CHAPTER TWO<\/p>\n
The next hundreds of tides were filled with learning and new<\/p>\n
experiences so great that now it is difficult at best to remember<\/p>\n
them with the passion I experienced then. I learned that by stretch-<\/p>\n
ing the muscles of my body I could swim faster and stronger. I<\/p>\n
learned to move my flippers to guide me round and round or straight<\/p>\n
ahead in powerful bursts and how to sound, to seek the deep cool<\/p>\n
waters below.<\/p>\n
I learned of being whale.<\/p>\n
I learned that I was a rare and wondrous occurrence — for I<\/p>\n
was born albino \u2013 alabaster shell white. I learned as I listened to<\/p>\n
the songs that all whales sing: songs of this and songs of that,<\/p>\n
places to go, places that had never been seen before. All was sung<\/p>\n
in beautiful melody. This was and is the Song of the Sea.<\/p>\n
Long into my childhood one early golden tide I rushed to my<\/p>\n
mother to drink my meal, I was offered instead a small silver fish,<\/p>\n
long since finished with life.<\/p>\n
What fun! What delight! A new toy! I grabbed the fish by<\/p>\n
the tail and rushed away on a passing wave. I dove into the deep,<\/p>\n
thrashing my head from side-to-side banging myself in the eye with<\/p>\n
this new plaything.<\/p>\n
On and on I played, until finally I came to the surface, where<\/p>\n
I tossed the toy up into the dryside and caught it as it fell. Splash,<\/p>\n
roll and crash, I thrashed about the waters shredding it to unrecog-<\/p>\n
nizable condition. Finally, I threw it high into the air and leaped<\/p>\n
forward to catch it. I waited, but it did not fall. I cast my eye to the<\/p>\n
sky and looked about the dryside, but there was no toy falling, fall-<\/p>\n
ing to the sea to play with me. There instead were the horrid feath-<\/p>\n
ered-furies of my birthing day eating my toy.<\/p>\n
I was mad. I was furious. These feathered monsters were<\/p>\n
destroying my very first toy. I charged into them as they floated on<\/p>\n
the silken seas and panicked they fluttered and squawked out of the<\/p>\n
water. As they flapped, they carried my fish away. I gave chase but<\/p>\n
soon they were the fatter and the toy was gone.<\/p>\n
I rushed back to my mother lamenting my loss. She chuckled<\/p>\n
and softly sang. \u201cNo, my dear, sweet Harmony, that was not a toy<\/p>\n
to be played with. That was food to be eaten, nourishment that will<\/p>\n
help you grow and become one with the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n
It seemed a bit confusing to me. Food before had always<\/p>\n
come from my mother. The toy, or rather the fish, had come from<\/p>\n
the mother but was not a part of her. Milk was food; fish were fun,<\/p>\n
and now fish were to be food and not fun? Strange to say the least.<\/p>\n
Mother rolled disappearing into the deep. In but a moment<\/p>\n
she returned with a new toy, or rather food. \u201cNow my Harmony,<\/p>\n
don\u2019t play with this, you must eat it!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yuck! Eat a fish! Eat a fellow form from the sea?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFear not my son,\u201d she said. \u201cWe take from the sea to be-<\/p>\n
come part of the sea. The fish live to eat and be eaten. Eat now<\/p>\n
and you shall see.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes, opened my mouth and swallowed this part<\/p>\n
of all that was around me. Unfortunately, I swallowed nearly as<\/p>\n
much water and coughed and hacked, but surprisingly, this tiny mor-<\/p>\n
sel was sweet, and I found myself wanting to taste more.<\/p>\n
Mother dove, and I followed. With mighty twists of her body,<\/p>\n
she silently glided down near some flickering, flashing forms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow, look at all the food!\u201d I sang in glee. I rushed into the<\/p>\n
shifting mass of fish, but just like that, in an explosion of silver and<\/p>\n
blue, they were gone. I looked about and found another flickering<\/p>\n
mass and charged, but they, too, scattered.<\/p>\n
Mother patiently taught me the delicate ways of hunting the<\/p>\n
seas. She taught me to slip quietly into a school of fish and then<\/p>\n
quickly to catch that which would be caught. She taught me pa-<\/p>\n
tience and waiting so that the fish would come to me. I learned that<\/p>\n
the harder a fish is to catch, the sweeter the meat. But the sweeter<\/p>\n
the meat, the harder the fish is to catch. I was fast; some of the fish<\/p>\n
were faster. But I ate and ate until my belly swelled, ached, and I<\/p>\n
could eat no more.<\/p>\n
I was so full that I could barely float, feeling as if I were filled<\/p>\n
with stones. My mother laughed and left me to my misery singing,<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must take from the sea only that which you need — no more,<\/p>\n
no less! If you take more, there will be less, and eventually nothing<\/p>\n
will be left in the sea and you, my child, will be very hungry indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that she left me with my lesson, and an aching tummy, soon to<\/p>\n
heal with rest in the soothing sea.<\/p>\n
The next golden light and the next, I hunted the seas, be-<\/p>\n
coming more and more independent of all those things that my<\/p>\n
mother provided<\/p>\n
With each hundred tides past I grew older and bolder. Now<\/p>\n
I often forayed alone into the surrounding waters but always the<\/p>\n
adults of the pod were within the call of my still inexperienced song.<\/p>\n
Stronger and stronger I became, slowly breaking the ties that bond-<\/p>\n
ed me to my mother. Making new rules, writing my own song.<\/p>\n
One day as I was swimming, skimming the dryside edge, I<\/p>\n
bumped quite innocently into another young whale much larger than<\/p>\n
I. Suddenly, without warning, I was flipped unceremoniously onto<\/p>\n
my back and buffeted about in the churning waters. Over and over<\/p>\n
again, I was tossed and rolled, and though I tried to turn and race<\/p>\n
away, this bully of a whale seemed obsessed with my destruction.<\/p>\n
He rammed into my sides repeatedly and bellowed, \u201cYou will respect<\/p>\n
the waters in which I swim. You will not foul the waters near me.<\/p>\n
Remember and never forget that I am Cacophony, he that rules<\/p>\n
the sea!\u201d<\/p>\n
His song was loud and discordant, lacking all form of melody.<\/p>\n
The attack was finally broken off when a sweeter song was sung,<\/p>\n
\u201cCacophony! Leave him be! Yours is not the only song of the sea.<\/p>\n
He bumped into you quite innocently. I was watching and I did see!\u201d<\/p>\n
This calmed somewhat the angry, young bull and after a last<\/p>\n
swat of his fluke on my side he swam away. Suddenly I was surround-<\/p>\n
ed by other whales my own age and size. They gleefully bumped and<\/p>\n
rubbed against me. There was Percussion, noisy and always crash-<\/span><\/p>\n ing about the sea. There was Metronome, softly spoken but always<\/p>\n in rhythm and perfect rhyme. Most special was Melody, the one<\/p>\n whose voice had saved me from Cacophony. She was the prettiest<\/p>\n of all — soft of eye and song.<\/p>\n From then and thereafter I spent more and more time with the<\/p>\n others of my age, and we learned together. And as we learned, the<\/p>\n memories of our childhoods seemed to fade away, crowded deep by<\/p>\n new memory — new verses to the song. It was during these tides<\/p>\n that I began to hunt with the others my age.<\/p>\n One tide as we hunted as a pack circling the fish into a tight<\/p>\n circle so one-by-one we could eat, the great bully Cacophony joined<\/p>\n us. \u201cYou clacker-claws only hunt the fearsome minnow,\u201d he railed.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not eat a hundred tiny fish in order to make a meal, I eat but<\/p>\n one that fills me full. Come with me and I\u2019ll show you how the mas-<\/p>\n ter hunts.\u201d With that he haughtily ploughed into the murk of the<\/p>\n deep, assuming correctly that we would meekly follow.<\/p>\n Now I don\u2019t think that Cacophony had really hunted bigger<\/p>\n fishes in the sea, but he had opened his big mouth and now he<\/p>\n and we had to see what would swim in. We passed many groups of<\/p>\n sweet-meated fish: tuna-tail, bug-eye, and flat-tail. Cacophony<\/p>\n disdained them as being, \u201cToo small, you foam heads, too small!\u201d<\/p>\n We swam farther and farther from the pod following this great hunter<\/p>\n of the sea as he sought his monstrous prey.<\/p>\n And soon we found a fish that suited Cacophony\u2019s expanded<\/p>\n definition of a meal. Before us was a large, sleek fish that circled<\/p>\n idly in the waters. His snout was neatly pointed, and a large arcing<\/p>\n fin traced a wake on the surface of the water.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know,\u201d I sang nervously, \u201cit seems that my mother did<\/p>\n tell me about this fellow creature from the sea. She called it a<\/p>\n sharp-fin.\u201d I was joined by the others as we chorused, \u201cThe sharper<\/p>\n the fin, the sharper the teeth; the sharper the teeth, the greater the<\/p>\n bite, the greater the bite the greater the chance a sharp-fin meal may<\/p>\n turn and make a meal of you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, that\u2019s a floating pool of carp bile!\u201d Cacophony sang<\/p>\n cockily off-tune. \u201cThis tall-finned fish shall be my meal this tide.\u201d<\/p>\n With that he began the hunt. There was no finesse, no circling to<\/p>\n confuse his prey. Cacophony charged straight at this steely-eyed<\/p>\n fish and not surprisingly this fish didn\u2019t run like the other fishes.<\/p>\n This fish just stared stupidly as the large whale attacked. But the<\/p>\n finned fish was not so stupid, as he was arrogant. Cacophony swam<\/p>\n closer, his jaws extended, hopefully to kill this fish in one great bite,<\/p>\n but as he drew down, the fish turned and seemed to smile. This<\/p>\n fish didn\u2019t wish to be eaten.<\/p>\n The attacker soon became the attacked, as this finned and<\/p>\n slick-skinned serpent, snaked about and opened his mouth. Rows<\/p>\n upon rows of glistening, jagged teeth lined his upper and lower jaws.<\/p>\n He was quicker than quick and sliced by Cacophony in a flash of<\/p>\n light. The first time, he missed, and Cacophony realizing the error<\/p>\n of his ways turned to escape, but this finned-devil slid silkily by, slic-<\/p>\n ing a cut from Cacophony\u2019s mouth to his eye. The water filled with<\/p>\n red-brown sweetness, and without fear of consequence, we rushed<\/p>\n to the rescue.<\/p>\n I am sure it was not by design that we saved Cacophony. It<\/p>\n was more surprise than fear that shocked the sharp-fin from his<\/p>\n meal as we charged. He saucily twisted his tail, and without con-<\/p>\n cern, as if nothing had happened at all, slipped away into the deep.<\/p>\n We gathered protectively about Cacophony as we swam back<\/p>\n to the main body of the pod lest the sharp-fin return but we were<\/p>\n again alone in the sea. Cacophony uttered not a sound, filled I am<\/p>\n sure with fear and shock. As we swam, the stinging salty waters<\/p>\n of life cured the cut and staunched the bleeding. By the time we<\/p>\n arrived at the outside shadow of the pod, Cacophony was back to<\/p>\n form. He rudely twisted from the center of our protective flotilla<\/p>\n bruising some in the process. \u201cWhy did you stop it?\u201d he bellowed.<\/p>\n \u201cI was just letting it attack to get it closer. You jelly fish ruined my<\/p>\n hunt!\u201d With that he swam away from the pod to sulk.<\/p>\n We couldn\u2019t help at first being shocked by our sudden<\/p>\n change from heroes to hinderers, but I think all of us realized this<\/p>\n was Cacophony\u2019s only way of thanking us for saving him from a<\/p>\n slashing death. None of us ever spoke of it again, although it was<\/p>\n recorded forever in the Song of the Sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHAPTER TWO The next hundreds of tides were filled with learning and new experiences so great that now it is difficult at best to remember them with the passion I experienced then. I learned that by stretch- ing the muscles of my body I could swim faster and stronger. I learned to move my flippers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1325,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}