You Were Born in the Sea: Part Two

A parable, of sorts. Click here for part one. 

Time trickles by.

One day you wander so far that you end up spending the night in this strange new place.
It feels good to slip into old habits the next day and give your sore muscles a rest. There are so many new things to explore, though, that you slowly begin spending more and more time wandering away. Eventually you don’t even need to come back for.

Seasons pass.

One day you come back to the in-between place. The others have returned, their solemn heads bobbing up and down as they watch you swim to them.

“You won’t believe what I’ve seen! The water there is solid but not frozen. Instead of swimming you stand or climb. I’ve even seen some who have figured out how to swim above it.”

Some of the others look puzzled, angry, skeptical.

“There are still places where water is wet…especially after a storm. But you can usually find a puddle of it somewhere when you’re thirsty.”

“What’s wet?” one of the leaders asks.  You hesitate, wondering how to describe something they’ve always had.

“Have you been eating that weird algae again?” someone else asks.

“No,” you say.  “Listen, it’s hard to explain. Why don’t you come see for yourselves?”

“There’s no such thing as solid water,” the leader replied. “Maybe you stepped on a sea turtle by mistake. Come back home with us. There’s no need to mention this again.”

Part of you wants to swim back and forget everything. It’s incredibly lonely to eat, sleep and explore without any companionship but you cannot imagine pretending to un-know all that you have seen.

“No, I’m staying.” The others begin to slowly swim away.

For a moment the companion you originally discovered this new sea with hesitates and then she, too, joins them.

There is silence once again.

You settle back into a routine of eating, sleeping and exploring. At night you stare at the stars and tell yourself stories about their origins.

And then one day just as you’ve slump into the realization that there is no one else in this strange new place….

“Hellllooo!”

9 Comments

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9 Responses to You Were Born in the Sea: Part Two

  1. The Wise Fool

    I like it!  It reminds me a little of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.  Are there more parts coming?

    By the way, don’t forget to add the link to Part 1. 😉

  2. Shokthegerman

    Ahhh left hanging … guess i can breathe again till the next part of the story comes out … u hooked me to say the least …

  3. BillyO

    there will always be the herd, and herds within the herd.  And then there are those of us who live to leave and return with stories and discoveries.  the herd needs both the stay homes and the leave homes in order to survive. 
         it could possibly be said that lonliness is the price of authenticity. 
            its also true about the darkness being most intense right before dawn.
    being original is more doable if you can just do it, just be it, and not need to convert or seduce others to agree.  just be and let it show and see who shows up. 
          good story, thanks for putting it up.  Lookin forward to more installments of this basic truth about human nature.

  4. Pingback: You Were Born in the Sea: Part Four | On The Other Hand

  5. Pingback: You Were Born in the Sea: Part Three | On The Other Hand

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