i hear the ocean calling; Posted on November 18, 2023 at 09:53:18 AM by charybdis
"come with me instead..." She rolled ashore in the depth of the night, her pale figure luminous even despite the way the moon was shrouded with heavy cloud. Quiet as a ghost - one might even have thought her a vision coalescing out of the mist that was creeping in from the sea - the mare meandered inland, not even shaking the cold saltwater from her hide.
Her course seemed aimless, with frequent changes in direction, and there were several occasions that she spooked, but there was never anything visible to account for her startlement. Eventually, at the cusp of a meadow of sparse, dry grass, within earshot of a fresh water source, she stopped suddenly, and half turned, head dropped low, ears splayed, gaze fixed upon te roots and leaf litter just ahead of her.
Without warning, she spoke, her voice husky and harsh, seeming so out of place compared to her slim, lean build, and the way she’d journeyed with grace that bordered on ethereal. “It is dis eye of mine, and not dese ears, dat fail me. I know you are dere, lingering in de shadows. I would caution against trailing in my wake. Not even I know where I am going anymore.”
Whispers of movement rippled toward her from all sides. Perhaps she had more than one uninvited companion? Her head snapped up, and she peered into the shadows, pallid nostrils flaring.
“Come,” she demanded, as though she is not vulnerable, a lone mare in the dark of night, having revealed her impairment. (The mare called Charybdis has never been more dangerous than she is now - so deep awash in memories of all she has lost that she can no longer see clearly that which she can still call hers, and claim connection to.) The next words hiss into the stillness of the night like a rapidly incoming tide. “Stand where I can see you.” There is a shifting in her posture then, a curl of her lip that was almost predatory. It was clear as water - she was in no mood to be kept waiting, and neither would she deign to repeat herself.
She’d plunge headlong into the drowning darkness and drag the unwelcome shadow she had acquired into the light with her teeth, if she had to.