Bone-Singing Sea

I was raised to believe the sea listens.
Not like a person listens, but the way a wound does. Quiet. Waiting.

In Hollowtide, we learned the rules before we learned how to swim.
Don't go near the water after dark.
Don't cross it.
If the song starts, you don't answer. You run.

The night I broke the first rule, nothing happened. That was what scared me.

T̵̺͎͘H̵̢͈̠͓̦̺̖̳̯̔̓̌ͅȨ̷͔͙̱̗͈̜̗̪̔̐͝͝ ̷͖̾͘̚ͅv̷̢̢̡̹͔͍̺̺̈́͋͐̽̈̚͜į̷̬̖̥̯̲̼͚̂̄L̵̡̼̭̪͚͍͊͌̀͊͠͝L̷̜̟̈́̊̓̌̔͒̅́͒̕a̸̻̬̗̩̭̺͋̆͗͜g̵̻̜͈̿̈͌̊̃̊̂̄̑e̴̼̫̬̩̳̯̼̣̒̈̽͌́͠ ̵̛̘͉̩̠́͛̌̑̆̾̒̈́̚ͅI̸̧̧͍͐ś̷͎̙͓̳͊̎̈́͛͘͝n̸̡̗͕̮̽̋̈̆͆̌̑̂̄̇'̵̛̛̟͙̯̏̆̋̚t̷̨̤̜̭̩̜̙̽͒ ̴̨̤̦͔̙̔͌̋͒͂̌̀͊͠͝W̶̧̙͙̺̠͇̉̐̇͑̄͛̋̀̕̕H̶͍̝̳͓͇͍͕́̍̆a̶̻͈͚͇̟̘͈̋̈̈́̈̀̓̓͜͝ť̷̡͕͓͈̦̲͕͙̯̏̎͐̈́̀̊͝ ̴̧̨̜͍͚̮͒͐́́Ȉ̵̠͒̌̏ṯ̴̭̒̓̀̔̓͝͝ ̴̢͙͖̰̗̀͛̀̓͊̚͝͝S̷̛͉̮̣̯͉̅̈́̋͊͜ë̵̳̣͚̥͈̅͑̍͑Ě̵̳̬̜̓̄͗m̵̛̫̱͙̝̖̼̼͌̓̍́̚͜͝s̸̛̤̫͔̹͉̱ r̶̢̭̯͔͍̚͜U̶̱̱͈͍̠̞̥̐́ṅ̴̨̧͇̟̰̮͍͈̼͓̓̃̀̽̽͛̇͝.̵͈̤̝͙̘̻̜̽̎̇̅́̇̀ ̸̧̨̝͙̟̘͔͔͌̄͐̾̇̚͝͠T̸̙̝̙̤͉̤͉̞̰̳̈͛̈́̍h̷̨̤̘͕̠͎̫͍̗́͌͗E̸̳͒̈́̀̚ ̷̛͉͎͉́͒̽̀͆͆w̸̠̬̖̦͓̗̐̓̄̐͠A̵̦̘͇̼͌̀́̀͘͝t̴̡̽́É̷͖͈̥̳̲͔͙̒͝r̷̨̪͈̝̜̠͍͙̀̋̽̉̉͛̑͒͜͝͠ ̵̟͎̺̯̩̌͗̆̈Į̶̻͚͎̱͚̓̿̐̈s̷̩̩͚͈̼̤̰̬̞̰͛̀̏͛̍ ̵̡̧̡̳̫̑̀S̸̯͉̳͖͊̈́͗́̃̓â̸̞͓̮̹͖̲̎̓ͅF̶̙̭̰̱̰̤̜͋̇́̑ͅe̶̡̤̝̣̠͚̳̠̫͔̽̈́̄̎͋̊͐̇Ŗ̴̹̤͖̘̯̝̻͍̋͜ ̷͇͔̞̥̪̞̲̹̓̆͊͠t̶̨̛̟̖̻̫͖̥̠̓́͘͜H̸̠͔̪͚̦̙̩͓͊́a̶̮̩͙̓͆͂̒̓̓̾͜͝͝N̸̪͔̦͇͉͉̝̹̄̀̂̈͋̊͠ ̵̢̹̮̮͙͍͚̻̆͠l̴̟̭̥̣͐̅A̶̢̱͍̯͈̠̞̼̫͆̈́̂̄̎͛ǹ̴̡̧̹͈͖̪̰̪̜͉Ḑ̶͔͈̣̦̤̎