MikShorty

Since I’m running on four hours of sleep and am desperate for a nap, I’m copying and pasting another old favorite scene of mine. I’ve revamped it from my last post of it.  The initial idea came to me in high school but… it’s not quite a strong enough premise to follow through yet. Until I figure out how to make it so, I may return to it.

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Waves rushed upon the shore, stopping at Maelle’s feet and tingling her toes.  The sand she leaned upon was firm and damp, nearly identical to how it felt when she had lived in the water.  The familiarity of it was nearly as similar as a Sea Wolf cry.  She couldn’t wait for the day she would hear one of those cries again.

Somewhere beneath the sandy shelf, she could faintly hear sand crabs and clams conversing. 

Watch where you’re going!

Sorry, bottoms down first! I didn’t see you.

You always run into things, you young fool. You need to learn to roll your eyes back before you burrow!

Chuckling to herself, Maelle looked to Aeva who sat next to her as she looked out at the sunset.

Aeva was a princess, or so she said.  She didn’t seem reserved enough to be a princess, even though Maelle wasn’t either and she was due to be one soon.  Judging by the way they could go wherever they wanted through the Capital of Jemima without repercussion, Maelle started to believe it.  But it was when a girl no older than eight begged for Aeva’s signature that she was positive the young redhead’s heritage was true.

“Oh, look!  There’s my brother,” Aeva exclaimed after a few moments of relaxing silence.  “Hey, Ari!  Come meet my new friend.”

Maelle shifted slightly to see a couple hand in hand strolling towards them.  The girl was noticeably pretty with platinum blonde hair that reached her elbows. She had skin like porcelain.  However, that was not the reason Maelle could not tear her eyes away from her though.  Across her neck, lay a golden clam that could fit inside her palm. Memories of her younger years rushed to mind.  She was so distracted by the charm that she didn’t hear Aeva’s brother respond as he drew closer.

“Hello there!” he said.

Aeva quickly piped in. “Maelle, this is brother Aricin but we just call him Ari since his real name sounds like some kind of medicine.”

“You’re too kind,” he said, rolling his eyes before turning his attention to the new girl on the beach.  “Nice to meet you, Maelle.  This is my betrothed, Edeline.”

Maelle’s eyes were still stuck on the clam as though mesmerised by the sunlight glinting off of it.  Edeline looked momentarily stunned when she realized she was being stared at before glancing down, realizing what attracted Maelle’s attention.  “Oh!” she gasped, her voice light and airy, snapping Maelle out of her trance.

She couldn’t stop herself from the accusatory, “Where did you get that?” that escaped her lips.  Recovering herself, Maelle spoke quickly and precisely. “Oh, do pardon me, your necklace is just so lovely.”

Edeline smiled gratefully.  “Why, thank you!  Ari’s grandmother gave it to me when I was a little girl.  Poor dear, she thought it was mine but no one ever claimed it!”
That was when Maelle looked at him.  He stood a couple inches taller than Edeline, with brown hair tied at the base of his neck, flowing in curls.  His eyes were an unmistakable bright green that Maelle could never forget.  They were the same eyes of the red-haired woman who broke her bracelet while trying to free her from seaweed nearly seventeen years before.

“Would you like to see it?” Edeline said.  Maelle nodded, her tongue clinging to the roof of her mouth.  Edeline slipped her hands beneath her hair to unclasp the necklace before placing it gently in Maelle’s outstretched hand.

The golden clam charm glided across her palm as if it were a delicate fabric.  It reflected the setting sun, the gold more vibrant than ever.  She turned the clam over, and there it was.  The initials EoT was engraved in a fancy script.  Erykah of Tiveny.  The last time she had seen the charm, it wasn’t on a thin gold chain, but on a woven band of seaweed traced with golden lining.  Maelle closed her palm, trapping the charm inside.  Water droplets slipped off the clam in all directions.  The faint hum of her people swirled through her mind.  After seventeen years, could it really still be alive?

An undeniable urge to throw the clam to the sea passed through Maelle, but all she could do was hold onto it.  It was only when she returned the clam to Edeline that she remembered why she was given legs in the first place.  With a twinge of her stomach, Maelle reminded herself that the only reason she was there was to save Namica–not to chase after the girl who had the only possession her mother left behind so many years ago.