Calling the Deep

Blinking, I try to clear my vision. Shaking my head, okay, it’s back to normal. It’s just a teacup full of water. Of course it is.

There’s no way it was full of bright tendrils of leaves and the fins of bright creatures, undulating through the depths of...my kitchen.

I laugh to myself. There’s a worried tone to the laughter, even in my own head. It’s nothing I tell myself.

I mean, just yesterday, there’s no way the arms of a friendly octopus caressed my arm as I was doing the dishes. And there’s definitely no way a seal got into my bathroom to keep me company during my shower.

These things just don’t happen. They aren’t real. Flights of fancy, daydreams, of course they are...what else could they be?

Goodness, where has this day even gone....I was supposed to clean the bathroom hours ago. Gathering up cleaning supplies, I absentmindedly lose myself in the chores. As I’m sweeping the dust into the dustpan...sand? Not just any sand, bright sparkling fragments of shell and bright colors of faraway beaches.

What is wrong with me?! I shake my head. Of course, it’s just regular dust and a few scraps of paper trash, and definitely, certainly, not a chance, that it’s dried fragments of seaweed. I mean…

Laundry. That’s a safe chore.

Some time has passed. I think...the light outside is different. I’m staring at the front of the washing machine, watching the waves toss the laundry about. The algae stains on the bright white sheets, ugh, is anyone going to notice? It’s so pretty really, maybe people will think it is some new sort of tie dye.

I start to ponder if anyone else can even see what I’m seeing, but I discard the thought immediately, of course they can see...otherwise..what? I’m going crazy?!

What a bizarre and hilarious and completely implausible thought.

The cormorants perched on top of the dryer laugh with me. I smile up at them and toss them a fish snatched out of the school in the sink.

So much sand, I’m not even trying to keep it swept up anymore. Anyway...it’s really much nicer to walk on than the tile floors. And I think the crabs like it.

The tidepools in the bedroom are beginning to be a bit of problem. The sea cucumbers keep squirting water onto the bed and the starfish are climbing up the walls. If they keep leaving suction marks on the walls, how am I ever going to get my security deposit back? I mean, if you’re going to be my guests, at least show some courtesy.

I sigh and go to clean the seal fur out of the bathtub. They love to take baths, but they’re no good at cleaning up after themselves, and anyway, this awkward human shape is at least good for cleaning, not much else, but it’s good for that.

The seagull that came in through the living room window this morning dropped off a bottle and flew away. There was a message in the bottle, because...well that just makes sense, right?

The message told me that moving day is tomorrow.

It’s about time! I mean, between the seals, the penguins (what are they even doing at this latitude?!), the pelicans, the crabs...I mean...I guess they’re good because it gives the rest something to eat, but they get into EVERYTHING. Yesterday, I turned my back on my sandwich for a few seconds and when I turned around there was a small piece of lettuce and a couple of crumbs left, and a few of the smaller crabs were on their way to carry those off.

The fish though...I think they’re most annoying. They’re not actually a problem except when they jump out of the water and I have to put them back, unless one of the others eats them first. At least the dolphins and whales have only visited at the windows, it’s crowded enough as it is!

But yes!! Definitely, for sure, getting a bit crowded!!

I’m so excited!

Today’s the day!

We’re all waiting at the door. The fish are in laundry baskets, how they’re holding water...I don’t know, but honestly, if I start to question this, I might have to admit that this whole situation has gotten a little out of hand and…

I mean...what would the neighbors think?! They’ve already been staring, but I suppose that could be because of all the fish food, raw shrimp, and various other food I’ve been hauling in every day, so many mouths to feed!

It’s here. The waves are lapping up the stairs even now. The seals are the first to the front. They haven’t jumped in yet, and they form an avenue between them. I hastily dump the buckets of fish into the waters that are now nearly lapping at the door. I wonder briefly how the apartments downstairs are faring, but really, I can’t be stopping to think at this point, far too much to do!

We’re almost done. Almost everyone is into the wave.

I smile sadly, looking down at my own awkward and clumsy body. I bend down to hug the seals, they’ve become especially dear to me in the last few weeks. Every night their sleek bodies have filled my bed and my dreams with warmth of their bodies and memories of gliding sleekly through the waves.

Tears fall down my face, leaving streaks of salt down my face as they fall. They’ve always done that, as long as I can remember. I don’t remember a time they didn’t. In fact...I don’t remember much before moving here. It hasn’t been odd to me before now but now that I pause to think about it…

The seals have still not entered the water and they press in around me, pushing me down to my knees, they aren’t usually this firm with me, but obviously, they want a proper goodbye. I allow them to surround me completely and bury my face deep into their fur, taking in the rich smell of musky sea salt.

They start to withdraw, they must be leaving, it’s time after all.

I can’t bear to watch them go and I stay kneeling with my head down and eyes closed. A firm damp nose nudges my face. I hesitantly open my eyes.

A sleek brown pelt lays on the sand in front of me, the seals, in a ring around me, with eyes a little too knowing, in unison, nod their heads towards it.

I start to reach, so scared, what is this, who am I, who are they, what is going on

All the questions, and only one possible way to answer them.

I reach out, the moment my fingertips touch the pelt, I remember, remember it all, the tiny silver crown on the back of my hand, I had thought it a scar, the skin white and silvery, an odd scar, but nothing too weird.

“Welcome home. We didn’t mean for you to forget who you were. You were only sent here to learn. They’re so strange. We needed to know their ways, why they only want to cause pain. But their pain...it is too much even for us. It’s time to come home.”

The pelt engulfs my clumsy body, transforming it, with pools of the universe as eyes, I am the first into the waves, closely followed by the rest.

I remember now. I’m home. The waves retreat, back to their place, all of us with them, no one else ever noticed they were even there. The door to the apartment hangs open, a few scattered belongings and...perhaps odd to others, a faint odor of the sea and sand in corners. I mean...the nearest ocean is over 1000 miles away, and...probably best not to think too much about it…