Elspeth was warm. How could she be warm? The water was cold, the sand colder.
Elspeth feared opening her eyes. What if she looked, and Mother wasn't there again. She stayed still, eyes closed, huddled under a cloak that was not hers, but it was warm.
Time was meaningless on the shore, but some had passed between when Elspeth woke up and when she heard footsteps on the sand. She looked up immediately, hopeful. A little Cloakless girl, no older than herself, was sprinting across the sand, something made of wood on her arm.
Elspeth jumped up immediately. The warmth slid quickly off her shoulders. She barely had the time to register the swish of red hair, the dotted skin, before she was running, running halfway back into the water.
YOU ARE READING
The Maid and The Selkie
NouvellesMacrae finds a strange child on the sand. Elspeth finds her preconceptions are not as true as fact. They find friends in each other, and want to keep that love forever. Cover made with www.canva.com
