PHASE 0: AUDITIONS

Applicant #10: The Sealskin Cloak

APPLICANT #10: THE SEALSKIN CLOAK

Once upon a time, in a far away shore, there lived an old fisherman and his son. So difficult was their life with the sea that each day he went home empty handed. And though the son admired his father's perseverance, he could only hope that time may come when food would be aplenty for them both.

One day, the old fisherman came home, as expected, with no catch. But his son was greatly bewildered by the inexplicable smile that he wore.

"Tell me father," the son said, curiosity piquing at him, "why are you smiling so broadly? Did you catch a fair amount? Perhaps you have found a treasure hold underneath the sea?"

His smile even widened with his son's inquiry. "No, my son, I have no catch, as God willed. But you were right. I did found a treasure worth keeping."

"Then where is it? Why didn't you bring it home?" The son exclaimed with excitement.

"Listen to me, son. The treasure is yet to be in our hands, but I am sure it will be, someday." His father began looking for something in their rickety closet that stood a test of time. When he finally found what he was seeking for, he faced his son with a newfound hope. "Now, I need you to go to the shore. There, you will find a girl, weeping. Give this to her and tell her you mean her no harm."

The son was dumbfounded with what his father gave him; it was a ring. "But this was mother's," he protested.

But he only put his hands on his shoulders, saying, "Do you trust me?"

For a moment, the son was speechless, confounded by his father's request, but finally, he nodded.

With doubt and confusion clouding his head, he went to the shore as his father instructed him. And sure enough, perhaps by chance, he did found a girl weeping all herself out.

Baffled but also entranced by her irrefutable beauty, the fisherman's son quietly approached the distraught girl. "Why are you so mournful?"

The girl jumped upon hearing his voice and cowered in the sands as though in fear.

"Please, don't be afraid. I mean you no harm," he said softly. "And to prove it, take this." He gave her the ring as token of his honesty.

The girl looked at the ring reluctantly with startling blue eyes and auburn hair. Finally, she accepted it and put in on her finger. "I lost something. Without it, I cannot return home."

"Then, let me help you."

All afternoon, they searched, but they couldn't find what they were looking for. As the sky darkened and the day turned in to night, they eventually decided to rest. But even with all her exhaustion, the girl began to weep again.

Feeling sympathetic, the fisherman's son offered to help the girl until they find what she was missing. But for the meantime, they must replenish themselves for tomorrow's hunt. So, he brought the girl home for the night.

It was as if his father had known that he would bring the girl home that they found him preparing a meal for three; he was so sure his father had had no catch that day, yet keep his silence about it.

The fisherman, though old as he was, delighted in the company of the girl. He told her stories about his son's mischief when he was but a child and it brought laughter from her. In fact, she felt comfortably secured with the poor father and son that she had no problem falling fast asleep.

When morning finally came, they began another trip to the shore in search for her missing possession. But it proved difficult for as the day became night, they found nothing. Yet that didn't dissuade them from looking.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months turned to years; the search became a hopeless addiction. Each day that passes, brought them farther and farther away from finding, and each time, the girl would return in the fisherman's home, weeping. The son, incapable of doing anything, can only offer comfort.

As time willed, and as hoped by the fisherman, his son and the girl fell in love with each other. The search, tiring and fruitless, was eventually forgotten. So he called for his son once more.

"My dear son, forgive me for not telling you, but I am sick for a very long time, and I fear that my death is near. I want you to know that I have nothing to leave you but your happiness. Listen carefully; I have left you something else, in an ancient rock by the shore, I have hidden a sealskin cloak in its hollow foot. Retrieve it for me under the cover of darkness."

But the old fisherman died before his request was even granted. And this brought so much sorrow in his son's heart. When the girl came home, she found him mourning for his father. And she too, mourned for him.

That evening, he went to the ancient rock by the shore and retrieved the sealskin cloak as his father had said and as he walked home, he saw the silhouette of the girl in the distance, longingly gazing at the ocean.

He came to her, wondering what she was doing there. But when she saw what he was carrying, she grabbed it from him and was immediately transformed into a Selkie; an enchanted seal capable of having a human form once they shed their magical skin.

"You found my cloak!" She sang gleefully. "Thank you so much. Now, I can return home. Come with me, and I promise you, you will never again suffer from the cruelty of this land; for I am a princess of an underwater kingdom."

He looked back and thought of his father, telling him about a treasure. Then he took her hand and together they jumped into the waters never to be seen again.