Selkie Story

He was down on one knee. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even paid attention to him proposing to me! I nodded vigorously and felt as though I could fly. He slipped a sparkling silver ring on my finger and rose. “Well it’ll be getting dark in a while shall we head back?” I nodded, still speechless at my surprise. He led me to the boat and we drifted away from the island.

***
Dubheasa was thrilled at having swum with her sister. When they had gotten to the island she had sped away to a hidden spot where she could watch Aurnia. She saw them eat and dance and laugh and she remembered that Aurnia’s face had looked truly happy. Especially when the human put a ring on her finger. But, Dubheasa also steamed at the human’s nerve. Aurnia had seemed like she was in love. Now she might never come back to the sea and forget about Selkie life altogether. All because of the foolish human. Dubheasa swam back to Allana and they flopped onto Seal Island together. (Seal Island was an island that seals went to sleep and give birth. Selkies only coast when they are willing to.) Dubheasa told her sister about the terrible situation between the human and Aurnia but Allana seemed fine with it. But Dubheasa wasn’t surprised as Allana just wanted everyone to be happy. Dubheasa looked in the direction of the tiny island and could see the row boat heading back to the other bigger island. As Aurnia and the man passed, she waved and Dubheasa heard the man call her something strange. Was it Keela? Now the human had renamed her. She groaned and rolled over and waited for the sun to go down.

***



We arrived at home just as the sun set. We were full from our late dinner and went straight to sleep. Well, I didn’t, though Ailin was snoring softly on his chair as soon as he sat down. I admired my ring in the moonlight and wondered if I would ever find my pelt and go back to the sea. Maybe my Mother’s captor Neil would have a hint as to where fishermen kept Selkie skins. But the more I thought, the more I realized that I didn’t want to go back just yet.
The next few weeks were very dull. Ailin went fishing for longer and when he was done he would ride in to town to sell his fish. I would stay in the cottage all day gazing out the window and starting the Selkie stew. One day, I was getting very restless so I decided I wanted to climb down the cliff and to the small beach that was near our cottage. I walked to the cliff in the morning and was only halfway down it by noon. The rare hand holds I could find were shallow and skinny. I finally made it down to the little beach near an hour later but the difficult climb was worth it. Mussels were abundant and the water looked very clean. It was a good thing I was wearing my Coasting dress because right then and there I splashed into deeper water and I swam out. Dubheasa appeared instantly and I could sense her anger. Her voice echoed in my mind, “Aurnia!!! You are letting this man who is your captor make you forget that you’re a Selkie! I can tell you haven’t even been searching for your skin and now you’re going to marry the man!! He has given you another name! How could you do this?!?” Her outburst shocked me. “Dubheasa, I….” I thought about what I was going to say and realized I really did love Ailin, wrong as it was. I continued, “Dubheasa I love him. I’m sorry I’m not doing what’s expected of me. By the way our mother died.” Shock crossed Dubheasa’s face but then she spat, “That doesn’t matter anymore. Stop trying to change the subject.” I never knew a Selkie in seal form could be so bitter. This wasn’t like Dubheasa. “Dubheasa,” I murmured, “I’m not ready to start looking yet. I can feel that there is something else I need to do as a human. I’ll start searching as soon as I can.” Dubheasa gave me the dirtiest look a seal could give and ducked under water. I sighed quietly and swam back to the little beach. The sun was already almost down so I began to climb the sheer cliff face.
I was hungry and cold by the time I reached the top. I had climbed up a different way so I was lost too. I shivered against the wind and wandered around above the cliff. It was very strange how lost one could get in the dark. There was no moon out so all I could do was listen to the sea and trip over my own feet as I walked. I went the opposite direction of where the sun had set and after hours and hours, I found the Coasting beach. I crawled into Ailin’s boat and fell asleep.
In the morning, the sea was rough and I scrambled out of the rocking boat and onto the beach. I made my way to the cottage and saw that Ailin was gone. I knew he was probably out looking for me. I looked down at my pretty ring and felt extremely guilty. I sat down and suddenly last night’s dream came rushing back. I had dreamt that my seal skin was tucked under one of the benches in the rowboat. I had picked it up and suddenly I had seen myself as a seal lying in the boat being tossed around by waves taller than the cliff I’d climbed yesterday. Then I was human again and I was on Ailin’s little island seeing Ailin struggle to keep the boat afloat in the gargantuan waves. I watched as the boat got smashed in half by the biggest wave of all and saw Ailin trying to swim to me. I was rooted to where I was, unable to help. His head had disappeared and I’d screamed. Then I had gotten woken up by the churning sea. I began to cry as my horrible dream really sank in. It was an embodiment of the things that I loved the most.
I wished I had my mother to talk to. When I was young I would tell her my dreams and she’d always be able to interpret them and make me feel better. I knew that if I told her she’d say the same thing I thought and tell me that whatever choice I did end up making, it would all turn out fine. I was comforted for a moment by this, but I couldn’t get rid of the sick feeling in my stomach all morning.