CHAPTER Six<\/p>\n
We swam, my new little friends and I, on and on. Our<\/p>\n
direction was away from the warm waters of the meridian and<\/p>\n
always moving up to the bitter cold waters of summers past. As<\/p>\n
we traveled, I listened intently for other whale songs, but there<\/p>\n
were none. I listened also for the shell-sharks but our trip was with-<\/p>\n
out event and without contact with the spindly-fin sandwalkers.<\/p>\n
The dolphins kept up a running commentary on all they<\/p>\n
saw–saw now, saw before, and possibly might see in the future.<\/p>\n
Everything was an adventure that ended inexplicably in laughter.<\/p>\n
Everything was a source of mirth and merriment. They laughed<\/p>\n
at me. They laughed at life as it swam by. They even laughed at<\/p>\n
themselves.<\/p>\n
Laughter Ring was the quieter of the two, but, like her name,<\/p>\n
her laughter would ring about the sea as Little Brother came floating<\/p>\n
by with a crown of seaweed on his head or mush-fish in his mouth.<\/p>\n
I have never laughed so much in all my life. You would think, as<\/p>\n
did I, that after a time the humor would grow old, but they were as<\/p>\n
adept at laughter as the whale was of song, and I never grew tired of<\/p>\n
laughing with them.<\/p>\n
At first I continued to count the tides, tracking my time away<\/p>\n
from the pod, but as I reached one hundred I stopped counting, time<\/p>\n
was not an issue. Tide after tide, we swam, until one and all were<\/p>\n
exhausted of our journey but not of our company. Later, when we<\/p>\n
had traveled beyond the summer feeding grounds and the sea was<\/p>\n
very cold, the skies filled with snow, I asked Little Brother when I<\/p>\n
would see that which I should see. For the first time ever, he be-<\/p>\n
came somber and resolute.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a taste in the water,\u201d said he, shuddering in revul-<\/p>\n
sion. \u201cA bitter taste of blood mixed with the essence of the sand-<\/p>\n
walker. There is evil in the sea. Come next tide, two at the most,<\/p>\n
you will see that which you won\u2019t want to see and that which you<\/p>\n
will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a sense of foreboding we swam slower now slowed also<\/p>\n
by the water, which was filled with massive chunks of ice. Early the<\/p>\n
following tide, as the dryside burned with the new golden light,<\/p>\n
we came upon a great group of flipper-fins. I was delighted at this<\/p>\n
change of menu, and dove quickly in chase of a large tasty meal.<\/p>\n
He was a wild one, that flipper-fin, but I had become an experienced<\/p>\n
hunter. Soon, filled with the savory meat, I surfaced near my friends<\/p>\n
who looked at me in total shock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the matter?\u201d I sang, \u201cIs there some evil in the water,<\/p>\n
some sandwalker drawing near?\u201d<\/p>\n
Laughter Ring wouldn\u2019t talk, so disgusted was she, but Little<\/p>\n
Brother spoke angrily, \u201cYou speak of seeking the sandwalkers and<\/p>\n
wish to see their evil ways. Yet, you prey on and eat the flesh of our<\/p>\n
near-to-cousins, the flipper-fins.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was startled. Many times the pod had feasted on flipper-fins<\/p>\n
and I was taught in their ways. \u201cThat\u2019s impossible; I\u2019ve never heard<\/p>\n
them sing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou and your bloody songs,\u201d Laughter Ring snapped. \u201cNot<\/p>\n
all are related by a musical song alone. Listen as they speak in<\/p>\n
the water. Listen to their words so true as they dash in fear of the<\/p>\n
brutal you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her anger lashed me, much worse than any beating at the<\/p>\n
fins of Cacophony. I listened, as she had asked, but heard nothing<\/p>\n
but the fearful barkings of flipper-fin. \u201cI hear not but the bark,\u201d I<\/p>\n
said frustrated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat,\u201d said Little Brother, \u201cis the song of the flipper-fin.<\/p>\n
Whether you know it or not, they are of our family and yours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The meal once so warm and secure in my belly began to roll<\/p>\n
queasily. I listened again and I could hear the crude beginnings of<\/p>\n
song in the now-speech of the flipper-fin. They sang of fear. They<\/p>\n
sang of the great white hunter who killed their leader. They sang,<\/p>\n
warning all in the sea to leap to the islands of ice to escape the fiend.<\/p>\n
It took me a bit of time to realize that I was the great white<\/p>\n
hunter . . . I was the fiend. Sickened now, I moved away and be-<\/p>\n
came very ill for a time. Later, I know not how long, I moved silently<\/p>\n
back to my friends shamefacedly. They spoke not a word as we quiet-<\/p>\n
ly moved through the icy waters, but I knew what they were thinking.<\/p>\n
After a time, Laughter Ring whispered quietly, \u201cKeep low in<\/p>\n
the water and watch the shore of the dryside. There you will see<\/p>\n
part of that which you seek.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked to the shore and watched the flipper-fins that cavort-<\/p>\n
ed there, safe from the menace in the sea. In time, there came a<\/p>\n
movement, and I saw sandwalkers moving swiftly along on spindly<\/p>\n
fins near the water\u2019s edge, as if to force the flipper-fins farther from<\/p>\n
the sea. They moved with deliberation and purpose like we did<\/p>\n
when we hunted a large school of fish. The large male flipper-fins<\/p>\n
were left to their own devices and allowed to escape back to the<\/p>\n
sea, but the females and the babies were being herded back to a<\/p>\n
shear wall of snow and ice. The sandwalkers were intent that they<\/p>\n
shouldn\u2019t escape.<\/p>\n
As my eyes stared in blinkless disbelief, these evil creatures,<\/p>\n
these sandwalkers, swung dryside sticks and beat the babies to<\/p>\n
death. The cries of the young dying mixed with the painful agony<\/p>\n
as mothers watched their children die.<\/p>\n
I turned shaken and spoke to my guides, \u201cThe sandwalker<\/p>\n
gathers meat, as does the pod. They are no better or worse than<\/p>\n
the whale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLook again, dear friend,\u201d cried Little Brother as tears<\/p>\n
traced down his silver skin. \u201cThey are much worse than you, who<\/p>\n
seek a meal.\u201d<\/p>\n
I gazed again at the shore and was shocked to see the sand-<\/p>\n
walkers ripping the furry skin off the dead children and tossing the<\/p>\n
bodies away. Over and over, this was repeated until hundreds of ba-<\/p>\n
bies were dead and discarded. Then, as quickly as they had come,<\/p>\n
the sandwalkers left the blood-red beach to the crying mothers and<\/p>\n
the very few young ones who had survived.<\/p>\n
Unable to help and unable to watch or listen anymore, we<\/p>\n
moved out to sea to cleanse the filth from our eyes and ears; a<\/p>\n
horror that could never be washed from our souls. \u201cI should have<\/p>\n
snapped the arm from the sandwalker on the shell that touched me<\/p>\n
before it could do this harm,\u201d I rumbled angrily, not even able to<\/p>\n
sing in song.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t them,\u201d said Laughter Ring very subdued. \u201cFor<\/p>\n
there are many, many sandwalkers. Some are good. Some are bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned away from the dryside diving slightly below the<\/p>\n
surface unable to accept the reality that floated on the islands of<\/p>\n
ice behind me, the dolphins followed. In the distance, focus-fogged<\/p>\n
by water and ice, I saw the shape of a whale lying motionless in the<\/p>\n
water. I looked and then looked again while faintly I heard the soft<\/p>\n
keening of laughter. I shook my head and looked again, but the<\/p>\n
apparition was gone! \u201cDid you see that,\u201d I asked, \u201cthe whale in<\/p>\n
the distance?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw nothing.\u201d Said Little Brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cNor I,\u201d sighed Laughter Ring. \u201cPerhaps you saw a reflec-<\/p>\n
tion of ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe,\u201d I sighed, too emotionally exhausted to investigate.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe so.\u201d<\/p>\n
We floated to the surface and lolled in the shallow troughs,<\/p>\n
soothed by the silence. At last, I roused myself from my introspec-<\/p>\n
tion and said, \u201cI must bid you farewell, my friends. It is time to<\/p>\n
return to the pod. I have seen the good and I have seen the evil of<\/p>\n
the sandwalker. Now, there are many new verses that must be sung<\/p>\n
into the song. Somehow I must make sense of all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I assumed the dolphins would be delighted to be rid of their<\/p>\n
cannibalistic guest, but that was not to be. Laughter Ring spoke<\/p>\n
softly, \u201cNot yet, great white. There is more to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore,\u201d I moaned. \u201cMore of the sandwalkers killing the<\/p>\n
flipper-fin young and then defying the basest law of the sea by not<\/p>\n
consuming their kill?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d answered Little Brother, \u201cit is worse than that. Much,<\/p>\n
much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart hammered in my throat as I followed my two now-si-<\/p>\n
lent guides. I knew not if they were silent and remorseful because<\/p>\n
of my actions earlier or if it was the death of the flipper-fins. No<\/p>\n
matter, I didn\u2019t feel like laughter, and the silence was a golden balm<\/p>\n
to soothe the pain of watching that which we had watched. We ate<\/p>\n
sparingly of the bottom fish, bug-eye, and flat-tail and sped quickly<\/p>\n
down from the cold, following the powerful currents that moved us<\/p>\n
swiftly on our journey.<\/p>\n
Little Brother and Laughter Ring settled into the trip and<\/p>\n
again frolicked; only occasionally forcing a wry smile to my face.<\/p>\n
For the most part, we swam hard, and there wasn\u2019t time for talk,<\/p>\n
let alone laughter. The water changed as the air warmed and there<\/p>\n
seemed to be a new smell or a taste, I knew not which, which had<\/p>\n
wrongness about it. Often, we would have to swim around or dive<\/p>\n
deep under a floating island of rot and filth. Objects, the likes<\/p>\n
of which I had never seen, floated crazily on the water, but they<\/p>\n
smelled of sandwalker and the evil of the dryside and close inspec-<\/p>\n
tion was not advised.<\/p>\n
The water was so fouled that my skin began to turn an oily<\/p>\n
black. Laughter Ring said that I had begun to take on the color of a<\/p>\n
real whale, but I was not amused by the transformation.<\/p>\n
We swam parallel to the dryside and there was a sense of<\/p>\n
death all around. Fishes seemed to have been changed; malformed<\/p>\n
by some devious magic of the sandwalkers. We pushed on and<\/p>\n
early one golden light, in the distance, we heard the plaintive cries<\/p>\n
of dolphins seeking help from anyone that could hear. Tired though<\/p>\n
we were, we swam faster and closed in on their cries for help.<\/p>\n
What we found was hideous beyond belief. Dolphins<\/p>\n
wrapped in woven webs of kelp-like streamers that held them fast.<\/p>\n
Some were dead; others were dying. The sea was filled with the<\/p>\n
screams of agony as the dolphins desperately tried to rip free from<\/p>\n
this trap. Without fear of consequence, I rushed at the webs tearing<\/p>\n
at the strands with my teeth, but for all my efforts only one dolphin<\/p>\n
was freed. I tried and tried again, unable to bear the screams of<\/p>\n
pain and anguish but my actions were futile and I stood the real<\/p>\n
chance of entangling myself in these webs of death.<\/p>\n
Little Brother and Laughter Ring finally pulled me away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour efforts are to no avail, our friend,\u201d they cried, \u201cfor these dol-<\/p>\n
phins have been trapped too long. If they lived, they would suffer<\/p>\n
still, for they have been long without the sweet air to fill their lungs.<\/p>\n
No matter what we do now, they will die.\u201d<\/p>\n
I backed away, watching in horror as hundreds, of trapped<\/p>\n
dolphins died in that cove. On the surface, we could see sandwalk-<\/p>\n
ers moving about their shells. Soon these spindly-finned bottom<\/p>\n
feeders began to pull their woven webs to the surface, and the<\/p>\n
dolphins that were trapped there, still clinging to life, were beaten to<\/p>\n
death until the water ran red, a degrading useless death.<\/p>\n
When all was done and silence returned to this sea mourn-<\/p>\n
ing, I asked, \u201cWhy? The fishes are food for all to share as was<\/p>\n
instructed by ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD. Why do they<\/p>\n
need to take so much? Why do they kill the dolphin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d answered the two dolphins sadly.<\/p>\n
Little Brother continued, \u201cWe think that there are more<\/p>\n
sandwalkers that live deep in the dryside. We think that sandwalk-<\/p>\n
ers believe all the fishes to be theirs. We think that they don\u2019t wish<\/p>\n
to share, and kill anything that gets in the way. But we really don\u2019t<\/p>\n
know why. We love all things created, even the sandwalker, but<\/p>\n
sometimes we are rewarded with death.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen all that I need to see!\u201d I anguished. \u201cNow sure-<\/p>\n
ly you will let me return to my pod to add all these horrors to the<\/p>\n
song. To tell of the right and to tell of the wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d shouted Laughter Ring. \u201cThere is one more event that<\/p>\n
you should see. You must know all if you seek the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knowing my pain at seeing all this for the first time, Little<\/p>\n
Brother tried to console me, \u201cIt isn\u2019t far, and it truly is on your way<\/p>\n
back to your pod.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was so numbed by all I had seen that I meekly followed as<\/p>\n
they led me back to the sea and the sweetness of the open water.<\/p>\n
We swam slowly, in silence, I, for one, had nothing to say and much<\/p>\n
to think upon–and much more that I wish to forget.<\/p>\n
But the worst was yet to come. As we swam true to the<\/p>\n
rising golden light, the water seemed to reverberate with keening, a<\/p>\n
soft, high-pitched sound. We swam hard, and the noise increased<\/p>\n
until we were bathed in its unearthly song.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, Little Brother and Laughter Ring stopped. \u201cGo no<\/p>\n
closer, my friend, but see what you can see from where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked and saw on the horizon many shell-sharks so large<\/p>\n
that each must have been filled with hundreds of sandwalkers. \u201cI<\/p>\n
must go closer. I can barely see, \u201c I protested.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand,\u201d choked Laughter Ring. \u201cYou are in<\/p>\n
mortal danger here. For the sandwalkers kill not flipper-fin or dol-<\/p>\n
phins. Here, they kill the song itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head still not completely understanding.<\/p>\n
Little Brother came close to my side and whispered, \u201cThey<\/p>\n
murder the song, they murder the whale. All that swim with this pod<\/p>\n
will die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Against their warning, I blindly surged forward. It wasn\u2019t<\/p>\n
long before the water turned brown with the blood-sludge of death.<\/p>\n
I looked about and watched as small, screaming shell-sharks, not<\/p>\n
unlike the ones that had mortally wounded Adagio, chased whale af-<\/p>\n
ter whale and stabbed them deep with an object, which I presumed,<\/p>\n
was a Narwhal horn. Hideous, ear piercing noise filled the water,<\/p>\n
but it was not the screaming shells. It was a wordless melody sung<\/p>\n
horribly off-tune, the death knell of the whales.<\/p>\n
Amidst all this carnage, a small yellow shell-shark raced<\/p>\n
madly about with a single sandwalker standing inside. I watched,<\/p>\n
thinking of ways to attack the little one and wreck some small form<\/p>\n
of vengeance. But then I noticed something odd; this little yellow<\/p>\n
shell was turning the bigger shells aside. With each one turned<\/p>\n
aside, a whale was saved and was able to dive to the deep.<\/p>\n
I watched as the small yellow shell screamed across the<\/p>\n
water towards me and I coiled to counter attack, but the shell raced<\/p>\n
on by. As I turned, I was shocked to see the tiny shell blocking yet<\/p>\n
another shell-shark that was slipping up behind me, Narwhal horn<\/p>\n
at the ready. When the bigger shell-shark backed away, the smaller<\/p>\n
shell raced by me again on the way to help yet another whale in dis-<\/p>\n
tress. As it raced by, the sandwalker raised his puny fin and waved,<\/p>\n
like the one long ago, as if to say good-bye.<\/p>\n
Quickly Laughter Ring and Little Brother guided me away.<\/p>\n
Once at a safe distance I dove deep and allowed the mighty pres-<\/p>\n
sure of ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE WORLD to cleanse my soul<\/p>\n
of all that I had seen. While in the deep I sang about the song that<\/p>\n
had died. I sang for the souls of the whales that had gone to the<\/p>\n
end . . . the beginning.<\/p>\n
I had stayed at that great depth for a long time and my sight<\/p>\n
blurred as the last of the good air was used to maintain the func-<\/p>\n
tions of my body. It was at this time I saw again the fuzzy-edged<\/p>\n
visage of a whale in the distance. Not just any whale, but a Nar-<\/p>\n
whal, Godwin the Avenger. His icy voice whispered across the way,<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you have reason to call the Conclave, white whale. Now call<\/p>\n
for the death of all the sandwalkers.\u201d Again as before the visage<\/p>\n
disappeared. Truly this was only hallucination brought on by my<\/p>\n
time in the depths.<\/p>\n
My lungs screaming in protest, I surfaced where Laughter<\/p>\n
Ring and Little Brother waited patiently for me. \u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n
they chorused.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said as I looked about. The seas were clear and<\/p>\n
there was nothing on the horizon. Thankfully the war had moved<\/p>\n
beyond my sight and ability to hear. \u201cI don\u2019t know whether to love<\/p>\n
you for showing me all this,\u201d I sang, \u201cor hate you forever. My song<\/p>\n
is filled with enigma, wrapped in confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is time,\u201d they sang in gentle voices. \u201cGo now to your<\/p>\n
pod,\u201d \u201cThough you be confused, remember that there is good and<\/p>\n
bad in all things. You must learn to value each for its balance.<\/p>\n
Someday we will meet again and share a memory and we will learn<\/p>\n
to laugh again.\u201d And with that they disappeared.<\/p>\n
Filled with emptiness bigger than the waters in which I swam,<\/p>\n
I began the slow journey back to the safety of my pod, yearning<\/p>\n
for the comfort of my own kind. I had journeyed a long, long time;<\/p>\n
there was much to sing into the song.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CHAPTER Six We swam, my new little friends and I, on and on. Our direction was away from the warm waters of the meridian and always moving up to the bitter cold waters of summers past. As we traveled, I listened intently for other whale songs, but there were none. I listened also for the […]<\/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-1332","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\/1332","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=1332"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1333,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1332\/revisions\/1333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}