The Tears of Aurora

Aurora's Dream

The weather is unsettled. Standing on the seawall, Aurora contemplates the sea dotted with reefs. The wind sweeps across the water and blows against her dress that flutters like a flag. The waves come up and lick her bare feet. The sun is lighting the white stones of the citadel built on the beach. The structure is imposing. Its walls are so high that they disappear in the sky, and so long that they extend farther than she can see.

Aurora closes her eyes. The salt air fills her with well-being just as the smells of the forest do. She hears a voice in the water. A voice she knows well. Trolual is the old male in a small pod of whales. He always accompanies Noémie. Aurora smiles as she imagines her, her mouth full of krill, spouting a powerful spray in greeting. She misses the oily feel of Noémie's skin. As a child, she went about the fjord on her back even before learning to swim. "If Trolual is there, then Noémie must be too!" Aurora contains her excitement by biting her lower lip. She opens her eyes again. At last the whale emerges from the waves. Aurora shouts with joy.

"Trolual! It's so good to see you! It's been such a long time!"

Without giving him time to answer, she forges ahead.

"Where is Noémie? Where is everyone? I didn't hear them! Surely you didn't come all by yourself?"

He remains strangely silent. In one movement, she removes the seaweed that is covering him. Their eyes meet. Trolual's pupils are dilated. Aurora sees her own distorted reflection in his eye, a fifteen-year-old adolescent with hair so blond it's almost white, with steel blue eyes and very pale skin. Apart from her reflection, she sees her friend's sadness. She is overcome by a great fear.

"What's the matter?"

She stands back to look at him.

"Are you hurt? Sick? Why are you alone?"

No answer. She puts her hands on his forehead.

"Say something, I beg you!"

"Follow me. They are coming."

His tone is grave. His voice fills the space in an unusual way. It echoes and re-echoes deep in Aurora's chest. It makes her shiver. She steps back.

"Come," repeats the whale.

Trolual's attitude bothers her. Nonetheless, when he plunges into the sea, she does not hesitate. She leaps in and then feels the body of her friend who is lifting her out of the water.

"There they are now," he says.

"Who? Your pod? Noémie?"

Aurora is nervous. She squints, bites back an expletive, and urgently taps Trolual's back. A large group of whales detach themselves from the horizon.

"Those aren't... Those are waves! Take me back to land!"