CHAPTER TWENTY<\/p>\n
I woke in a deep and twisted fog. The clouds that normally<\/p>\n
lightly grazed the waves now were locked inside my mind. The<\/p>\n
rain within blurred my sight. Shell-shark and sandwalker danced<\/p>\n
together upon the water in their purpled splendor. Twin Harmonys<\/p>\n
leaped from the soul of the sea and never came down. The world as<\/p>\n
a whole spun around me until I finally had to close my eyes tight to<\/p>\n
stop this vision of fright.<\/p>\n
I slowly opened my eyes again and saw nothing, nothing at<\/p>\n
all. Now the world was devoid of all life. Then I looked again, for<\/p>\n
the world was not deserted, it was only that I could see nothing but<\/p>\n
darkness. My heart began to hammer in my chest, for surely I was<\/p>\n
blind, but then the fog cleared.<\/p>\n
I found myself bathed in the cool of nighttime with those<\/p>\n
familiar bits of glitter scattered about the heavens. My head pound-<\/p>\n
ed with an ache like I had never felt before, and I breathed deep to<\/p>\n
exhale whatever poison I had somehow drawn into my system.<\/p>\n
My body settled down, and I began to hear the silence and<\/p>\n
feel the stillness of the stone ponds. Odd dryside sounds echoed<\/p>\n
pleasantly in the night. It was then that I remembered the dream —<\/p>\n
the blinding, twisting pain of the beginning of birthing and the mem-<\/p>\n
ory that somehow I had been found by Little Brother. Or was that,<\/p>\n
too, part of the dream?<\/p>\n
I tried to twist around and found that not only could I not<\/p>\n
move, I could feel nothing of my lower extremities. That\u2019s why I<\/p>\n
was left alone. I was paralyzed, left to die. But what of the child? I<\/p>\n
could feel nothing move within my womb; surely the child had died<\/p>\n
as Sharing had warned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe child! The child!\u201d I wailed. \u201cMy child is dead and I<\/p>\n
am dying.\u201d<\/p>\n
As if in answer to my lament, light lanced like a knife into my<\/p>\n
eyes blurring my sight once again with purple splotches and danc-<\/p>\n
ing green clouds. Like sunrise, in the blink of an eye, where there<\/p>\n
was dark before there was now light, but not the warm golden light<\/p>\n
of the sun.<\/p>\n
Out of this mottled dream of colored clouds and bright lights<\/p>\n
danced a vision of Little Brother. I feared for my sanity, so vivid<\/p>\n
the hallucination. But what was dream vanished, and what was not<\/p>\n
remained, and there before me truly was my beloved Little Brother.<\/p>\n
He swam to me cautiously, concern restraining his movements. I<\/p>\n
wanted so badly to leap to his side, but I was still paralyzed. That<\/p>\n
was no dream.<\/p>\n
Realizing that I was fully awake and had regained my sens-<\/p>\n
es, Little Brother gushed of love and delightful endearments that<\/p>\n
under normal conditions he wouldn\u2019t be caught in a sharp-fin\u2019s<\/p>\n
mouth saying.<\/p>\n
I hushed him quiet, then said somberly, \u201cI don\u2019t know how<\/p>\n
you came to be here, but Sharing, the sandwalker, will aid in your<\/p>\n
escape. The baby has died within, for I can no longer feel it, and<\/p>\n
I am paralyzed — no better than dead. Go from me, my love. Save<\/p>\n
yourself and seek the Conclave. For I have discovered that the Nar-<\/p>\n
whal have done much evil to the Song of the Sea. The sandwalker<\/p>\n
has a song.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Brother looked at me as though I had gone quite daft.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave without you? Not hardly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I am frozen in my body and cannot move nor feel. The<\/p>\n
baby does not move within me — it is dead. Please, for the sake of<\/p>\n
all that is holy in the sea, save yourself and allow me to join the end<\/p>\n
. . . the beginning with some sense of dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll give you dignity, indeed,\u201d he snorted, \u201cand I\u2019ll give you<\/p>\n
no rest either. You don\u2019t feel the child, for it was birthed three tides<\/p>\n
earlier. It is a she and she is now with Sharing waiting your awaken-<\/p>\n
ing to be fed the true nurturing that only a mother can give.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is wise,\u201d I answered gravely. \u201cEven though I am para-<\/p>\n
lyzed, for the brief time I may have left, I can nurture my child.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of fish droppings is this, \u2018all the time I have left\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n
he laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I sniffed indignantly, \u201cI am paralyzed and will only be<\/p>\n
good for returning to the sea as food for others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cParalyzed in the brain only,\u201d chortled Little Brother. \u201cYou<\/p>\n
are suspended in some contraption created by the sandwalker so<\/p>\n
that you wouldn\u2019t drown as you slept. As you began the birthing,<\/p>\n
the child was twisted. Rather than killing you both, the sandwalker<\/p>\n
stuck you with a silvery spine of some prickly thing and you went<\/p>\n
fast asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Little Brother paused, and then continued, \u201cWith the sharp-<\/p>\n
est of stones, she sliced you open neatly and out popped our child.<\/p>\n
These sandwalkers, though evil incarnate, are a clever lot and they<\/p>\n
put you back together again as if you had not been torn. As you<\/p>\n
slept, you have nearly completely healed. In but a group of tides<\/p>\n
you will be fit to swim the seas, a bit slower than before, but then<\/p>\n
again you were never that fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just wait,\u201d I coughed, \u201cI\u2019ll show you slow.\u201d<\/p>\n
We laughed together as in the time of our innocence, for we<\/span><\/p>\n seemed much changed. Finally I stopped and remarked, \u201cIt is tradition<\/span><\/p>\n that the child be named as soon as she touches the waters of life. We<\/span><\/p>\n are late but I will devise some name appropriate to the situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Little Brother twisted uncomfortably in the water, and said<\/p>\n a bit awkwardly, \u201cUh, well it seems that the, uh, child is already<\/p>\n named. I, uh, well when she slid into life; she did so with such a<\/p>\n giggling joy that Sharing named our child Giggles. That is what she<\/p>\n has been called since. I don\u2019t know, it kind of fits.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGiggles,\u201d I whispered softly, \u201cGiggles, a tiny uncontrollable<\/p>\n laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can change it!\u201d blurted Little Brother. \u201cAlthough it is<\/p>\n tradition that the first words spoken at birth are the child\u2019s to carry<\/p>\n through life, we can surely change it. Other traditions are changing<\/p>\n so fast around us, I\u2019m sure no one will notice.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChange it!\u201d I protested. \u201cChange the most perfect name in all<\/p>\n the seas? Never! Think of it — ours is the first dolphin to be named<\/p>\n at birth by a sandwalker. Oh, she is bound to greatness.\u201d<\/p>\n As if to punctuate my statement, I felt a tiny splash and heard<\/p>\n my first giggle from Giggles. It was the sound of tinkling shells on<\/p>\n stilled waters. It was a wave broken on a pebbly shore and pull-<\/p>\n ing back to sea. It was delight! As if she knew she was the focal<\/p>\n point of our lives, she swam to the center of the pool blooping, tiny<\/p>\n breaches that caused my heart to nearly stop in love, admiration,<\/p>\n and pride. She swam, punctuating every stroke with a giggle. It<\/p>\n was obvious that Sharing had done well with her birth name.<\/p>\n My baby swam for a time, showing off and exploring every<\/p>\n nook and cranny of the smooth-stone pool. Finally she came back<\/p>\n to where I floated. She nosed about me. Sensation began to return<\/p>\n to my body as her tiny snout poked me here and there. After a mo-<\/p>\n ment, Giggles began to suckle, filling herself with all the goodness I<\/p>\n had to offer. My body warmed with the pride of motherhood.<\/p>\n I looked at Little Brother, and he looked at me as we spoke<\/p>\n in quiet whispers. The baby nursed and then fell asleep. We were a<\/p>\n family.<\/p>\n \u201cHow did you come to be here?\u201d I asked, \u201cand what of the Con-<\/span><\/p>\n clave and the message that needs be sent to all who sing in the sea?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOne thing at a time,\u201d he laughed. \u201cFirst and most important,<\/p>\n the message of the Conclave is being passed, even as we rest, down<\/p>\n the full surface of the sea. Right after I left you, I found a pod of<\/p>\n great gray whales and a group of gabby dolphin. Both are moving<\/p>\n the message down. All the waters now ring with the great migration,<\/p>\n as all who are able and even many who are not, swim up the world<\/p>\n to the gathering — the Conclave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou must know,\u201d I said, \u201cI have discovered the Narwhal have<\/p>\n withheld knowledge from the Song of the Sea for their own pur-<\/p>\n pose, to strengthen their argument for the death of all sandwalkers.<\/p>\n Through Sharing, I have learned that the sandwalkers are not all<\/p>\n bad. Although they do not sing as we sing, it is only because they<\/p>\n have never learned to listen. But they do have a song.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI, too, have noted the kindness and the compassion,\u201d said<\/p>\n Little Brother, \u201cbut I will not forget the horrors I have seen in the<\/p>\n sea. I will not forget the nets of kelp that kill far, far to the other<\/p>\n side of the sea. I will never forget the magnitude of the useless<\/p>\n slaughter of the whales and the death of their Song. No, my sweet,<\/p>\n we will carry the knowledge we hold and present it to Harmony. The<\/p>\n ultimate decision as to the fate of the sandwalker shall be that of<\/p>\n the Conclave. Somehow, someway we must leave this place and<\/p>\n carry the new verses to Harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n We softly floated in gentle silence, satisfied in the simple<\/p>\n presence of one another, and then my memory was jogged again.<\/p>\n \u201cMy dear mate,\u201d I teased, \u201cyou seem to dodge and avoid the ques-<\/p>\n tion of how you came to be here in the ponds.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Brother laughed in that comfortable way of his and then<\/p>\n told this story.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter passing the message of the Conclave on to the dolphin<\/p>\n and great grays, I came back to the cove where I had left you, only<\/p>\n to find it empty. Empty but not quite, for there were shell-sharks<\/p>\n floating with their kelps draped in the water, and one old furred flip-<\/span><\/p>\n per-fin who remembered you had been there. He said you had been<\/p>\n eating everything in sight when you were cornered in a shallow part<\/p>\n of the cove and lifted into a shell-shark that quickly swam away.<\/p>\n I tried to follow but the seas were quiet and I knew not which<\/p>\n way to go. Finally, my mind discovered a great plan. If you had<\/p>\n been captured and taken, then I, too, would be captured and taken<\/p>\n away. If you were dead, then I would be dead, for life is quite empty<\/p>\n without you.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Brother paused as he spoke looking at me with great<\/p>\n tenderness and concern, before he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to the first of the shell-sharks that floated in the bay<\/p>\n and danced on my tail for them but they were not interested and tried<\/p>\n to get me to go away. I breached. I called, but no one wanted me.<\/p>\n Then, for a time, I stayed very still in the water, so that I<\/p>\n would make an easier prey for capture but still no one would take<\/p>\n me. I resolved that if they wouldn\u2019t capture me, I would help them.<\/p>\n I swam about gaining speed, dove, breached high above a small<\/p>\n shell-shark, and easily fell within.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, my breaching and fall caused the shell-shark<\/p>\n to fill with water and the sandwalkers jumped from their shell. They<\/p>\n had not captured me; I had captured them. I tried over and over but<\/p>\n the small shell-sharks filled too easily with water.<\/p>\n With my plan still shakily intact, I swam out in the deeper wa-<\/p>\n ter and found a much larger shell-shark. Surely it would be able to<\/p>\n support my weight without sinking. I dove deep and surged to the<\/p>\n surface in a mighty breach. Once again my plan was thwarted by<\/p>\n my own judgment — I had assumed the shell-shark was lower in the<\/p>\n water than it really was. I crashed into the side of that hard-sided<\/p>\n beast and nearly knocked myself silly.<\/p>\n My attempts had not gone unnoticed, and the shell-shark<\/p>\n slowed so that the sandwalkers could watch my odd behavior. I<\/p>\n shook sense back into my head and dove very, very deep. With ev-<\/p>\n ery bit of strength I could muster, I shot to the surface like a bubble<\/p>\n eager to burst. Higher than I had ever breached before, I left the<\/p>\n water, nearly to fly.<\/p>\n I looked down and there, way far below me, was the shell-<\/p>\n shark. I fell like a rock and smacked on its hard back. The air was<\/p>\n forced from my lungs and all faded to black.<\/p>\n I awoke some time later to find myself here. It was only at<\/p>\n today\u2019s early tide that Sharing told that me the sandwalkers on the<\/p>\n shell thought me crazed, so I was brought here.\u201d<\/p>\n I laughed at Little Brother\u2019s story until my sides ached with<\/p>\n over-use. It felt so good to laugh again. Giggles woke with a tiny<\/p>\n laugh, then after a quick meal fell back to sleep.<\/p>\n It was then that I realized that Little Brother had been refer-<\/p>\n ring to talks that he had with Sharing. \u201cHave you,\u201d I sang eagerly,<\/p>\n \u201calso, learned to speak the odd language of Sharing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d he replied arching his fin proudly. \u201cShe says I am the<\/p>\n smartest student she has ever taught.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharing who had come to the edge of the pond interrupted my<\/p>\n retort. She asked in her odd-finned way of my health. When I told<\/p>\n her feeling was returning, she released the restraint that had kept me<\/p>\n afloat. Then she slipped into the water and examined my body.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are healing quickly,\u201d she signed. \u201cIn two tides, we will<\/p>\n take you all back to the sea and set you free.\u201d<\/p>\n My eyes glistened as I realized that once again we would be<\/p>\n free. I thought of telling her of the Conclave, the meeting called<\/p>\n by Harmony to discuss the fate for all time of the sandwalker. But<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know if I should risk telling even one such as Sharing. I<\/p>\n remained silent.<\/p>\n As the next tide turned and rolled unseen by us, I was filled<\/p>\n with melancholy at my decision not to tell Sharing of the Conclave.<\/p>\n When we were alone, Little Brother and I discussed the merits<\/p>\n of the situation, but he was just as confused as I. I sought out<\/p>\n the others, the dolphin and the whale. They felt that I was right.<\/p>\n Sharing should not know of the Conclave. Out of the necessity of<\/p>\n survival, her allegiance would be with her own kind. If she knew,<\/p>\n the Conclave could turn all the seas into a battlefield of sandwalker<\/p>\n versus the brethren of the song. Without the advantage of surprise,<\/p>\n the brethren who live in the sea would be wiped from the memory of<\/p>\n the waters by the clever sandwalkers and their mechanical devices.<\/p>\n But my decision was not made without regret, for we could<\/p>\n sense that Sharing felt something was wrong, that I was leaving<\/p>\n something out. Even with the intrigue, we loved her and her stories<\/p>\n that had never been heard by our kind before. I\u2019m sure the feeling<\/p>\n was reciprocal as we told her the carefully edited truth.<\/p>\n There was a sense of excitement in the pond on our final day<\/p>\n — a sense of adventure, of loss, of gain. The dolphins were the first<\/p>\n to come and wish us well in our travels. \u201cGo now to the Conclave,\u201d<\/p>\n they cried, \u201ccarry the truth of the sandwalker. Tell of their great<\/p>\n achievements and even greater failures. Tell all that the sandwalkers<\/p>\n can sing, although they may never be capable of holding the melody<\/p>\n of the Song of the Sea. There is every reason to believe that the<\/p>\n Narwhal has been withholding verse from the Song.\u201d<\/p>\n With that the dolphins pulled back and the whale, Dreamer,<\/p>\n moved forward.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish,\u201d sang he, \u201cthat I had a beautiful song to sing but my<\/p>\n voice is rusty and I can now barely hum. I, too, wish you a safe<\/p>\n journey and a part of me wishes I could travel with you. A Conclave<\/p>\n of all the singers in the sea has never been called, and it would be a<\/p>\n wondrous sight indeed to see everyone brought together, united as<\/p>\n they will be. But I must stay here. Perhaps the sandwalker can be<\/p>\n taught conscience and understanding of the delicate balance of the<\/p>\n dryside and the sea. Go now, my friends, and may ALL THAT IS<\/p>\n RIGHT IN THE WORLD watch over you in your travels.\u201d<\/p>\n Silence filled the stone pond as we sang not a word, but<\/p>\n instead felt the presence of one another. In time, Sharing came to<\/p>\n the pond. It was as if she had known our need for farewell and had<\/p>\n purposely left us alone. She slipped into the water and explained<\/p>\n what would happen and how we would be freed. She said the oth-<\/p>\n er sandwalkers did not truly believe she could speak with whale or<\/p>\n dolphin. They felt communication with us was futile. We were the<\/p>\n clowns, the jokesters, the merrymakers of their strange circus.<\/p>\n She said if the other sandwalkers had truly believed we could<\/p>\n think and talk, we would never be set free. Dear Sharing, the first<\/p>\n sandwalker ever who talked with the singers of the sea.<\/p>\n Sharing climbed from the water and signaled other sandwalk-<\/p>\n ers to push the strange carriers that would move us on the dryside.<\/p>\n I urged Giggles to drink deeply of my milk, for while being moved,<\/p>\n any such actions would be impossible. As she suckled at my side, I<\/p>\n sang to her consoling songs.<\/p>\n But surprisingly Giggles and I were bound together in the<\/p>\n weed weavings, and her closeness to me allayed her fears. I could<\/p>\n feel her heart pounding as we were lifted onto the carriers.<\/p>\n We were left there on the edge of the dryside pool as Lit-<\/p>\n tle Brother was loaded onto his carrier. Together we were moved<\/p>\n through great caves and caverns of the dryside. To my shock and<\/p>\n delight, we were not taken to the great mechanical bird but were<\/p>\n lifted from the carriers onto an odd shell-shark.<\/p>\n Sharing knelt on her lower fins between Little Brother, Gig-<\/p>\n gles, and me, constantly bathing us with a large soft sponge soaked<\/p>\n with the waters of sea. After much thumping and clanking, we<\/p>\n began to move as if on water but only rougher. We bounced and<\/p>\n jostled into the noisy, confusing world of the dryside. Acid burning<\/p>\n smells assailed our senses, and we were all numbed by the lack of<\/p>\n air. Honkings of great beasts and the roars of other dryside shell-<\/p>\n sharks made speech of any kind impossible. But through it all<\/p>\n Sharing soothed us with guttural humming. Once again, I consid-<\/p>\n ered singing to her of the Conclave, but still I was unsure.<\/p>\n After what seemed like a full tide but was much shorter than<\/p>\n that, the air took on a sweeter smell. Little Brother and I arched our<\/p>\n backs in excitement, for the smell could be nothing more than the<\/p>\n sea itself.<\/p>\n The shell-shark came to an abrupt stop, and once again<\/p>\n we were carefully lifted high over the sides and onto the back of a<\/p>\n floating shell that hummed in excitement. These were smaller shells<\/p>\n than the ones that had captured me originally and were uniquely<\/p>\n formed, soft as a fat whale.<\/p>\n Giggles and I were laid in one, and we watched as Little<\/p>\n Brother was dropped in another. Sharing rushed about our tiny<\/p>\n shell, fussing with strands of kelp, and then reclined at the back of<\/p>\n the boat. The shells roared, and we swam out in the water.<\/p>\n As we plowed through the waves, we saw the other shell<\/p>\n racing alongside and Little Brother arching himself so his face was<\/p>\n full into the wind. He loved speed; for him this must have been<\/p>\n pure ecstasy.<\/p>\n We traveled for some time, and then the humming stopped<\/p>\n and all became quiet-still. Sharing began to sign as fast as her fins<\/p>\n could move. She told me that beyond the dryside was a school of<\/p>\n dolphin heading up into the seas. There were pods of whale and<\/p>\n flipper-fin that were oddly moving all in the same direction. She<\/p>\n asked if I knew the meaning of this strange occurrence. I guiltily<\/p>\n replied that I didn\u2019t know. She stared at me, seeming to know that a<\/p>\n secret stood between us like a great wall.<\/p>\n She rolled me into the sea and, after I was in the water, slid<\/p>\n Giggles in beside me. I turned as my dear sandwalker friend slipped<\/p>\n into the water beside us. She signed slowly, \u201cYou will be well. Your<\/p>\n wound of childbirth will soon heal with no complications.\u201d<\/p>\n Raindrops spilled from her eyes and joined the waters. \u201cStay<\/p>\n in this cove until you are acclimated with the sea once again,\u201d she<\/p>\n continued. \u201cGiggles will grow stronger every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, my heart could stand no more, and I blurted, \u201cOh,<\/p>\n Sharing, we will miss you so, but we must now join the others of<\/p>\n our kind.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharing climbed back onto the shell and turned and headed<\/p>\n back to the dryside. I was quite sad as she floated away. Giggles was<\/p>\n frightened at the vastness of the sea and hovered by my side. Little<\/p>\n Brother looked at us and realized he had a morale problem in his<\/p>\n growing pod. He turned and swam quickly away without a word.<\/span><\/p>\n He soon returned, gripping a tuna-tail. \u201cHere, you may eat<\/p>\n this now, or wait until it is very dead like the food fed to us by the<\/p>\n sandwalkers. I understand how very fond of those fish you were.\u201d<\/p>\n He tossed me the morsel, and then with a flip of his tail, he<\/p>\n surged away again. How sweet the meat of the sea! I felt content,<\/p>\n as Giggles satisfied herself with her mother\u2019s milk. Soon Little<\/p>\n Brother returned with still another juicy fish.<\/p>\n I asked, \u201cHow did you catch such fish so quickly?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEasy,\u201d he chuckled, \u201ca sandwalker floats in a shell-shark<\/p>\n dragging his twisted kelp. In the twists are all sorts of fish.\u201d With<\/p>\n that he tossed me the fish and swam back to the shell-shark.<\/p>\n My belly full, I watched lazily as Little Brother swam close to<\/p>\n the shell-shark and dove to steal another fish. As he rose with his<\/p>\n prize clutched in his jaws, the sandwalker suddenly leaped upright in<\/p>\n the shell and pointed a smooth stick at my mate. The stick puffed a<\/p>\n bit of cloud followed by a loud sound that reverberated through the<\/p>\n water, and then the water went ghostly still and flat.<\/p>\n With no thought of Giggles, I rushed to Little Brother who lay<\/p>\n still in the water. Fortunately, Giggles stayed where she was. Little<\/p>\n Brother\u2019s eyes glazed, and he didn\u2019t appear to be breathing. Blood<\/p>\n poured from a wound in his side, and the sea ran red. I swam to-<\/p>\n ward the sandwalker who still stood on his shell holding the stick of<\/p>\n death. He slowly raised the stick and pointed it directly at me.<\/p>\n \u201cHarmony and the Narwhal are both right,\u201d I snarled. \u201cAll<\/p>\n sandwalkers need to be eliminated from the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n With slimy rock eyes, the sandwalker began to clench one of<\/p>\n his tiny fins holding the stick, and I prepared to die. I don\u2019t know if<\/p>\n I blinked, but in that moment of time, a new sound broke the ten-<\/p>\n sion — the roaring hum of another shell-shark.<\/p>\n The sandwalker turned and saw the shell bearing down on<\/p>\n him. Assuming it to be a friend, he turned and again raised the<\/p>\n stick. But the other shell rammed the shell-shark, hitting the<\/p>\n stick-wielding sandwalker full force.<\/p>\n The evil creature that killed Little Brother was thrown over<\/p>\n the side and into the water. The attacking sandwalker turned its<\/p>\n tiny shell toward me and the body I was shielding. From the shell,<\/p>\n a sandwalker leaped into the water and was upon us before I could<\/p>\n take any defensive action, but no action was necessary for it was<\/p>\n our beloved Sharing.<\/p>\n She grabbed Little Brother and pulled him to her shell where<\/p>\n she looked at the wound on his side. Satisfied that the body was<\/p>\n being cared for I sought Giggles and gathered her to me. Together<\/p>\n we sadly swam back to Sharing who still hovered over him.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot believe it!\u201d I cried. \u201cLittle Brother died seeking to<\/p>\n cheer me up with the fresh fish. Oh, that silly fool. I loved him so.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not dead,\u201d said Sharing, piercing his skin with a prick-<\/p>\n ly-point.<\/p>\n His eyes opened and he asked, \u201cAm I dead?\u201d Sharing stabbed<\/p>\n him again with the prickly-point. Little Brother answered with the<\/p>\n slap of his tail on the water, as he cried out, \u201cOw! That stings!\u201d<\/p>\n Sharing cradled him firmly in her scrawny fins and dabbed at<\/p>\n the wound. Little Brother continued complaining but his whining<\/p>\n was pure music to my ears. Only a live dolphin can complain the<\/p>\n way he was. The bleeding stopped, and Little Brother began to<\/p>\n move tentatively about, gaining his bearings. Sharing signed, \u201cHe<\/p>\n was only grazed by the stone that flies with power.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy dear friend,\u201d I sang in humility, \u201cyou would attack one of<\/p>\n your own to save a life in the sea?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d she signed, \u201cthe sandwalker must learn he does not<\/p>\n hold dominion over living things. He must learn life is to be cher-<\/p>\n ished within the laws of Nature and ALL THAT IS RIGHT IN THE<\/p>\n WORLD.\u201d<\/p>\n I paused staring at this sandwalker who had saved me not<\/p>\n only once but twice, and now had saved Giggles and Little Brother.<\/p>\n She must know of the great Conclave.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is much we have not told you,\u201d I sighed. \u201cThe dol-<\/p>\n phin and whale who wait for you in the stone ponds came to you,<\/p>\n not by capture, but of their own free will. As you learn from them,<\/p>\n so they learn from you. All this knowledge has been passed to a<\/p>\n whale or dolphin that was to be set free. Once freed, they carried<\/p>\n this bit of Song to the mysterious Narwhal in the colder waters who<\/p>\n add it to their charges against the sandwalker as sung in the Holy<\/p>\n Song of Truth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew it!\u201d signed Sharing excitedly \u201cI just knew there was<\/p>\n more to all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n I continued, \u201cSomething wondrous is about to occur — a<\/p>\n Conclave of all the singing creatures in the sea. There has never<\/p>\n been such a gathering except at the beginning when ALL THAT IS<\/p>\n RIGHT IN THE WORLD allowed us to be as one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou must tell me where the Conclave is to take place, \u201dshe<\/p>\n enthusiastically waved, \u201cfor I must see this with my own eyes and<\/p>\n feel the Song as it is truly sung by all who can sing. Please tell me.<\/p>\n I will sneak into their presence and no one will know I was there. I<\/p>\n will hide. Your secret will be safe with me. Please tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n I ignored her and continued, \u201cYou must know the reason for<\/p>\n the gathering. The great white, Harmony, has called for the Con-<\/p>\n clave of all, and all are moving up the seas to the colder place where<\/p>\n the Narwhal live. There shall be enacted a plan to save the seas<\/p>\n from the greater evil.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharing paused and stared at me with those strange ice-blue<\/p>\n e<\/span>yes. \u201cBut what is the greater evil?\u201d she signed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe greater evil,\u201d I continued, \u201cis you, the sandwalker.\u201d<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t move for a time, her fins still. Finally she mo-<\/p>\n tioned, \u201cWhat do they hope to do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know not,\u201d I sighed. \u201cOnly Harmony knows. But I know one<\/p>\n of the options will call for the end of the lives of all the sandwalkers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you now telling me of this?\u201d asked Sharing.<\/p>\n I paused, looking at Little Brother and Giggles who frolicked<\/p>\n in the waters of life. \u201cFor you are more than a sandwalker. In a small<\/p>\n way, you have learned to sing the Song of the Sea. You must come<\/p>\n to the Conclave, but not as an interloper or an unwanted guest. You<\/p>\n must come as a singer, for a singer you are. You must come and<\/p>\n defend the sandwalker.\u201d<\/p>\n Slowly and carefully, so she would hear all, I recited, \u201cAs it<\/p>\n is recorded, and as it has been passed on to us, we will share with<\/p>\n you the Song of the Sea. In hearing it, you will become part and as<\/p>\n such we will be one with all of us.\u201d I looked at Little Brother and he<\/p>\n at me. We were in total accord.<\/p>\n \u201cI was born long, long ago in a happy time, a time of joy in<\/p>\n the waters of life. I remained, like all birthed creatures, for some<\/p>\n conscious time in the darkness of my mother\u2019s womb\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n And so it was that was that I sang all the song for the sand-<\/p>\n walker, Sharing.<\/p>\n As I finished she blinked away tears welling in her eyes un-<\/p>\n derstanding full well the import of the singing of the song and the<\/p>\n invitation to the Conclave. \u201cI will be there,\u201d she waved, \u201cCome fire<\/p>\n storm or high-water, I will be there.\u201d<\/p>\n Without another word, I swam from her. Little Brother and<\/p>\n Giggles followed, and we quietly swam out to sea to join the others<\/p>\n silently moving up the world to the Conclave.<\/p>\n Would she be there, I wondered? Could she find the place<\/p>\n where only singers could dwell? Could Sharing learn the Song and<\/p>\n in turn sing it to others? Questions, many, many questions and no<\/p>\n answers save for time.<\/p>\n But the Song will be sung in the sea, with or without the<\/p>\n sandwalker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHAPTER TWENTY I woke in a deep and twisted fog. The clouds that normally lightly grazed the waves now were locked inside my mind. The rain within blurred my sight. Shell-shark and sandwalker danced together upon the water in their purpled splendor. Twin Harmonys leaped from the soul of the sea and never came down. […]<\/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-1367","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\/1367","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=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1368,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions\/1368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stephencosgrove.com\/bookstore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}