short stories

The Song

Far above, a white dot hovered, circled, glided and then fell down towards her before catching the updraft and rising again. Ana watched the seagull for a while before turning in the water and diving again. She felt as if she were completely alone in the sea and as though she’d been swimming for weeks rather than days.

Her destination was the Great Ocean Ridge. The Great Ones would soon be passing on their  annual migration and their song would be picked up more clearly from the Ridge. Ana was determined to hear it up close. She wanted to find out who she was; who her people were.

When her parents had discovered her intentions they’d been horrified. Her mother had even called a meeting of the Pod in an attempt to dissuade her.

‘Few have ever swum so far and returned,’ said Marla, the Wise One, ‘and those who have, have never been right in the head again.’

‘Why can you not listen to the Song from here with the rest of us, as we have always done?’ asked Juna, her mother.

Ana had held her head up defiantly. ‘I want to see the Song,’ she had said. For it was commonly believed that those who got close enough to the Song would be able to understand its meaning by seeing the images that were telepathically sent from one of the great gods to another. Her mother and sisters had shed tears for her when she left, but at least they knew that Ana was the strongest swimmer of them all. It wouldn’t be the first time that she had left the security of the cove for days on end. She had even escaped from the Fierce Ones on more than one occasion.

Ana calculated that she’d been at sea for five days. She had managed to catch fish on the way, and had slept, floating on the surface, for several hours each night. She had been lucky with the weather too, although there had been one small squall two days ago.  Ana paused again. The sun was now high in the sky and she had no idea whether she would time it right. So far, she had not heard a single note. Suddenly, Ana felt bumps rise on her skin, and knew she had company but she couldn’t see them yet. She floated, not wanting to attract attention with too many movements. A moment later, there was a splash behind her and she turned to see a shape leap clear out of the water, followed by two more. Ana, relieved, let out her breath. It was the Bright Ones.

‘Greetings,’ she whistled in a close approximation of their tongue.

‘Greetings, Pale One,’ they replied, and then she sensed them scanning her for information, about her mood, her intentions, her roots. They clicked and buzzed at each other but Ana could barely make out what they were saying. She followed them beneath the surface where it was much easier to communicate, and told them in her water tongue that she was swimming out to the Great Ridge. They were much better at speaking her language than she was at theirs.

‘We will accompany you,’ said one. ‘There are Fierce Ones in these waters.’ Ana was again amazed at the willingness of these people to help hers - always happy to act as their guardians of the sea.

They set off again, Ana doing her best to keep up but soon it became clear that she would be left behind, so the Bright Ones slowed their pace and began to circle her, laughing, chattering and splashing as they went. On the whole, Ana swam beneath the surface, rising for air every minute or so, but she wasn’t designed in the same way that they were, with blow-holes on their backs which enabled them to breathe without losing speed.

They continued like this for the rest of the day, the Bright Ones even bringing her fish, which they were much better at catching. During the night they disappeared and Ana guessed that her friends had intercepted a Fierce One, which she knew they would happily send on its way.

Close to evening the following night they heard the first strain. It was beginning. Every year Ana and her people listened to the haunting melody and tried to glean some sense of its meaning. Rumour had it that the Song told the history of the Sea and the Land and that whoever got close enough to its source would discover complete enlightenment as it passed through them. Ana herself had never met anyone who had done such a thing, but ever since she was a child, she had been determined to experience this wonder for herself.

The Singer’s call was answered and Ana knew that she was close. If she travelled through the night, she might reach the actual Song by noon the next day. The Bright Ones became exuberant as the Song began to pick up. They had obviously heard it many times before and usually travelled in great schools to the Ridge.

As she swam through the night, Ana felt buoyed up and pulled along by the flow of sounds. There were perhaps two or three Singers and they were beginning to sing in harmony.  As the first rays of sunlight appeared above the eastern horizon, Ana suddenly felt a great gush of joy as parts of the symphony began to pass through her. She couldn’t see anything yet, but she felt she understood that the Song was a celebration of life, and a blessing on all who passed through it.

Then, without any warning the images began. She had lost her companions somewhere along the way but she was no longer concerned. The Song was speaking to her. She could see the oceans covering a great round ball that was floating in black space. Out of the oceans there rose rocks, which separated and flattened out into great continents of land. She saw rivers spring up and run down peaks into the seas. She saw forests of green trees consume the land. And then she saw the Great Ones. She was one of them and her existence was bliss.

Ana closed her eyes and allowed herself to be pulled into the current of music. It was getting more intense all the time. The images were unfolding all around her in the murky depths, the only pause being when she came up for air. Sunlight was sparkling on the waves as she dived again. She was one of them. She let the music flood over her.

They were swimming together; whole families, young ones around her - song, feeding, play. The seas were blue like she’d never seen them and full of food. But then the Song began to change. Ana felt herself being dragged deeper into it but now the images were confusing. The land began to change colour as the trees disappeared. Black patches of dust and smoke began to appear and started to slide into the water. The seas became full of noise. The Great Ones increased the tempo and the intensity of their Song in order to be heard. Something was coming; they began to swim, to flee. Suddenly, a dark bolt shot through them. The seas turned red and the Great Ones were being pulled from the sea by a great, black, unknown presence. Ana was screaming with fear; the seas around her were thrashing and turbulent and the water was thick – with blood! Even the Bright Ones were being slaughtered! She couldn’t see anything but she sensed the danger and surfacing, breathed desperately, trying to fill her lungs with life. But the danger was here too and she felt that there would be no escape.

When she returned to the murky depths, the Song had resumed its strained and haunting course, but she could no longer see any of the Singers. She could fathom that most had been taken and the few that remained had fled to the coldest reaches of the oceans. She cried for them, and for herself and for all who shared the oceans, because now they were no longer red, they were black. She found herself swimming among dead and poisoned fish, birds, sea-peoples. She could find nowhere to surface that wasn’t clear of the blackness, the stench, the death. She thought she would suffocate, but she let the notes of the Song carry her and bore it out until another Singer took over and began to sing of the aftermath.

Again Ana saw the ball of ocean and land but now the blackness covered everything. She watched it thrashing in agony as one by one its systems were extinguished and it began to die. The notes of the Song were so melancholy now that Ana didn’t think she could bear it. She became aware of a great mourning and realized that she was not the only listener in these waters. The Bright Ones too, were sad.

But then the Song began to change again. A note of hope sounded from far away. Ana watched the World heave itself back into life. The white patches at the top and bottom of the sphere began to disappear and the seas rose up in response. The black landmasses were slowly consumed and the Oceans began to reclaim their blueness. The bringers of pain had disappeared, along with their noise, their suffocating stench and their destruction.  The Great Ones began to reappear and more singers joined the Song. They travelled the oceans together once more and rediscovered their joy.

As the Song reached its ecstatic climax, Ana felt a great joy bursting inside her and broke the surface, filled with the enlightenment she had so long sought. She was surprised to discover that the moon had risen long ago. Ana tried to rest but all she could do was cry and feel a deep sense of regret for the way all the peoples of the sea had suffered. What about her own people? She hadn’t seen them in the images. They hadn’t filled the seas as the other peoples had. Perhaps they just weren’t significant.

As the first rays of sunlight once again broke free of the ocean, Ana turned and began to head for home.  As she did so a great shape rose out of the water ahead of her. Ana gasped in reverence. A Great One! He was moving closer. Now that she was no longer a part of the Song she felt intimidated by His enormous size.  She began to weep though she didn’t know why. She felt sad and she felt guilty.

‘Who am I?’ she whispered into the darkness and as the great, forgiving eye drew up against her face, she saw herself reflected there and realized she knew the answer.

The End

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