Selkie Of The Sea

The Mural

The sounds of the water crashed against the side of the island that David called home. The three year old stood in the nursery in his bright blue pajamas, carrying a bucket of paint in hands.

The nursery was bare, with pale yellow walls and a creaky brown floorboard. David's blue bed was in one corner, while a crib was in the other corner. The crib that his baby sister would be occupying.

"Mum! I've got the paint!" David called. He tried to lift the bucket of creamy blue paint, but struggled with the weight.

"Oh, David, sweetie." His mother strode over to him. Her fluffy brown hair bounced as she walked. She wore a large white coat over her pregnant belly, and she hummed a tune as she hefted up the bucket, carrying it onto a tarp on the floor.

The wall stood before them, white and bare.

"Lemme try!" David exclaimed, picking a small brush. His mother gently guided his hand, swiftly painting strokes of blue across the canvas to be the ocean.

"Between the here, between the now..." His mother sung, her focus was on the canvas, but she had another thing in mind, a dark secret she withheld from her young boy.

"Will you try it with me?" His mother asked, turning to her son. A small white deerfox gently nuzzled against David, careful not to get in the paint. His name was Twig, and he was David's pet.

"Okay!" David exclaimed, smiling at his mother. "Between the norf..." He trailed off, not knowing how to continue. "I forget!" He smiled, with a little giggle.

"Between the North, between the South." His mother continued, holding her child's cheeks. He laughed.

"Between the North, between the South!" David echoed, giving his mother a bright smile. She kissed David on the cheek, as the bedroom door opened.

"Alright, you two." David's father, Marvin said, standing in the doorway. He was a bigger man, with curly teal hair. He was dressed in plaid PJ's. "Bedtime, finish up!"

"Dad! Look!" David exclaimed, pointing at the mural of art on the nursery wall. It was a picture of the ocean, with a rock in the middle. A woman stood on the rock, dressed in white. Her mouth was open, and music notes danced next to her. In the water was a seal, surrounded by other seals, as lights painted the sky above.

"The Selkie singing her song so that she can send all the fairies home across the sea!" David explained proudly. He ran over to the side with the seal and pointed at it. "And she's turning into a seal!"

"She's beautiful." David's dad remarked, gazing at his wife. He gently put his hand on her stomach and smiled.

"Alright sweetie, I think we should head to bed." David's mother spoke softly.

"But we have to finish it before Hilda comes!" David exclaimed. He wanted this mural for his new baby sister.

"We'll have time, won't we, Johanna?" Marvin lifted David in his arms with a smile.

"Yes, we will have plenty of time." Johanna smiled, striding over to David's bed.

Twig leapt onto David's bed, cuddling close to the boy. David giggled, petting his pet as his parents watched.

Johanna gasped sharply, her hands on her stomach. Marvin looked to her with concern.

"Johanna, are you alright?" He asked, his big hands gently holding his wife.

"I'm fine. It's fine!" Johanna insisted, giving a strained smile Marvin, who didn't look too convinced. "Are you cozy?" She asked her son, changing the topic.

"Mhm!" David smiled, nuzzled in his blue bed.

"Now, settle down. There's something I want to give you." Johanna took a large white shell from her heavy coat. It glistened in the soft lamplight.

"What is it?" David asked, his eyes were wide in wonder.

Johanna blew into the shell, replicating the tune she was singing earlier.

"This is an ancient shell that my mother gave me a long time ago." Johanna explained, holding it up for her son. "Hold it to your ear and listen."

David took the shell, putting it up to his ear. He heard the woosh of waves, but it wasn't coming from outside the house.
"I can hear the sea!" David was excited, listening to the water.
"That is the song of the sea." Johanna explained, a warm smile on her face. She tucked her son in, Marvin sat on the other side of the bed.

"Keep listening." His mother whispered, as the colors and sounds of the day faded, but not entirely. His mother continued her song, nurturing David to a sweet slumber.

"Mum...?" David mumbled, half asleep.

"Yes?" Johanna answered, still next to him.

"I can't wait for the baby to come." David said with a tired smile. "We're going to be best friends, aren't we?" He asked, looking at his mother.

"Of course. You will be the best big brother in the world." She replied, getting up from the bed. She tucked David in once more, finally pushing David to sleep.

He dozed in and out, always seeing his mother singing her song, her eyes closed, and in focus.

He opened his eyes, his mother standing by the door. She looked in pain, and held her pregnant stomach.

"Johanna?" Marvin's voice echoed.

"Mum...?" David asked, sitting up in his bed with concern.

"I'm...sorry." Johanna whispered, staring at her son over her shoulder. Streaks of white appeared in her hair, and slid down, as did tears on her cheeks.

"Johanna?!" Marvin called again, as Johanna let go of the door frame and ran.

"Mum...?" David asked once more, holding his shell close. His eyes softened. "Mum?!"

David waddled out, his father stood alone in the living room. Not entirely alone, however. He held a tiny baby in his hands.

"Where's Mu-" David was quieted by the soft sobbing of his father.

"This is your new baby sister, Hilda." Marvin replied, as David stared at the baby in his hands.