Ther e and Back Again

Third Issue: Seven Seas

There and Back Again Online Editorial

Issue 3

May

Edited by Jackie Falcon

Copyright belongs to There and Back Again

Contents:

“Fin Whale”…………………………………..Indigo Crow

“Sharks Do Smile”………………………………….…M.S.

“Soul of the Depths”…………………………...C. Bowland

“When a Mermaid Cries”…………………………...Shelby

“Sun’s Spell”…………………………………October Skye

“For Nothing”………………………………..October Skye

“Pacific Isle”…………………………………Jackie Falcon

“Quotes”……………………………………………….Staff

“Haven’t the Foggiest”……………………….Jackie Falcon

Fin Whale by Indigo Crow

A slow waltz marks the steady strokes of a tail

As tons of a-kind-of-nothing are pushed aside

Visible right-handed ability marks royalty

The true white shown stands for purity

And clearness of the mind

Sharks Do Smile Artwork done by M.S.

Soul of the Depths by C. Bowland

The whispers of the dead hang thick in the air

The song of a naiad, a desperate prayer

Cries of seagulls fall to the rocks

The waves as rhythmic as ticks on clocks

Shouts from pirates haunt and echo

Fish of the waters are stirred by this bellow

Thieves of afar take rich oaken chests

But are curst by the soul of the ocean depths

None have survived this merciless threat

Helpless sailors taken to pay a dark debt

The cries of desperation, clash of swords

A man clutches a locket, muttering last words

His friend sits by him, tears flood his eyes

They said they'd be safe, but they were all lies

It is something you must obey no matter the cost

The soul of the depths is the reason for many lives lost

When a Mermaid Cries by Shelby

“It’s me, not you”

That’s what he said, but it’s not true

How can I love him, can’t he see?

Then how can he not love me

He could be with me for man can swim

But I, a mermaid, cannot walk with him

I cannot run on the beach or walk in the sand

He’ll never step on my toes while we dance on the land

I’ll never forget when he walked away

I dove down, to depth one cannot say

I huddled there, in the cold, dark water

I could see his face, hear his laughter

His memory wouldn’t leave

It’s etched in my mind, I perceive

I loved him, but you can see

How he never loved me

He has the sun and I have the mire

I am like water and he is like fire

My tears still fall, thanks to his lies

But how can you tell when a mermaid cries?

Sun’s Spell Artwork done by October Skye

For Nothing by October Skye

Darkness surrounded the girl as she kicked and struggled in the

cold ocean water. No matter how hard she tried there was no

escaping the viselike grip around her ankle that was dragging her

deeper into the abyss. Her lungs burned, crying for air, and in

desperation she inhaled the salt water around her. Then the hand

pulling her down released, and she flailed in the water, finally

breaking the surface.

Precious air filled her aching lungs, but the back of her throat

was still on fire from the water that had gone up her nose. She

gasped and thrashed around in the water looking for her assailant.

The water was deceptively calm, and she saw with alarm that she

had been drug far from the rocks where she had fallen from.

Panic coursed through her veins and she hysterically began

swimming towards them.

She made no progress for as soon as she tried to escape a hand

from the depths grabbed hold of her blonde hair and drug her back.

The girl fought and clawed at the hand but her attacker was far

stronger than she. As soon as the hand let go it disappeared into

the deep with out a trace.

The girl’s heart was racing, and her breathing was fast and

irregular as she treaded water, quickly getting tired. She felt

something brush her leg and she recoiled from whatever had

touched her with a scream. Her lip was beginning to quiver with

cold and fear but nothing tried to drown her—at least for a few

minutes.

She could feel the cold and exhaustion creeping into her

bones, making her muscles ache and hurt. She debated trying to

flee back to shore but the thought had barely occurred to her before

both her ankles were seized and she was drug under again.

This time she could feel herself weakening, and even though

she struggled her best it made no difference. Unconsciously she

opened her eyes, the salt water instantly stinging them, and peered

into the greenish murk. A woman’s face materialized out of the

cloudy water suddenly. Her hair was green and stringy, and her

complexion was pale like a ghosts. She grinned at the girl showing

her gleaming wicked fangs and blood red lips. She was amused at

the girls fear. Two more faces emerged from the depths identical

to the first. Echoes of their laughter pulsed through the water

sending a shiver of terror through the girl. Their unearthly beauty

and musical laughter confirmed to the girl what the creatures were.

They were mermaids.

The girl felt her will to live diminish greatly as she realized

escaping this was impossible. She would drown. She just wished

the mermaids would stop playing with her and get it over with.

The mermaids would do no such thing however, for it was in

their very nature to toy with their victims.

Without warning the girl felt a sharp pain in her calf. Then the

hands, like shackles around her ankles, released her, and in spite of

herself she swam for the surface.

She was only slightly out of breath when she found the surface

but she was exhausted. The pain of her leg was causing her to

become dizzy, and the water around her became hazy with her

blood. The girl then realized that the only thing she wanted was a

quick death, not the torture she was enduring. She was too tired to

scream as one of the mermaids emerged in front of her, but she did

flinch. The mermaid fixed her with a compassionate look but then

broke into an evil smile. She splashed the girl, who was barely

staying afloat, making her cough and splutter.

Suddenly her face changed and anger replaced her taunting

look, but the girl didn’t understand the change. Her hand lashed

out catching the girl’s face with her dagger like nails. There was a

splash behind her. Before the girl could flounder around to see

what the disturbance was, the mermaid grabbed the collar of her

old dress and drug her under once more. This time the girl knew

the mermaid wouldn’t let her go again.

She could feel herself losing consciousness. The salt water

stung the wound on her calf and her lungs were desperate for air,

making her brain go fuzzy. The girl welcomed the escape from her

pain even if it meant death. She wouldn’t regret her death, for she

felt her existence was pathetic. Living at an orphanage wasn’t

living; it was wearisome and uneventful. It wasn’t a life at all.

The pain in the girl’s calf numbed, and the ache in her lungs

seemed less intense as everything blurred together into one

indistinct mess. She suddenly fell into a dreamlike state, and

nothing that happened afterward made sense.

She felt a light tug on her foot, and the mermaid released her

collar as if it had suddenly stung her. The mermaid let loose a cry

of anguish and she turned and swam away without explanation.

The girl could barely see the long tail fins of the other two as they

fled as well. She was puzzled at the mermaids’ odd behavior.

Why not stay and watch her drown? Isn’t that why they drowned

innocents? Because they found it amusing?

Then there was a tug on her waist and she was being pulled

upwards. Black dots where beginning to cloud her vision and then

instantly everything went black.

~~

“The cap’n will have yer head, Finn!” was the last thing Finn

heard Old Kell shout to him before his voice was stolen from

Finn’s ears by saltwater. Finn didn’t care, however, he couldn’t

just let the girl drown when he could save her. He didn’t fear the

mermaids at all for he had around his neck a mermaid’s scale. It

was the only thing anyone knew of to keep them from drowning

you as soon as they saw you. It was almost like a charm, but

obtaining one was near impossible.

Finn pushed against the water with his hands, propelling

himself quickly in the water. He barely noticed the water’s chill,

he was so intent on rescuing the girl, and it wasn’t long before he

reached her.

The mermaid dragging the girl downwards noticed Finn first

and shrieked in alarm, but it wasn’t until he grabbed the girl’s foot

that she finally let go. She retreated into the murk with her two

sisters, but not before she cast a seething glance back at him.

Then all Finn saw was the mermaids’ three tales swishing away in

the water like frightened fish.

Finn caught the girl’s waist and knew by the limpness in her

body that she was unconscious. He was glad that she was small;

otherwise he might not have managed hauling her all the way to

the surface. He wondered where she had been hurt because the girl

was bleeding, but he couldn’t do anything about it until they were

on the ship. That is if they made it that far.

Finn finally felt the cold when he broke the surface of the

water; the wind was like ice on his wet face. He quickly forgot his

discomfort because, even though her head was above water, the

girl wasn’t breathing.

“Kell!” Finn shouted to the crusty old man waiting on the

dingy some distance away.

The old man heaved a sigh, and began paddling at a

maddeningly slow pace towards the boy struggling with the weight

of the girl.

“Come on, you old coward!” Finn shouted, genuinely afraid

the girl was dead. But this didn’t quicken Old Kell’s rowing any.

Abruptly the girl coughed and heaved a gasping breath of air

into her lungs, and Finn breathed a sigh of relief. She was

disoriented, and tried to squirm out of his hold around her waist

that was keeping her firmly against his chest. Finn could feel her

exhaustion as though it was tangible, and her attempts at breaking

free were feeble. In a few seconds she slumped against him,

completely fatigued.

Old Kell eventually steered the small dingy over to Finn, and

with the air of a martyr he even helped him heave the girl into the

tiny boat. The girl moaned as he pulled on her arms, but other than

that she was too weary to make a sound. Finn pulled himself

aboard the craft, skillfully keeping it from tipping over, and helped

Old Kell lay the girl gently between the two benches. She was

shivering now and her lips where quivering and blue. Her soaked

blond hair and dress definitely didn’t help, but there was nothing

on the dingy to cover her up with.

Finn looked her over, looking for her wound. The scratch on

her face wasn’t bleeding but then he spotted the four puncture

wounds on her right calf that still gushed blood. There were

already a few large drops of it pooling at the bottom of the boat.

“Kell, give me your shirt,” Finn demanded, and the old man

complied at the sight of blood. Finn knew that in spite of being a

pirate, Old Kell was a very squeamish man.

He pressed the off-white cloth on her calf and she whimpered

and uttered a quiet, “Ow.”

“Who are you?” the girl asked Finn. Her voice was barely a

whisper because her throat was raw.

“I’m Finn and this is Kell,” he answered, and Kell grunted.

Old Kell was unenthusiastic about explaining this to the captain.

He began rowing back towards the Vengeful Lady, already

resigned to his fate.

“You saved me,” she said as if trying to sort everything out in

her head and Finn nodded, his wet brown hair slapping his

forehead.

“Thank you,” she told him softly with her eyes half closed, but

he shrugged it off.

“What’s your name?” he asked her, changing the subject.

“Skye,” she whispered, and her eyes fluttered shut.

“Well, Skye, I hope the Captain likes you,” Finn told her

quietly, knowing that her life depended on it. It would be terrible

if he had saved her from drowning for nothing.

Pacific Isle

Artwork by Jackie Falcon

Quotes:

“Writing, to me, is simply thinking through me fingers.” –Isaac

Asimov

“Dreams are illustrations…for the book your soul is writing about

you.” –Marsha Norman

“I am a writer because writing is the thing I do best.” –Flannery

O’Connor

“The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” –

Gustave Flaubert

Haven’t the Foggiest Notions from your Editor

You stand upon the brink of the world—for that is what it truly

feels like—as you stretch out your arms to the breeze and let it

whip your hair into your face. Pounding waves crash into the base

of the cliff, smacking their entire force against the immoveable

rocks you now stand upon. You feel safe. Nothing can tear you

down, you are sure of it. The taste of salt is upon your tongue,

your lips caked with sea spray.

You are free—as free as a gull that swoops and soars far out

across the chalky, foam-crested waves. The wind whips all the

harder, no longer an old man with a wispy breath—no, now it is a

young lass with long, winding tresses that wrap around your body

and try to pull down into the sea, down to your death upon the

sharp rocks hidden underneath the churning green water. But you

defy her, the fickle breeze that is playing games with your life,

your existence. And you breathe in the salty air tinged with

seawater. The horizon stretches out across the ocean in all

directions—one great mass of blue and green, marred only by

white spumes of foam and spray.

You are truly on top of the world

Regards, Jackie Falcon Editor of There and Back Again

END

Quote Credit goes to Brainy Quote:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/writing.html#qvTpvFpbPP2o

Gvqj.99

Clipart credit goes to Clipart ETC: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/

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