A Pillowy Sea

The sea stretched before Mariah like an endless chasm, waiting for her to tire enough to suck her into its depths.

The wind that had carried her had died down hours ago, and her wings were flagging. After a full day of flying, everything was tired, her arms and legs, even her face, beaten by the wind and stray bits of matter hiding in its currents.

The western horizon was calling the sun to bed, and Mariah slowly lost momentum until she was flying below the clouds.

Someone will see me. Am I out of Varidian yet? Are the soldiers still coming? Will they kill me? I can’t survive being a slave. Her mind was a like a mouse stuck in a bucket, darting back and forth endlessly but never escaping.

Soon, she was so low she could feel the spray of the ocean moisten her wind-burned face.

I should just give in, let the sea take me. At least I’d be free. And I could rest.

“You must fly!” Her father’s words rang out in her head, pushing air beneath her wings and lifting her back up.

So she flew. Before long, she was sinking again, the swells of the Granite Sea fluffy pillows, inviting her to rest as the sunlight faded.

But there. Just ahead. She blinked her eyes furiously and focused again. A wide shelf of rock stretched away from a sandy beach.
She almost missed it. Hitting solid ground sent her into a headlong roll.

When she finally stopped, she stared up into the fading light, her wings spread wide on the rock to either side of her. Had she finally reached Cillian? Had she finally reached freedom?

It didn’t matter.

Her eyes drifted closed, and her mind to finally came to rest.

 

Copyright 2018 by J. Elizabeth Vincent