CHAPTER Five<\/p>\n
Unnerved by what had transpired I dove beneath the crystal<\/p>\n
islands of frost and rime. Once again, I surfaced some time later<\/p>\n
thinking my lungs must burst. I was delighted to hear Cacopho-<\/p>\n
ny\u2019s groans and burps as he taunted, \u201cHey, kelp-breath, where<\/p>\n
you been?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ignoring him, I sought out Tympani, the Scribe. I found him<\/p>\n
listening at the far side of the pod. In a rush I sang to him my ad-<\/p>\n
venture with the mystical Narwhal of the Horn, and only when I was<\/p>\n
finished did I realize that others of the pod had gathered to listen to<\/p>\n
my song.<\/p>\n
\u201cTsk, tsk,\u201d they sang, \u201cpoor Harmony must have bumped his<\/p>\n
head on the ice, for everyone knows there are no Narwhal of the<\/p>\n
Horn, they are but ghosts.\u201d Chuckling a gentle song of sympathy,<\/p>\n
they swam away, leaving me alone with the Scribe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pod thinks I made that up? They think the Narwhal<\/p>\n
only a delusion of my injured mind?\u201d I mumbled.<\/p>\n
Tympani was silent for a moment, obviously considering all<\/p>\n
that I sang. \u201cSomewhere in my memory of the song I remember a<\/p>\n
vague verse that sings about a Conclave and a white whale who<\/p>\n
would call for it. Not to worry, Harmony,\u201d he consoled, \u201cThough<\/p>\n
you be white I greatly doubt that any of this has anything to do<\/p>\n
with you. But to allay your fears somewhat, when I was your age<\/p>\n
I chose to travel alone for a time. During that journey I was ac-<\/p>\n
tually touched by a sandwalker and though it was not a pleasant<\/p>\n
experience as you can see I am still alive. But as to your specific<\/p>\n
dilemma, whether or not the Narwhal of the Horn are real or ghost<\/p>\n
or whether you saw them at all is unimportant. As to the quest they<\/p>\n
asked you to take, that is a journey that many young whales have<\/p>\n
taken. Others before you like me have swum alone for a time to see<\/p>\n
what they must see, and if you elect to seek your wisdom beyond<\/p>\n
the pod, when finished with the journey you must return to me, so I<\/p>\n
can add your travels to our song.\u201d With that, Tympani left me alone<\/p>\n
with my disquieted thoughts, as the colored lights from the top of<\/p>\n
the world danced upon the sky.<\/p>\n
After my meeting with the Narwhal, the pod began the long<\/p>\n
swim back to the winter grounds and warmer waters. As we traveled<\/p>\n
the other whales my age teased me from afar, calling me \u201cthe ghost<\/p>\n
whale,\u201d and would burst into bubbles of laughter if I joined them in a<\/p>\n
collective hunt. I didn\u2019t discuss the Narwhal with anyone, preferring<\/p>\n
to wrestle alone with the reality or the lack of reality in what I had<\/p>\n
seen. That did not stop me from allowing the delightful Melody to<\/p>\n
closely examine my head for any sign of concussion or contusion.<\/p>\n
Other than driving me to near distraction by her closeness, she<\/p>\n
found nothing.<\/p>\n
Were the Narwal real or had I dreamed them? V ery little cap-<\/p>\n
tured my attention then, so occupied was I by what had or had not<\/p>\n
happened. I had deliberated for some time and then, once again,<\/p>\n
sought the wisdom of Tympani.<\/p>\n
It took most of a tide to find him, for I was avoiding Cacoph-<\/p>\n
ony who was in very foul spirits and nothing would cheer him more<\/p>\n
than to pick up our fight where we had left off after the death of<\/p>\n
Adagio. I finally found Tympani in the late golden light recording a<\/p>\n
new passage to the song. As was the tradition, I waited patiently<\/p>\n
and silently at his tail. When he finished, he turned and said, \u201cI had<\/p>\n
a feeling that you would soon seek me out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t mean to bother or extend a verse beyond its calling<\/p>\n
but I continue to beleaguer this question of the Narwhal: Were they<\/p>\n
real? Are there verses in our song that sings of the horned ones?\u201d<\/p>\n
Tympani paused as his mind raced through verse after verse<\/p>\n
searching for all reference to the Narwhal. Finally, after some<\/p>\n
time, he spoke, \u201cYes, my Harmony, there are many references to<\/p>\n
the horned whale. It is sung that they were there at the beginning<\/p>\n
when <\/span>ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD created the sea and the<\/p>\n song. Their song became part of our song from the ghosting songs<\/p>\n of another pod. Therefore, it is not strong and may have been twisted<\/p>\n by the currents that flow. There is reference also, though very vague,<\/p>\n regarding the THOUSAND DEATHS OF THE SANDWALKER.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut,\u201d I repeated, \u201cis it true? Are they real? Did I have this<\/p>\n experience or was it indeed some kind of delusion?\u201d<\/p>\n This wise, gentle whale mused a bit and then sang again.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it was delusion, dream, or reality matters not. Sometimes<\/p>\n dreams appear as reality. But one can learn from both, and both are<\/p>\n equally important.\u201d<\/p>\n That statement spun my mind in a dizzying eddy. Dreams<\/p>\n that were reality? Reality that was dream? I persisted. \u201cAre the<\/p>\n Narwhal real?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHarmony,\u201d he patiently continued, \u201call that you sang was<\/p>\n true. The Narwhal were among the first of the whales. They chose<\/p>\n to make contact with the early sandwalkers that did for the second<\/p>\n time venture into the sea on shell-sharks. But it is sung in the song<\/p>\n that they were all killed. None of them lived. They are no more,<\/p>\n forever. They are thought of only as the Ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n I left feeling more confused than before, more questions<\/p>\n having been created than answered. For nearly a tide I float-<\/p>\n ed alone far to the side of the pod mulling all that I knew and<\/p>\n thought I knew. Still more questions were being generated than<\/p>\n were being answered.<\/p>\n Finally, with a flip of my tail I shook off my lethargy and<\/p>\n resolutely swam to my mother, Rhapsody, whom I had not visited<\/p>\n in many tides. She was swimming in the midst of others, sunning<\/p>\n on the surface, warmed in these cold waters by the goodness of<\/p>\n the sun.<\/p>\n \u201cMother, I have chosen to accept the Narwal challenge, to<\/p>\n swim in different seas to seek answers to questions that fill my mind<\/p>\n with confusion. I wish to carry your blessing, a bit of your song,<\/p>\n with me as a charm to protect me from the new.\u201d<\/p>\n Her beautiful eyes blinked as she looked at me in her gentle<\/p>\n way. I had thought, perhaps hoped, that she would try to dissuade<\/p>\n me, to convince me that all was folly, but I was to be disappointed.<\/p>\n \u201cHarmony,\u201d she sang, \u201cyou must always seek the truth in that which<\/p>\n surrounds you, and if truth is not there, then seek it out wherever it<\/p>\n may be. Carry this bit of song and be not gone long, I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n I then sought Melody and when I found her, I excitedly told<\/p>\n her of my decision to go alone into the seas and search for the<\/p>\n truth. Other young whales gathered around, eyes wide in the ex-<\/p>\n citement of my journey.<\/p>\n My enthusiastic ramblings were interrupted soon enough by<\/p>\n the belching of Cacophony as he bullied his way through the other<\/p>\n whales to where I swam with Melody. \u201cWell, bubble-breath, what\u2019s<\/p>\n this I hear about your leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n I repeated the intent of my journey. I was shocked that<\/p>\n Cacophony didn\u2019t immediately sing that it was stupid. He floated<\/p>\n nearby, studying me slowly with those careful predator eyes of his.<\/p>\n He said nothing for a moment or two as our eyes coldly locked —<\/p>\n always in combat. This time, though, he saw my resolve, and he<\/p>\n blinked first. Embarrassed, he slapped me with his mighty fluke and<\/p>\n laughingly said, \u201cWell, good luck, fish bait. You\u2019ll need it. Someday<\/p>\n I will eat of your flesh second hand in the belly of a large sharp-fin.\u201d<\/p>\n With a massive splash, he dove and was gone.<\/p>\n I turned my thoughts once again to Melody, \u201cWell, I guess I<\/p>\n had better go,\u201d I said, stumbling for the right thing to say and the<\/p>\n right way to say it. Unfortunately, my hopes for a poetic good-bye<\/p>\n were dashed as a swell lifted our two bodies together. The touch<\/p>\n was beyond sensual, it was ecstasy, and she did move away. Flus-<\/p>\n tered, I muttered, \u201cUh, eat lots of fish.\u201d<\/p>\n My snappy repartee must have caught her off guard. She<\/p>\n laughed and sang in her sweet voice, \u201cYou, too, my Harmony.<\/p>\n You, too!\u201d<\/p>\n With that miserable farewell, I swam away from the pod and<\/p>\n out to sea. It was odd but in the distance, faint but still recogniz-<\/p>\n able, I thought I saw another whale, a pale-skinned with a twisted<\/p>\n horn, Godwin! I swam toward the shape, but it quickly turned and<\/p>\n disappeared. Already I was seeing things. This journey will do me<\/p>\n good; cleanse the ghosts from my mind.<\/p>\n The pod song surrounded me for some time, but little by<\/p>\n little, it faded until it was nothing more than a gentle echo and then,<\/p>\n it, too, was gone. I was alone. It is odd how alone you really feel<\/p>\n when you leave that which you have become so accustomed to.<\/p>\n Big becomes bigger.<\/p>\n I swam, feeding as the need arose, for the seas were rich and<\/p>\n I exalted in the adventure. I swam for three tides and far into anoth-<\/p>\n er before I realized I didn\u2019t know exactly where I was going. I was<\/p>\n looking for answers. I was seeking the sandwalker to verify or vilify<\/p>\n the truth of the Narwhal. But where were the sandwalkers? Logic<\/p>\n prevailed and I decided the best course was to swim nearer to the<\/p>\n dryside, where surely I would find answers.<\/p>\n I swam through light and dark, and dark and light, until my<\/p>\n eyes blurred with exhaustion. Finally, on the twelfth tide, I found a<\/p>\n shell-shark, the bearer of sandwalkers; or rather it nearly found me.<\/p>\n I had just breached from the deep after feeding and was allowing<\/p>\n the sun to soak warmth into my body, when from behind, a squeaky<\/p>\n voice laughed out in the sing-song fashion. \u201cOut of the way. Out of<\/p>\n the way. Sandwalkers come looking for fun and they can\u2019t seem to<\/p>\n find their way.\u201d<\/p>\n I spun quickly in the water, and there was a shell-shark bear-<\/p>\n ing down, white froth pushing at its nose. I sank into the safety of<\/p>\n the deep, my heart pounding in my ears. \u201cWhere was the warning-<\/p>\n -the hum, the song that is not a song–that flows with every shell-<\/p>\n shark I have seen?\u201d I questioned out loud.<\/p>\n I was rattled to my very soul when the squeaky voice an-<\/p>\n swered, \u201cThis shell-shark is silent. It is called a creaker and it fol-<\/p>\n lows the wind\u201d I looked for the source of the voice and was shocked<\/p>\n to see a small whale-like creature before me. Bigger than a tuna-tail,<\/p>\n smaller than the large sharp-fins, it floated like a dream, squeaking<\/p>\n its silly songs.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you?\u201d I asked. \u201cYou nearly sing the whale song,<\/p>\n but you are not whale. What are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmmm,\u201d it gigglingly sang, \u201cWhat are I? Well, I are not<\/p>\n sandwalker. I are not whale. If I are not these things, then I must<\/p>\n be dolphin.\u201d With that, he quickly swam towards me and stopped<\/p>\n just inches from my eye. \u201cMy name is Little Brother. And that,\u201d<\/p>\n he said turning, indicating yet another dolphin swimming quickly<\/p>\n towards us, \u201cis my mate, Laughter Ring.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am called Harmony,\u201d I sang as deeply as I could, trying to<\/p>\n put some decorum to this chance meeting, \u201cI have come seeking<\/p>\n wisdom about the sandwalker. What is your purpose, dolphin?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur purpose, whale, is to lead the way before yonder creaker.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut why?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy? You, of all creatures, ask, \u2018Why?\u2019\u201d he laughed. \u201cBe-<\/p>\n cause if we didn\u2019t lead the way, yonder creaker would run over dumb<\/p>\n whales like you. Besides, the sandwalkers that ride in the creaker<\/p>\n make us laugh and that my friend is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n My back arched with the sting of the insult. \u201cI have never<\/p>\n been thought of as dumb, Little Brother,\u201d I grumbled angrily. \u201cBest<\/p>\n watch who you speak to so flippantly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFlippantly?\u201d he laughed. \u201cFlippantly? If you wish, great<\/p>\n whale, I shall flippantly flick my flipping flappers and fly.\u201d He slipped<\/p>\n beneath the waters and then leaped across my back not once,<\/p>\n not twice, but thrice. I was becoming very angry, and the thought<\/p>\n crossed my mind of whether or not this dolphin would make a<\/p>\n filling meal.<\/p>\n \u201cHe means no harm,\u201d giggled Laughter Ring, his mate, as<\/p>\n she glided to where I floated. \u201cHe means only to make you smile<\/p>\n and laugh at all the fun that spreads smoothly across the sea like<\/p>\n bits of foam after a storm.\u201d<\/p>\n I calmed myself. After all, I had been called much worse by<\/p>\n Cacophony. With my composure regained, I looked at the dolphins<\/p>\n and asked, \u201cYou say that the sandwalkers make you laugh. How<\/p>\n can that be? I have seen them in their shell-sharks before, and in<\/p>\n their wake I have only found death and destruction.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, \u2018tis true,\u201d spoke Little Brother as he again took over the<\/p>\n dialog. \u201cMost of the sandwalkers are evil to their very salty core,<\/p>\n but some are fun, and many, in their simple way, bring joy to me.<\/p>\n Look, even as we sing, they turn their lumbering shell to follow us.\u201d<\/p>\n I looked, and as Little Brother had said, the creaker was turn-<\/p>\n ing and heading our way. I started to dive deep but was stopped by<\/p>\n the dolphin, \u201cFear not, my friend. They will not hurt you. They are<\/p>\n curious and love to touch all they see in the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n I was horrified, \u201cYou would allow them to touch you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYup,\u201d said he, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t hurt, and besides, it kind of tickles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Not to be outdone by a tiny dolphin, but with much trepida-<\/p>\n tion, I stayed still in the water and waited and watched. After all, I<\/p>\n was on this journey to seek the truth, and the truth in part was float-<\/p>\n ing my way. If I died, so be it.<\/p>\n I studied in morbid fascination this silent shell-shark the<\/p>\n likes of which I had never seen before. It was the same, yet different<\/p>\n for this shell had vast sheets of white strung across the shell. As<\/p>\n I watched, I could see for the first time sandwalkers scurrying like<\/p>\n crabs about the top to draw the kelp sheets down.<\/p>\n The creaker slid quietly to us and I waited expectantly. The<\/p>\n dolphins began cavorting in the water, dancing on their tails and<\/p>\n the like. After a time, they tired of this and swam back to me. \u201cThe<\/p>\n sandwalkers care not for us today. They are more entertained to<\/p>\n look at you, great white whale. Go to them; feel their strange dry<\/p>\n skin upon your flesh.\u201d<\/p>\n Challenged by this pip-squeak of a dolphin, I nervously<\/p>\n moved close to the shell and cast my eye upon the creatures above.<\/p>\n They were strange looking, with thin wisps of sea grass waving on<\/p>\n their heads. Their fins were thin and their bodies were covered in<\/p>\n odd-colored scales.<\/p>\n I waited, rolling in the surf, not knowing whether I would be<\/p>\n tickled or stabbed with a mighty horn of the Narwhal. Fortunate-<\/p>\n ly, one of the sandwalkers reached a flimsy fin down and touched<\/p>\n my side above my eye. I blinked in fear, but nothing happened. If<\/p>\n anything, there was a gentleness about the stroking. I listened and<\/p>\n could barely hear above the wind that blew these strange creatures<\/p>\n almost singing to themselves. \u201cMaybe they too have a song,\u201d I<\/p>\n sang, \u201cbut it is an odd song without depth. Possibly, if I took them<\/p>\n to the deep, they would be able to sing with more strength.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Brother and Laughter Ring rolled in the sea, bathing<\/p>\n me in gales of laughter. \u201cI think not, my friend. They know not how<\/p>\n to hold their breath.\u201d<\/p>\n We stayed beside the creaker for a great time as I saw all that<\/p>\n I could see, and finally I called to my new friends, \u201cI must leave. For<\/p>\n this is perplexing. The Narwhal of the Horn told me that the sand-<\/p>\n walker brings death to the waters of life. Now I find that they are<\/p>\n not so bad and so I will just go back to my pod and add this to our<\/p>\n Song of the Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n I turned to go but was stopped by the dolphins. \u201cAh,\u201d said<\/p>\n Laughter Ring surprisingly serious, \u201call the sandwalkers are not as<\/p>\n these. Some–and most–do bring death.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen,\u201d I continued, \u201cI must seek them out, wherever they<\/p>\n may be. For I have many answers given to me by the Narwhal that<\/p>\n have need of questions to be asked.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d laughed the dolphins, \u201cwe shall guide you if you will<\/p>\n have us. For we have traveled far and we have seen what you seek.\u201d<\/p>\n Before I could answer, with a flip of their tails, they were off leading<\/p>\n the way. I turned once and looked back at the shell-shark and the<\/p>\n sandwalkers it bore. It was odd, but as I swam away one of the crea-<\/p>\n tures waved a fin, almost as if to say good-bye. Maybe they do carry<\/p>\n a song.<\/p>\n With this thought to carry me on my journey, I strongly<\/p>\n surged after my newly acquired guides to the sea and new songs to<\/p>\n be sung.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHAPTER Five Unnerved by what had transpired I dove beneath the crystal islands of frost and rime. Once again, I surfaced some time later thinking my lungs must burst. I was delighted to hear Cacopho- ny\u2019s groans and burps as he taunted, \u201cHey, kelp-breath, where you been?\u201d Ignoring him, I sought out Tympani, the Scribe. […]<\/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-1330","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\/1330","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=1330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1331,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1330\/revisions\/1331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}