Aquamarine

2013 2nd Place Winner!

Aquamarine

by Emilia Dick Fiora Del Fabro

I dedicate this book to everyone lost in the world, mythical or not.

Maple Leaf Book Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2013

Walking along the shore of the beach looking for shells had always been a favorite pastime of mine. The sunny cove was quiet this afternoon except for the rhythmic rolling of the waves. Searching the ground I spotted something shiny half buried in sand. At closer inspection it was an antique looking necklace on a thin silver chain that had an aquamarine stone in the center. I glanced around at the deserted beach; no one could have lost it. This little beach was known to no one but my family. Looking over the strange necklace again, I pocketed it, resolving to show my dad who was a history teacher at a nearby college.

That evening I told my dad about what I had found. ´´Hmmm, ´´ he said, turning it over in his hand.´´ Looks like a necklace from the nineteenth century. Where did you find it, Cora? ´´

´´On the shore of the beach, no one was around to claim it or anything, so I decided to show y-´´

My sentence was thrown off by the sudden arrival of the twins, Anne and Ester.´´ Did you find any thing at the beach Cora?´´ asked Ester.

´´No, ´´ I said giving Dad a look, which meant not to tell them about the necklace. It wasn’t like I didn’t trust them or anything, it’s just that if I told them about it they would insist on coming to the beach with me for the next four months, especially Ester, who loved pirates and buried treasure.

´´That reminds me, ´´ said Dad´´. I’ve been meaning to tell you all, I have a workshop in a different town and I’ll have to stay the afternoon. While I’m gone Cora’s going to be in charge.´´

´´Why does Cora get to be in charge, I never get a turn! ´´ whined Anne.

´´Your sister gets to be in charge because she’s Fourteen. ´´ Dad reminded her.

´´Fine!´´ grumbled Anne, stomping away to pout.

´´As I was saying, while I’m gone the twins will be at summer camp from nine to four and Ingrid from next door will check on you, but you’ll be alone in the morning .´´

I wrinkled my brow; I didn’t really like Ingrid. She always talked down to me and was constantly calling me Coralline.

´´I know she’s not your favorite person”, Dad said. “But I’ll feel a lot better knowing that there’s an adult around.´´

At breakfast the next morning, Dad got ready to go to his work shop and gave me a speech about how he was sorry he had to go like this and that if there were any problems we were to call him on his cell phone.

´´Ok Dad, I love you, ´´ I said, giving him a hug.

I watched him shoving his briefcase and papers into the car and finally riding away down the twisted black slope of our driveway.

A few minutes later Ingrid came and drove Ester and Anne to their summer camp. I decided that it was a nice enough day to go for a swim, so I slathered on sunscreen, put on a bathing suit, and grabbed a towel.

The sea was unnaturally quiet today, but it was hot and I didn’t really pay any attention. I clambered over some boulders and walked to the edge of a nearby ledge about three feet high from the water. I dived, squeezing my eyes shut as the icy water blasted my skin. I stayed under for little while then surfaced, breathing hard. I absolutely love the sea.

I splashed around for a little while, then finally lay on my back and let the sea drift to me wherever it wanted. I was in a state of calm relaxation when all of a sudden something took hold of my ankle, the grip was firm and slimy. For a second I couldn’t move, then the hand started to pull and I kicked as hard as I possibly could. The grip relinquished, and I swam as hard as I could paying no attention to the saltwater stinging my eyes. I reached the shore hardly able to breath from both swimming and fear. Grabbing my towel I ran home as fast as I could, my bare feet pounding on the rocks and sand. I glanced back but the hand was out of sight.

Finally I opened the door to our house, and locked the door behind me. I sat numbly on the couch for at least an hour and I told myself it was only seaweed or a fish at least a million times but I kept feeling that slimy hand on my ankle. It was real, so real that I could still feel it pulling me towards the water. For the first time ever I anxious for Ingrid to come. She came in with her usual up tidy air. ´´Oh hello Coralline.I hope I’m too late, you must be getting hungry. should I make you some food? ´´

´´Yeah sure I’m starving´´ I said trying to delay her stay as much as possible. She wasn’t my favorite person but I would rather be with her than alone.

´´Alright then I´ll make you a sandwich´´ she said. I took a long time eating my sandwich, carefully chewing each bite but finally she got up and said, ´´Well I really should go, I have cat´s to feed.´´ And with that she left.

´´I´m home! ´´Was the next voices I heard after my visit with Ingrid,Ester and Annie ran by a heavily burdened Dad.

´´How was your trip? I asked.

´´As good as a work trip can, but that’s not saying much ´´he said smiling. I was just about to tell him about the beach but noticed Ester listening to us dreamily at the table. Was it worth scaring Ester about something that might not even be real? Something inside me rebelled saying yes. But I simply asked, ´´ Did you meet any new people? It was only eight but the events of today had been so tiring I felt like I had been up all night.

´´You look tired Cora, why don’t you get up to bed.´´ He suggested.

´´Okay´´ I said. My eyelids getting heavier as I spoke.

I plodded upstairs, now barely able to keep my eyes open. I opened my door, at least my room was still normal; faded seashell wallpaper lined the walls that chestnut colored furniture stood up against. Shelves lined one wall with an odd assortment of treasures, old books, and mementos from my past; an oil painting of the sea dotted with small sailboats, with the white and red sails completing the peaceful scene of my room.

I sat down on my bed too tired to do anything but lay there in a half dream state.

Suddenly, looking out my window I saw movement on the beach. I walked up to my window and saw that the movement was a person or no, it was a fish or something caught in between. I watched mesmerized as the odd mermaid like creature dragged itself slowly out of the water it’s seal like skin glinting softly in the half Moon. If that wasn’t strange enough the lady at least that’s what I thought she was, begin to sing, in a strange high-pitched voice. Then slowly, ever so slowly, she slithered out of her skin and began to walk on two legs.

The woman began to climb the path to our house. As she came closer I saw that she had long red hair and a slim graceful figure. Despite her obvious beauty something was terribly wrong. Her fingers were webbed, like a frog’s. And it looked as if she had pasted the dorsal fins of a two tiny fish to each of her arms. The lady stopped in front of our house and began to call a name or something in a strange foreign language ´´ Feamainn!” “Feamainn !” Then in plain English she called. ´´Where are you daughter?´´ have you found your skin? Feameainn! Selki daughter, I will kill your husband tonight!´´ She left still ranting about tails and daughters. I stared wide eyed at her until she left ,gripping my oak night table so hard it hurt, then the first word out of my mouth was ´´DAD!!´´

Dad walked into my room slightly groggy eyed from sleeping. “What’s wrong honey?” He asked.

´´There there’s a lady w-with fins and and she was talking about skin! ´´

´´Calm down kiddo, was just a bad dream. Are you feeling all right?´´ He frowned. He told me several times that was just a dream. But I had seen what I had seen, and what I had seen was not normal.

The next morning was sunny and bright but it was all clouds to me. What had I seen? Not an animal or human, something straight out of the mythology books. But what was it? Last night she had said something about, about selkies. My search started as I looked up selkies it was exactly what I had hoped for, they were mythical Irish seal woman. After that and a long period of searching I finally found the mythology book that my dad had given me. There were mermaids sea monsters and then there was selkies. After reading the considerable two pages I finally found a story that caught my eye.

There once was a selkie named Feameainn who was one of the most beautiful selkies in the sea. One day she was called upon by a man who had recently lost his wife. As go most stories he soon fell in love with the beautiful Feameainn but this man was smart and cunning. One day one when she had shed her tail and come to see him he hid her tail so she was bound to land until she found it. That very day he married her, giving her a beautiful sapphire necklace as a betrothal gift and so that no help could reach her he sailed to America. But what he did not know was that Feamieann’s mother was coming to kill him. After several days he learned of this devise and being the cunning man he was went to a witch. She in turn made him a potion that would put the raging mother of Feamieann to sleep for hundred years and preserve her life force beyond both her and her child’s years . But legend has it that when the years are up she will return looking for her lost daughter.

The story fits so perfectly but, it couldn’t be that, could it? No it was crazy, but then I saw the picture and without a doubt I knew that that was exactly what was going on. Sketched in black ink on the top right hand corner was a small but very accurate picture of MY HOUSE. So that’s it, this must be her house and the selkie that came must be Feamieanns mother. And what about this whole taking revenge stuff? I mean the only person in this house who was old enough to be one of the characters from the story was…Dad. She was going to try and murder my dad for some thing he didn’t do! I had to stop her, but how do you stop a hundred year old sea creature from killing some one? The tail that’s it! If I could just find the tail and prove they were both dead she would go away! So my search began.

I looked every where, the attic, the kitchen, the family room, and every other room too. So that meant it was in the basement! I ran downstairs and turned on the light. The musty smell of the basement greeted me, old boxes of who knows what were piled on top of each other gathering dust while spiders made their homes in the pipes that ran along the wall. I frantically churned out every single box, I peered behind every pipe but there was nothing absolutely. Positively. Nothing. I leaned back against the stairwell and to my great surprise fell right through one of the boards that boxed off the stairs from the room. Standing back up I surveyed the wall I had just come crashing through, and saw it was weakly sealed with thin crusty plaster, that pealed away to reveal wooden scaffolding. How on earth did we not notice that before? I guess we just don’t spend a lot of time down here, I thought. Then I noticed sitting in the middle of the debris was a large chest made out of wood. I opened it up. Inside was a musty smelling scaly thing which when lifted out of the box clearly had a tail like shape. It was the selkie skin! As I looked at the skin a pang of sadness washed over me. This woman, she was trying to find her daughter even after one-hundred years. I mean I know that Dad loves me but what about my Mom, would she be like this? But I couldn’t think about this now.

Running up the stairs with the skin I grabbed the aquamarine necklace and glanced at the clock. It was still about six and Dad didn’t wake up till seven. Quickly with a pen and paper I wrote, Dear lady, the world has changed since you were asleep. Your daughter is dead. Here is her skin and necklace to prove it. The man you plan to kill is innocent, please refrain. Signed,Cora. With that I tied them all in a bundle with blue ribbon and ran outside. I hadn’t been out since the hands that grabbed my ankle and scared me but now I flew past our house and down our driveway running as fast as I could. When I reached the ledge I usually dove off of I stopped, preparing to throw in the bundle, but a hand grasped my ankle, the same hand I had felt swimming here. It caught me so by surprise I fell into the water and dropped the bundle into the sea. I thrashed and twisted but the hand was firm. I opened my eyes to see the hand that was holding me and when I did I saw the woman, the same one who had come to our house the night before. She dragged me underneath the waves and although it was only a few feet below the water I could not get to the surface. She dragged me until we reached the bottom, picked up the bundle and found the soggy, blurry note. She took a long time reading it carefully. My lungs began to feel like they had needles inside. I as swallowing water I couldn’t last a lot longer. Finally she released me and with the little breath that I had left I swam to the surface, and lay on the ledge breathing so hard I cried. I don’t know how long I stayed there but finally I walked back home tired and wet.

When I got home I went upstairs trying not to make a dripping trail of water I changed into new clothes and tossed the wet ones into my hamper. I lay down on my bed staring at the faded seashell wallpaper and memento covered bureau. Then I noticed something hard underneath my spine. getting up I saw the aquamarine necklace, the one I had dropped into the sea. It was shiny and wet and with it was a shell. Roughly carved into it were the words,

Go raibh maith agat, and I some how knew it was thank you in Irish.