Selkie Songs

Chapter Two

 Chapter Two 

  Sinbad clearly did not want to go anywhere without my dad. I pulled on his leash to move faster, but after every two steps he went back one.

   “Sinbad,” I said softly, not wanting to scare the puppy with a mean tone, “I know you don’t want to leave him, neither do I, but we have to.”

   Wind rushed past us in loud, thunderous, roars. Sinbad whined and I jumped, Sinbad hated storms and I was terrified of dying. I didn’t think I had to worry though, I had gotten Sinbad and I up a mountain road following the tsunami exit roads. We were on a thin, rocky road surrounded by a forest of mainly pines. It might not have been so flat-out creepy if the pine trees hadn’t been so tall, so thick, and so dark that they blocked what little sun there was.

   The pines trees glared down on the road, their shadows flickered with bits of yellow sunlight. Their thick, lush, green needles rustled with the wind. The rolling, grey, fog was thick and so very moist it wetted my face worse the Sinbad’s tongue and cool air nipped at my nose and cheeks. I resituated my hold on the leash, my fingers had gone numb with the nippy air and I didn’t want Sinbad getting loose. Nothing would be worse than Sinbad running free and down the hill. That would practically ensure our drowning in a wave, because it was a given I would run after him.

  As I kept on walking, stretching my legs for long strides and tugging continuously on Sinbad, I tried to tell myself that I was being dramatic. Nothing cool ever happened in Keller’s Bay, Washington; so a giant tsunami would be so unlikely.

  But that just didn’t set right.

  I trudged forward with Sinbad, all the way to the top of the road, with so much more ease then the rest of the walk it had to have been a miracle. At the top of the road there was a clearing. The cleared circle of thick, green grass had; a rusty, black fire pit; an old, wooden picnic table with chipping, green paint done ages ago, and a single, oak bench set up so that you were looking into the dark forest.

  I couldn’t have been more relieved to see that old clearing Dad had taken me to many times before at that moment. My legs were burning from the uphill trek and the back of my throat dry from hard, panting. I looked down at Sinbad and sympathized. Poor thing was worn out from pulling, missing my dad, probably hungry, and most diffidently thirsty.

  I peered around the clearing. I remembered there being a water fountain somewhere. I walked over the short, wood, boarder surrounding the clearing, giving it shape and helping to guide unwanted roots out of the clearing. I walked around, still searching for that fountain. I tied Sinbad to an old post, rubbing his facing and saying hello.

  “See, that wasn’t so bad,” I kissed his furry, forehead.

   I stood back up from my squat position and winced. My bones crackled and popped, especially in my knees. I sighed, that meant I was going to grow again. I shook my head, being the tallest freshman last year sucked enough. Now I have to be tallest sophomore too? Really April, off topic much, I scolded myself. I looked over at the bathrooms. The building was made out of stone so it would last and not be damaged by the mold that came with living by the coast.

  The building was short and squat, made with that rough, bumpy, grey cement. The hefty, black tin roof completed the quaint look. I rolled my eyes at myself, remembering that there was a water fountain in between the men and women’s restrooms. I briskly walked over, wincing at the squishing sound my sneakers made in the thick, moist layer that went deep into the roots of the grass. Brown mud bubbled up and squished into the bottom on my sneakers. It soaked my socks and made me wrinkle my nose.

  The fountain only reached my hip and was a bit rusty; but the water was cool and tasted fine, so I cupped some into my still numb hands and brought it to Sinbad.

  “There you go,” I cooed as his big, wet, warm tongue lapped up the water.

  Just as I was about to back to get a drink for myself, the ground shook and I feel to my knees. Sinbad started to go insane, I could hear him barking and howling wildly. The ground shook again and I could feel its movement with my knees and the palms of my hand.  Wind rushed past me so fast it burnt my cheeks and brought tears to my eyes from pure pressure. The gushy mud squirted in between my fingers and soaked my knees. I turned around and crawled to Sinbad, who was again pulling on his leash and trying to break free. I gently petted his soft, black coat.

   Large, wet rain drops began to fall as I heard sirens go off faintly in the distance. There were sounds of crashing and the piercing sound of wood splitting in the distant forest. I looked over to the restrooms. It had taken me some time to get up here, I thought, at least two hours of painful walking, so it had to be at least three in the afternoon. I remembered changing into a thicker sweater before I left, I wouldn’t have bothered if I hadn’t spilled coffee on myself earlier. That had taken half an hour since I struggled to find  the sweater and was spitting mad at my dad.

  Then I had packed my bag, which now lay several feet in front of me. I looked back to the restrooms; the only light in that creepy, little room came from a skylight. So when it got dark I would be screwed and terrified. I breathed in sharply, why hadn’t I remembered to bring a flashlight? Then I thought about Dad. I wished he had been there; I was always braver with him around. Plus, he was always prepared for things like these.

  I glanced at Sinbad and stroked him again, what if he got loose? He starting whining and stuck his nose into my side to hide from the thunderous wind. I couldn’t risk that. I struggled with untying his leash from the cold, metal post with my red fingers. I shivered, it was so cold. I gripped his leash tight and jogged to the restrooms. I picked up my bag in a swift motion along the way. I opened up the door to the lady’s restroom and the wind shut it behind me.

  As if on cue clouds covered the sun and plunged me into gloomy darkness while the wind rapped on the skylight. I screamed as a branch from one of the pine trees hit the skylight with an ear-popping thud and bounced onto the ground. My heart pounded in my chest and a few tears heated my eyes.  I’m ashamed to say how scared I was. There was a storm outside, a tsunami wave coming, my dog was panicking and trying to get out by scratching at the door, and all the while I didn’t even know if my dad was okay.

  I walked backwards until I hit the cold, cream-painted cement wall and slid down it into a corner. I wrapped my arms around my knees and cried, trying to block out Sinbad’s yips, whines, and howls. I needed a good sob-fest before I could decently help with anything.

  Author's Note:

 Hey, how was chapter two? I hope you liked it, and, like I said before, I'm getting to the selkies! c; Please, comment, vote, and, if you REALLY liked the chapter, follow. It doesn't take that long.

 Love, H.B.