Everyone sits around a table littered with empty plates. They concentrate on a card game. “Did you find her?” Jesse is the first to greet me. I nod. Sydney rushes up to give me a hug. “Was she happy to see you?” Captain pats me on the back. “I’m glad you met up. How’s your dolphin faring?” I ignore all their questions and ask the most important of my own. “Do you know where the Land of the Black Sand is?” The friendly chatter stops. Nobody looks at me. The absence of response gives me my answer. Just when I was building new friendships, I am cut by another round of betrayal. Jesse reaches for my hand, but I shrug away. The nighttime conversation atop the House of the Sun comes to mind: Kin belongs with kin. “There are really survivors? How? Why didn’t you tell me?” Captain gently pushes me down into a chair. He sits across from me and looks into my eyes. “Li’l mermaid, we weren’t trying to deceive you. We weren’t sure you were strong enough yet.” Sydney nods.
What do You think about Cerulean (One Thousand Blues)?
