Reverence

1.1 Aqua Dreams

Second Place - ALBC Writing Contest 1
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The World is a vast place.

Thousands of islands.

And one massive expanse of sea.

Twinkling stars of space in a night sky.

Starlit beds of sand surrounded by coral and all sorts of marine life, glittering with radiance.

Lions, tigers, and other creatures roaming the land.

Whales, dolphins and many more aquatic beings stalking the oceans.

But I've seen the ocean.

All the glory, the beauty, and the dangers.

It is my home.

The lands?

The light of the sun spoken so fondly of...

The shimmer of the stars admired upon...

The ferocity of the land wilderness and peace...

I want to see these things.

To be able to go up to the surface...

And be free.
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I am a princess. Daughter of Poseidon, ruler of the sea. You may think that being a princess means that I get to have everything I want.

Fame, power, wealth... And all other sorts of glorious things which no one should be able to touch except for the blessed. However, that's where you are wrong.

There is one thing I cannot have.

It is right under my nose, yet I cannot reach it, cannot grasp it, no matter how hard I try.

Invisible chains of responsibility and burden bind me, preventing me from acquiring that one, single desire.

Freedom.

I may be blessed, but I am cursed too.

My father rules everything, including me.

He orders me.

Torments me.

Frightens me.

Stripped my life and soul from me, till I am nothing but a mindless, obedient puppet.

A shell of who I used to be...

Back then before my mother died...

And she died because of me.

I killed her.

Slaughtered her.

Ripped out her heart from her body.

It was my fault she is dead. I deserve to be punished by my father.

I knew how much he had loved her.

And I had taken her away from him, me, his very own daughter.

Do you see now, how cruel life without freedom can be? I cannot escape from the clutches of my fate. I am bound to remain in the sea, destined to be the next ruler of the oceans, even if I had committed unforgiving sins.