The Selkie That Deud No' Forget (WIP)

Prologue

         

Apparently, you're not supposed to start a story by talking about the weather. But it's my story and it's damn windy out here! Ok it's not only my story, there's a girl with a story of her own to be told. And hush those irritated sighs of "Oh great another boy/girl love story" "Why can't they write something original for once?" Nothing's been original since the first book was written I'll have you know! And this isn't a love story either, so shut your wee traps about it! I just wanted to get back home and this girl just wanted to live her life, neither of us expected to meet or to have our lives turned completely upside down. At the time, I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. Like I said, it was damn windy!

Another icy whip of wind cracks against my face as I stand at the edge of the cliff, the western Isle of Mull at my back. The wind seems extra pissed off today, matching my own mood.

There was once a time when I could stand tall, facing against the harsh breeze and feel comfort. I didn't feel the icy cut of cold air as it slashed down my warmth, the cold had never bothered me before. If you quote "Frozen", you are no longer allowed to read this story. As the wind rips at my hair and my limbs, I long again for my home, and my skin. The way things used to be. The water had once greeted me at the shoreline, embracing me. Asking, begging me to come home into her arms. Now, it's as if she's forgotten me completely, or is simply blaming me for what unfolded all those years ago, the one mistake that permanently separated me from my home.

My attention was drawn away, to sounds of a stranger. I first heard rustling, and some whispered cursing, then "Oh there you are, wee bastard!" I smiled at the kind woman coming towards me from the meadow. She took it upon herself to replace my mother, and look after me from time to time.

"Been looking everywhere for you. Scared me with worry for where you'd gone!" The woman paused, probably noticing my silence for the first time. "Oh love, everything all right? You look awful." She had put her hand on one of my crossed arms, and just waited for a response. With feeling so despaired at the moment and wanting a few more minutes to myself, I just gave her a small nod and smile and told her

"I'll be in soon Nan." She accepted my response and gave me a smile of her own, followed by a kiss on the cheek. She then headed back the way she'd come.

More recently I haven't spent much time by the shores, and when I do I tend to get caught up in old memories. Tonight, however held a bitter aftertaste of wrath for the woman who trapped me here. The woman who took me from my home. Tricked me. Fought me. And ultimately left me, with no help whatsoever. Nan says I shouldn't hold onto grudges because they'll make me age faster. I'm still not sure if she suspects what I am. I've known her for over 15 years and neither she nor her husband have brought up the fact that I don't age. Their wrinkles and white hair and frail bones have definitely increased over time, but I remain the same. Whether they know or not, I would do anything for the couple who gave me a family when I had none.

Still, I had a family waiting for me. Who knows what has happened since I left, if... if my father still lives. Soon. Very soon I will find that woman, an old hag by now I'm sure, and take back what's mine. Then finally I can return home.

I recall my childhood as I look at the woven pearl band around my wrist, a keepsake of my old life, a remnant of the peace I once felt.

As I stepped back from the shore and took one last look upon the ocean, I whispered

"Soon father, soon." And I hoped he was out there on the waves, watching, and listening.