her, though I tried my best to keep up with her.
The moon shone down on us, its reflection so near that we could touch it just by reaching out. Stars twinkled above us, showing their full beauty in the calm, peaceful night. She gazed at the sky, tilting her head up. Looking at her, I thought that she was the prettiest girl I had ever seen, with a hint of playfulness; I have yet to see a girl who surpasses her unique mix of beauty.
“Hey, what’s your name?” The question had been swirling around in my mind for some time now and without thinking, I blurted it out.
“Does it matter?” she replied, not turning to look at me.
“Since you don’t want to tell me, then I’ll tell you mine. I’m Shinn, pleased to meet you,” I said.
She turned to me, smiling, as I had expected. “You needn’t tell me actually; the sea told it to me once you were in the sea.”
“Oh.” I did not know what to say to that. There was a silence between us, not exactly awkward but kind of appropriate too. After some time of staring at the reflection of the stars and the moon in the sea, she finally spoke, her voice quiet.
“Shinn… Do you want to see the sea in her full glory?”
I was confused; I didn’t understand what she meant by that. Seeing my confused look, she added,
“The sea has her moods too, you know, just like a human. Now, she’s calm but don’t agitate her! She may crush you into herself, and when that comes, it will be difficult for even me to save you. Well? So do you want to take a tour of her? I promise she won’t bite,” she said, her eyes smiling.
I laughed. “In that case, if you’re my guide, I’ll be glad to.”
“Remember, don’t let go of me!” she warned one last time before she disappeared under the waves, with me in tow.7

“What do you think they are?” she asked, leading me to a few sea creatures playing with one another. They turned to look at us as we swam past them, then coming closer to show their inquisitive faces.
“Dolphins? Wah! What did I do?” Every one of them came towards us, surrounding us in a circle, looking as hostile as they could be. Their mouths opened, as if saying something but I could hear nothing. The smallest one, nothing more than a baby, butted my right arm with his small, round head.
“Aw… That hurt! Why are you laughing?” I demanded, rubbing my arm, though it did not really hurt; being a baby, he had not much strength as the adults, something I was grateful for, especially for his blunt jaws which didn’t hurt much.
Between bursts of laughter, the girl managed to say,” They… they’re porpoises! They abso-… lutely hate being called dolphins… their cousins. But you’re… you’re really something! I’ve never seen them do something like… this before! Now, better appease them, or all of them will… do the same as the baby did, or worse.”
I stared agape at her, unable to think properly; it was as if the porpoises held a spell over me, giving me a hard time to think. Had the porpoises not come closer, looming above me, I would not have remembered that they were still there. Struggling to think properly, I looked down at the small baby still head-butting my arm every few seconds.
“Hey, little baby porpoise, stop it. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you are a porpoise, not a dolphin, blame my ignorance. Really, I meant no harm when I said it. Um, I hope you’ll forgive me…” I faltered, not knowing what to say next.
Having finally stopped herself from laughing so hard, the girl burst into uncontrolled laughter again.
“Well, what is it this time? I apologised, didn’t I?” I said indignantly.
She tried her best to control her laughter, but unfortunately, she did not succeed. With nothing else I could do about it, I looked around at the porpoises. They were shaking their heads, as if they were laughing! I was bewildered; what did I do to cause all of them to laugh so merrily?
Suddenly, I felt air being crushed out of my lungs; the girl had let go of my hand! Gurgling, I flayed in the water, unable to do anything to help myself to stay afloat. Then, something came up from underneath me, supporting my whole body. Soon, a warm hand slipped into my cold one, causing me to be able to breathe again.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen. You should thank them for saving you; if not for them, I would have not known you were drowning. Luckily for you, the smallest one held you up or you would have sunk further,” she told me.
He gently pushed against my arm and I reached to pat his head. “Thank you,” I said. In reply, he opened his mouth, saying something too faint for me to hear.
“He says ‘you’re welcome’,” the girl translated. “He likes you,” she commented. Turning to the baby porpoise, she asked, “Do you want to come along with us for now?”
He nodded eagerly, swimming in front of us as if he was the “guide”. I laughed with the girl at his playfulness, chortling at his antics as he tried to somersault in the water but failing miserably. That did not stop him, he kept trying; I sincerely hoped he would succeed soon, to not put his efforts to waste.
She led me along, teaching me, “Porpoises are smaller than dolphins actually, but both species communicate by the same way: echolocation, clicks and squeaks. The sounds are usually too faint for humans to hear, especially underwater.”
“Oh, no wonder I couldn’t hear anything. Hey, what are you doing?” The baby porpoise was flipping himself to the side, using his dorsal fin to touch my hand, seeming to want me to grab hold of it. “You want me to hold that?” I asked, indicating with my free hand to the triangular dorsal fin. He nodded. Obliging him, I held it, feeling the smooth skin against my own hand. Suddenly, he lurched, dragging me forward so fast that I lost hold of the girl’s hand.
“Don’t let go of him!” she shouted after us.
“Ahhhhh!” I screamed, unable to answer her that I’d never dare to.8

The baby porpoise led me on the wildest ride I’ve ever had, and the most beautiful too. I saw coral reefs flash by, more colourful than the sky, and the sky has so many colours, ranging from the lightest yellow to the darkest blue. Schools of fish swam past us, in more shapes and sizes than animals ever seen on land. The vegetation under the sea was magnificent! Their colours were so unique and special. Light shone down, getting brighter, indicating that we would be breaking through the surface of the sea soon. All of a sudden, we were above the water! Just as I was enjoying the warmth of the sun for a split second, I was dragged underneath again. He had come up for air, not for me to see the sun again, I reasoned.
The ride was slower this time but just as exciting; I got to see the creatures clearer. A real dolphin, I knew it was not a porpoise since I had learned from that one mistake, swam towards us, staring right at me. My ride stopped to “say” something to his cousin, then continued swimming. I thought that the dolphin looked kind of mad after what the porpoise said, but maybe it was just my imagination. A whale floated lazily on the surface, casting a shadow over us. The porpoise ignored her while I looked up to admire the size of the great animal. All sorts of sea creatures raced past us as we gained speed, so I saw only the colours whirling around me. We were so fast that I thought we had gone around the Earth and were now back to where we had started. To make it seem even more possible, I saw the girl right in front of us, looking as if she had not moved at all since the porpoise had brought me on the ride.
“That was fun! Thank you, little porpoise,” I said, hugging him. He nuzzled me and seemed to say a long string of words.
“He says he was glad to have met you and that you’re welcome to take that ride whenever you want. Just say this,” she produced some loud clicks which I could not, for the love of my life, reproduce. “Or just say ‘Shinn’ at the edge of the sea and he’ll come.”
“Shinn? That’s my name!” I exclaimed. At this, he produced another long string of clicks.
“It’s his name too,” she answered. “And he’s happy to share the same name with someone as friendly and fun as you.”
“I’ll miss you, little Shinn,” I said, nuzzling the little porpoise.
“You want to leave already?” the girl asked.
“I can not leave now?”
“Actually no, maybe it’s better if you leave now, when the sea is happy and calm; you won’t want to leave when she’s in a mood, and I certainly don’t recommend leaving later, as you never know when she may change her mood.”
“… Goodbye, I promise to call for you often,” I told the baby porpoise, hugging him one last time. He seemed to click beside my ear, as if saying he’ll miss me too. “Oh I’ll miss you so much!”
“I’ll bring you back,” she said, holding my hand. With one last wave to my new-found friend, I allowed the girl to lead me back to shore.9

“Thank you for stopping me from killing myself,” I said, facing her. “I won’t forget what you’ve taught me today; I won’t forget you, Child of the Sea, and the sea herself, especially little Shinn the porpoise.” She smiled, her face serene and peaceful, a pretty sight illuminated by the moon. My heart felt as if it was breaking into pieces already, from thinking about our separation.
“I’ll be okay; I’ll never think about killing myself again, in fact, I’ll save others who want to kill themselves,” I promised. “Please, can you tell me your name before you go? I want to remember you by your name.” My voice trembled as I pleaded; I did not want her to leave me, I will be alone again without friends and I’m afraid of falling back into that life of loneliness. I never knew that the world had such a beautiful, exquisite place such as the sea, and knowing what I would have missed if I had died so soon, I was full of regret and remorse. The world is a wonderful place once you get out your hiding hole, and stopped thinking about dying. It was her who taught me all that, so I definitely didn’t want to lose her.
“Shinn… You won’t be alone, I’ll always be with you, little Shinn too. Stay near the sea and no harm shall come to you, I will make sure of that.” She paused slightly, then continued. “My name… they call me Stellar,” she said softly.
“Stellar…?” I repeated. “It fits you, a star who overlooks others, their guardian angel.” I paused, unable to say what was in my mind. She looked at me, her bright eyes questioning me. “Will I… will I see you again?” I asked, my voice not above a whisper.
Her eyes focused on something non-existent, not wanting to look at me but thinking better of it, she looked back at me. “No… Unless you become a Child of the Sea like me, but even then it will be difficult to meet again.”
“Then, how can I become a Child of the Sea?” I asked desperately.
“You will know, when your time comes,” was her reply. I was silent, not trusting my voice to say anything other then give out. Sensing this, she was the one who said it first.
“Goodbye, Shinn,” she said. I stared at her, not wanting those words to be true; nobody had ever “helped” me before, even less befriend me, she was the first and I did not want to lose her so soon. I wanted her to stay by me forever, to defy the wishes of the sea, to never leave me in loneliness.
“No… NO! Don’t leave me alone! Please, don’t!” I cried, gripping her hand, which had not left mine, hard, not letting go.
“I’m sorry, Shinn. The sea is calling me, and you have to live your own life,” she said softly, squeezing my hand in an effort to comfort me. “I have to go, Shinn, goodbye.” She slipped her hand from mine, releasing our one and only physical connection with each other. Oh how I longed to hold her hand again; she was the first who had held my hand, giving me warmth from her own heart, lending me her strength. She turned to leave, and finally, I managed to gather enough courage.
“Stellar! STELLAR! Wait, let me… say something first, please?” She paused, allowing me to continue. “I’ll find a way to see you again, I promise!” Her face softened, and she smiled. Shyly, she came back and hugged me tightly. I was surprised, taken aback; nobody had ever hugged me before, but I hugged her back.
“Don’t worry so much, Shinn. The sea may be willing to let that happen, when your time comes.” She let go of me and turned to the sea.
“The sea is actually very nice, once you get to know her. Shinn, you must respect her, or we’ll never meet again.” And she left.”10

Starla cried, weeping into her hands which covered her face.
“Stellar… was my twin… she drowned not long ago. She had always loved the sea, coming to the seaside whenever she could…” she explained. Shinn’s face was expressionless, though he felt otherwise. “I… lost her so suddenly, I didn’t know what to do with myself… so I decided to commit suicide. But, deep down I knew that she would never… let me do that. She must have… sent you to stop me. Oh Stellar! How I miss you!”
Shinn said nothing. “Stellar… You loved her, didn’t you?” Starla noted but after seeing the dark-haired boy look away, she continued, “That’s not important, but… can you call the little porpoise? I want to see him.” she asked.
“Sure.” Shinn went to the edge of the sea and called out, “Shinn! Little Shinn the porpoise!” A porpoise-shaped head appeared on the horizon, then leapt up into the sky, spraying water in all directions. He swam towards the duo Fate brought together, the duo touched by the Child of the Sea.
“He’s coming! Oh, he’s really coming!” Starla exclaimed, laughing and crying at the same time. Shinn stared up at the sky, thinking of the girl he loved but never saw again after that one time.
“Oh Stellar… I promise I’ll see you again, someday…” Shinn said to the setting sun.11