Hart of the Sea

Chapter 3

"You finished your kelpmeal awfully fast this morning," Mom remarked, placing her hands on her hips as her deep amber-colored tail fins twitched. "You got somewhere to be or something?" She ruffled my hair playfully with one hand, while her other held the abalone ladle that she'd just used to scoop her own clamshell-bowl of kelpmeal. She paused thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, you've been rushing out of here every morning for the past few days."

I shrugged, forcing a laugh. "Well, I don't know...the kelpmeal is just so good, plus...I want to catch every fresh morning current that I can." I winced to myself, knowing that I was a terrible liar but hoping she'd believe me anyway. Her raised eyebrow and twitching tail fin said it all: she didn't believe me, but she wasn't going to push for the truth. My father swam into the kitchen at that moment, stretching out his arms and yawning.

"I think he's got a girlfriend he doesn't want us to know about," he chuckled, winking at me.

"Oh Tide," my mom scoffed, swatting one of his arms with her ladle. "What are you even doing awake right now? You don't have to be at work today."

"What? No! I don't have a girlfriend!" I protested, not giving my dad a chance to answer my mom's question. "It's nothing like that!" It really wasn't, but they could never know the truth about my newfound curiosities. Maybe I should have let them believe I do have a girlfriend. "Can I just...can I please go now?" My dad lovingly wrapped his emerald-green tail around my mother's tail as they both chuckled at my expense.

"Go on. Have fun, alright?" My mom shooed me from the dining room all the way to the front door.

"Love you, Hart. Be back at a reasonable time!" Dad called from inside as I swam off, my cerulean tail propelling me forward.

There was no way in all the ocean that I could tell them what I was going to do. They'd disown me. Worse, they'd feed me to the sharks in The Outskirts. The thought alone made my tailfin shiver.

But when I'd followed Torrent all the way to that kelp forest, I got a taste of being close to the shallows. I was right there, the rest of the world only a fin-flick away. I didn't know where this newly-developed desire would lead me, but I couldn't fight it. I had to go to the shallows, at least once, and then I wouldn't think about it anymore. Maybe when I got there, I'd realize how stupid I was to even think of going there in the first place.

Later. I'd do it later. It was the perfect day, too, since the rescuers wouldn't be working near the shore today - which meant no one could spot me once I made it that far. Now, though, I was headed to Calliope and Oriel's house to say goodbye before they left for their vacation to the coral reef. They lived in the same village as me, Chiton, so it was only a few-minute swim from my house to theirs.

"Calli! Oriel! Marsh! Hart just got here!" Luma called once she'd ushered me inside. My friends all materialized from Oriel and Calli's shared room.

"Hart!" Calliope rushed over to me, throwing her arms around me. "I'm really gonna miss you while we're gone," she whispered in my ear.

"You guys won't be gone for long," I whispered back. "Like what? A month, two tops? Plus, you both will be writing to me and Marsh every day, right?"

She pulled away, letting her arms drift back to her sides. "Of course. Every day. I promise."

Oriel swam in front of his sister, pulling me into a quick hug. "See you when we get back, dude," he said, his voice sounding as though he were trying not to cry.

I smiled to myself. Man of few words for once. "Hey, Oriel?"

"Yeah?"

"You promise to write every day too, right?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him accusingly.