tulip

Tulip's time in the Arch had done nothing to bring her happiness away from the rest of her family. She had clung to her mother's side like a pale rosy shadow. Much of the time they spent it staring off across the ocean. Tulip didn't know why Çiçek did this, but she was old enough to recognize the longing and pain in the angular curves of her mother's elegant face.

When it had been time to return to the Cove, Tulip had been elated. They'd all be together again, and she was sure the smile would return to her mother's face. She had raced on ahead, her speckled legs kicking up snow and dirt alike. The reunion had been an emotional one, Tulip cared deeply for her family. Not just her immediate one but her half siblings, aunts, uncles; all of them. But Çiçek hadn't appeared. Tulip waited. And waited.

And waited.

And still Çiçek did not arrive in the Cove. They'd spoken about the Ridge, and her life before this one. Tulip struggled with the idea of missing her mother but giving her space. Whatever the reason she'd gone, Çiçek had done it for a reason. It was then Tulip's turn to stare off into the sea and brood with the wind whipping in her hair. Her decision to search for her mother had not been one she had taken lightly. Tulip knew one day her life would have to begin. She could not linger in the Cove for all of eternity, though she would have. Her first stop would be the Ridge, to see Çiçek. She at least wanted to make sure her mother was well. She missed her, dearly.

Tulip had never left Tinuvel. For several days she had stomped up and down the coast, working up the courage to make the swim. She'd splashed in these waters, even in the dead of winter, she didn't fear the sea. She feared what was beyond it.

One morning, after telling her family goodbye, Tulip finally leaped headfirst into the ocean. The swim had been strange and disorienting, and even though she'd been given directions, she found herself turned around and confused more than once. She finally trotted up the coast of Atlantis. The humidity clung to her Tinuvel-grown coat, bogging her down worse than the salt water. She was in awe of the bright green trees, and the absence of snow, as she lingered on the shore. She did not give herself time to marvel at the sights, however.

"Mother?" she called out, assuming she had in fact reached the Ridge. It certainly looked like what a jungle had been explained to her as. And it was warm. (Too warm, if you asked her.) She had no idea she'd actually stumbled upon Paradise after taking a wrong turn in the currents. "Mother?" she called again, hoping Çiçek would appear from the foliage.