Makes sure that she’s put away
All the things she was using
And then takes my hand
With the one in which
She is not clutching the blanket
To her chest and walks away,
Humming to herself.
Running is undignified here. :(
Otherwise we would be running
And scaring the animals roaming
The courtyards and the premises. ^_^
When we find my prince
He is sketching Shark
As she lounges
Artistically under
A set of branches.
He is not as impressed
With my gift as my princess
And cannot quite hide
The frown on his face
When she shares it with him. :(
It doesn’t last long.
“Are you sure you feel
Well enough to be moving about?”
He asks.
I nod, a little frustrated
With their caring.
I know that my family
Means well with their
Concern, but I worry that
Perhaps they don’t know
How much I need to move.
“I’m glad,” my prince
Says with a smile.
“You hate being still.”
He pauses, then adds,
“Except on the ocean.”
I consider it for a while.
And… he is right.
I don’t mind sitting still
When I am on a boat. ^_^
I don’t mind sitting still
In a carriage when I can feel
The wind in my hair
And the air past my skin either. ^_^
Shark stretches and yawns,
Then comes padding over
To weave herself between
My legs.
I bend down and
Stroke her as she passes.
“Can she come with us?”
I ask, not for the first time.
“Yes. I promise.”
As he speaks,
My princess spreads
Her new blanket onto
The ground and sits
On it, patting the fabric
Around her until my
Prince and I both sit
Beside her and Shark
Is contently purring
On her lap.
The silence is nice. ^_^
Overboard
We are leaving.
Shark does not like
To be confined to a basket
Any more than I like
To be confined to a bed.
She is yowling in a way
That I have never heard
Before and it takes me
Everything I have not
To let her out and let
Her roam freely.
Both my prince and my princess
Have already had to stop me
And it is only because I keep
A tight hold on the basket
That they’ve failed to take
It from me entirely.
I hope Shark will forgive me.
I wouldn’t forgive me. T_T
But it is the only way
To take Shark with us,
So I try my best to ignore
My cat’s anguished cries
As we move further and
Further from the castle
And closer to the sea.
It’s raining and Shark
Does not get used to the basket.
My arms are red and swollen
With scratches from when
We have to put Shark back inside
Every morning until
We reach the ship.
She does not need
To be confined on
A ship. ^_^
I am so happy to be
Back on the water!
I could sit on deck
Forever and not
Get bored by anything. ^_^
The sea air makes
Me wish I could sing
With songs of the sea
But I can only sing
With my body and
So I do.
I am careful not
To get in the way
Of the sailors.
Sometimes, these sailors
Even let me help them. ^_^
The captain is especially kind,
And teaches me how tall-crabs
Navigate the seas.
It is very different to how
My sisters do it below the seas.
I even get to climb the mast!
And control the helm in a moment
When the water is particularly calm! :O
I prefer swimming
On my own strengths,
But it makes me happy
That the captain has allowed
Me to do this.
My prince sketches it.
He sketches everything
When he is not playing
With Shark. ^_^
I think he’s missed her too.
The days and nights are calm
Until one night, the Sea Witch
Wakes me from slumber.
I don’t know how I know
But I can tell it’s her presence,
Calling me up to the deck
And down into the sea.
Below, in the dark,
Are people calling to us.
As my eyes adjust
I can tell they’re in a small
Boat. A dinghy, I think.
I don’t know what to do.
For a moment, I stand,
Frozen, and then I hear
The night crew moving
And I find myself falling
Into a rhythm to help them
Pull the dinghy up.
Then. A splash. A cry.
I don’t think.
I jump overboard
After the noise and
The sound and I find
Myself holding a small
Tall-crab. A little one.
I make sure to keep its
Head above water while
I wait for the crew to
Help me up onto the ship
With a small, struggling child.
Far in the distance, I think can see
The Sea Witch diving beneath
The waves as I splutter and
Let the sailors drag me and
The child aboard.
I guess this is what
The Sea Witch was talking about. ^_^
Introductions
The little tall-crab
Is shivering and
We wrap them up in a
Blanket and rub at
Their arms.
We feed them some alcohol
To warm their limbs
And carry to our
Warmer than outside.
I am not so cold
And wave off most
Attempts to warm me.
I accept the hugs of
My princess, though,
And snuggle against her
As I sit, watching our
Prince fuss over the
Little human child.
“Hello,” he says.
“I’m Bernhard.”
The child follows
His movements with
Their eyes.
“That’s Asta –”
My princess releases me
Long enough to raise her hand.
“– And that’s Maris.”
“You must be very tired,”
Asta adds. “And cold.”
I say nothing,
&nbs
p; Merely wring out
My wet hair and wonder
What the Sea Witch wants
Us to do with this child.
“Rest now and we’ll talk
About everything in
The morning,” my prince
Says. He tucks the
Child in and we all
Go back to sleep.
We try, anyway.
I can’t sleep. :/
I still feel the tug
Of the Sea Witch
Calling me… somewhere.
Not to the child.
To the sea.
This time,
When I move up
To the deck I keep
A blanket wrapped
Around my shoulders
And shudder a little
In the night air.
I am not surprised
To find the child
Following me
Or the Sea Witch
Perching on the railing.
She is smiling,
As much as a predator
Can ever be said to smile.
The child is frightened,
Pressing close to me,
And I can only wrap my
Arm around their shoulders
Briefly.
“Ah, you’ll get along fine,”
The Sea Witch says
And before either of us
Can think to say anything
She is gone. Splashing
Beneath the waves
And deep so fast
We cannot follow
Her silhouette in the darkness.
The child takes my hand
And squeezes.
I squeeze back before
Pulling it free and
Saying that we should
Go to bed.
Then, remembering
That they probably cannot speak
With hands like I do,
I mimic a pillow and point
At the door to the cabin.
The child shakes their head,
And pulls me down onto the deck
To watch the stars fade from
The sky and the sun rise
Above the water.
It reminds me
So much of my first
Few days as a tall-crab
That my heart aches.
I stroke the child’s hair
And by the time my family
Is up, the little tall-crab
Has fallen asleep,
Arms wrapped around my waist. ^_^
Alf
By the time we reach home,
We have taught the child
Some speech the way I
Learned it. ^_^
We know that the
Sailors found a child
Drifting in the water
And that, before they could,
Return home a storm
Raged and their ship
Was caught in the worst
Of it. Yet their dinghy
Was somehow spared.
I’m not sure if I’m glad
I did not know this when
I last saw the Sea Witch
Or whether I want to
Admonish her for
Her interference.
I’m sure the storm
Was her doing. >>
We find ourselves
Welcomed home with
A great feast that pleases
Neither my princess, myself
Or the child the Sea Witch
Thrust into our paths.
Everyone’s assumption
That Asta will adopt
The child is truly
Not helping my prince or I
Because it means
The celebration becomes
Bigger and lasts even
Longer. And we just
Want to return to our
Lives as they were.
But now with Shark
To hunt mice and snuggle
Into people’s beds at night
And with this child
In our midst.
The priests name him
Alf, because he is small
And silent and mischievous. ^_^
The queen dotes on him.
It is good to be home
Again and to slowly
Slip back into the life
That has made me so happy. ^_^
And maybe one day
We’ll have a child of
Our own to adopt.
That would be a great adventure. ^_^
Acknowledgements
Many, many thanks to the people of the Ace Book Club who picked up Sea Foam and Silence for one of their reads. I am deeply honoured to have one of my books selected for a book club read and I hope everyone enjoyed it a lot!
Members' enthusiasm for more of Sea Foam and Silence sparked the seeds for what would become A Harmony of Water and Weald, which is what you've just read. Or have yet to read if you're the kind of person who reads the acknowledgements before the rest of the text. Many, many, many thanks to all the (book club) readers who reached out to me and who expressed their enthusiasm for Sea Foam and Silence, especially Lucia and Sinead without whom this little companion collection would not exist. Many thanks, as always, to my wonderful betas and critique partners for their time and effort to turn my messes into something enjoyable and awesome. Seriously, my stories would be infinitely less rich without you all and I love you loads.
About the Author
Lynn O’Connacht has an MA in English literature and creative writing, but wouldn’t call herself an authority on either. She currently resides on the European continent and her idiom and spelling are, despite her best efforts, geographically confused, poor things. Her tastes are equally eclectic, though fantasy will always be her first love. She has been chasing stories one way or another since she was old enough to follow a narrative.
Connect with Lynn online:
http://www.leoconnacht.com
http://twitter.com/lynnoconnacht
Thank you for reading!
More Books by Lynn
Verse Novels
Rapunzel, Rapunzel
Sea Foam and Silence
Novels
A Promise Broken
Novellas & Novelettes
Courage Is the Price
The Passage of Pearl
Collections
Feather by Feather and Other Stories
Tales of the Little Engine
A Harmony of Water and Weald:
a Sea Foam and Silence collection
Published by Dovelet Books
Copyright 2017 by Lynn E. O’Connacht.
Cover art by ClickPaperCo.
Design by Lynn E. O’Connacht.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This file is licensed for private individual entertainment only. The book contained herein constitutes a copyrighted work and may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electrical, mechanical, photographic, audio recording, or otherwise) for any reason (excepting the uses permitted to the licensee by copyright law under terms of fair use) without the specific written permission of the author.
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