Dark Water

Chapter 12

Mihris and Mr. Gulliver sat in her boat on the open water, towing a net behind them. She was enjoying the canister of coffee he had brought for her, along with some dried fish, as she sat down and leaned against the starboard of the boat. She was out of condition from her multiple weeks of disasters, and her whole body already ached from helping Gulliver pull the full nets in. She always checked for any partially eaten fish when going through the catch, and although she was doing it discretely, Gulliver took notice of this.

"You know I used to sit out here in the dark and wait for her," Gulliver stopped mending one of the nets to listen to her. "Even after she tried to kill me, I came back out and brought her food as a thank you. She was so strange to me before I knew everything I do now, the way she acted and what she did. At first, I would have to stick my hand into the water for her to come up but a few times after that she would just come up if I had fish in the boat. She could never understand what the snow actually was when it fell from the sky and would always swat at it and would get so upset when I laughed at her. I didn't understand her, and she didn't understand me, and that was the first thing we had in common." She took a sip of her coffee, sighing.

"What else?"

"She hated eels. I would catch them just to give them to her, and she hated those bloody things. She would throw them around like they were a toy. The first night that I gave her food she gave me half a piece of fish. I felt bad so I ate it and as soon as I got back, I threw it up in the snow outside the tavern. After that I refused, and she seemed to realize I didn't eat what she did. I remember when she used to do all these weird little things to me that I didn't understand. She used to lick me for some reason which was always disgusting, but she also used to sniff me a lot, especially when I came from the tavern."

"She could probably smell other people on you."

"Probably. She has much better hearing than me and whenever she seemed to hear something that I didn't she would leave. I never asked her what it was either but sometimes I wish I had."

"How would you describe her?" Mihris hesitated at the question.

"Beautiful. She was beautiful, strong, smart. She cared about me and the others in her group, and her young. She had the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. I've never met anyone with eyes like hers, it was like she could see straight through any disguise of emotions to what you were thinking and feeling, even if it confused her. She had the sweetest face, at least when she wasn't angry or protecting herself or someone else. She never showed her teeth when she smiled, but I think that was because she didn't want to scare me with her teeth. She always seemed to not understand that. She would put her hands in my mouth the first chance she got to look at my teeth compared to hers." Mihris couldn't help but let out a chuckle, a small yet sad smile on her face.

"She was willing to do anything for me, and I still broke her heart." They sat in silence for a while, Gulliver going back to fixing the net as Mihris listened to the waves.

"Maeve told me what happened." Mihris lit a cigarette but paused when he spoke.

"Blue, I,"

"I don't want to talk about this anymore." She stood up, turning her back to him.

"I think you need to talk about it."

"Well, I don't want to!" She snapped at him, and slowly the guilt set in as she saw the hurt look on his face.

"Why do I ruin everything?"

"You don't ruin everything Mihris."

"Yes, I do. my mother jumped off the cliffs because of me! Orliantha is gone, because of me!" She balled her hands into fists, quickly regretting that. Her cigarette, or what was left of it, quickly burned the palm of her hand and her fingers and she crumpled the hot ashes. She dropped it with a curse, holding her hand close to her chest as she did. She leaned over the starboard, dipping her burned hand into the icy saltwater, grimacing as it stung the wound. They had been out on the water for most of the day, and the sun was finally setting.