Word Count
1077
The wind brushed through her fur. It was days like this that she could sit and contemplate. With no particular jobs in line today she was allowing herself time to think, to dream with her paws in the waves.
As she watched the soothing waves she thought back to her younger days. Back when she had little to think about and even less to worry about;
It wasn't long after her rites. She could finally go to the waters edge when ever she wanted to, she could finally dive in and swim the salty brine. It was a little frightening though, to think she could face the deep blue sea without any supervision. This was her first time though, standing at the waters edge and while she desperately wanted to jump in, she felt afraid.
She was descended from a long line of lions that were born by the sea. It was ingrained in every fibre of her being that she should both love and fear the ocean. She could have run in there and then but the feeling of worry stopped her. She took a sigh, a sigh that told her that perhaps today was not the day when she would just dive in. Looking up and down the beach the teal lioness smiled a careful smile to no one but herself. She would go where her mother used to take her, where the sea was not really the sea.
Picking up her young paws she slowly made her way down the soft blond sand, her paws leaving foot prints behind her. She stopped for a moment and looked backwards, her prints were already gone. The water had risen behind her and wiped away any knowledge that she had been there. She stood quietly and watched as the water slipped quietly over her own paws and she let her mind ponder the temporary nature of her world, how within moments it could be wiped away. She hated these moments, moments when it felt like her life, her world meant nothing, that the waves would crash down and remove her life from around her. Her simple, perfect life.
A little laugh rolled over her lips as she thought about this. Fears of what could potentially be? It wasn't like her to be afraid of the world she knew so well. It wasn't like her to be worried. She was known in her family as the happy go lucky one, she wasn't looking for anything serious, she wasn't looking for meaning in her life, she didn't need that, she just wanted to be carefree and happy. That happiness it could start at the rock pools. Letting out a deep breath she continued down the beach the rocky outcrop could be seen from every where in the Bahari'mtoto it was a safe place, a place to watch little fish, to gaze at the beautiful anemone and play with the tiny hermit crabs. A place where mothers fetched their young to play for the first time in the shallow tide pools and learn about the place they lived. It was a place she loved.
Tarni had loved these pools since the day her mother and father had fetched the whole litter here. Her whole family had come down for the occasion, new family, new life in to the pride, a new generation in a long line of sea-lions. It had been a day of great adventure for them, they were new and young and didn't know their toes from their tails, or so it seemed at the time. They met everyone, from their aunts and uncles to their grandfather and grand mother. The patriarch and Matriarch of their family line were well respected, loved by their children and grand children. It was an amazing time they spent hours playing in the newly formed tide pools before their mother and father had pulled them away back to their den and a well deserved sleep.She remembered fondly how tired she had been, how even though she had wanted to stay awake and talk to her siblings about all of the things they had discovered, she just couldn't, the salty fresh sea air and excitement had left her exhausted. She remembered the sound of her mothers voice as she sang a sweet lullaby, a song that she could recite word for word even to this day. A song so beautiful she couldn't help but hum it as she let her paws pull her up in to the rocky sills of the tidal pools.
The froth of the sea as the tide rushed against the rocky outcrop made her turn her head. Before long the dark stones would once again be covered and the days captives would return to the sea to be replaced by new little friends to watch as they bustled about their tiny little lives. Only the hermit crabs and the few bristly corals would remain as permanent residents of the shallow pools. It was a beautiful place to ponder and reflect. These lovely little creatures, they didn't think about their lives ahead, they didn't worry or stress they just thought about the next tide, the next meal, the next mate. She had watched hundreds of tiny fish flit in and out of tiny hidden caves and often wondered if they decided to stay, if the fish she saw the day before was the same creature or if it had left with the high tide only to be usurped by a new denizen of the deep.
It didn't matter, she knew that and as another wave washed up against the deep stones she stood and ran towards the rocky edge, her young powerful legs launching her in to the salty sea. Her head submerged for a moment but as she rose and took a deep, cleansing breath she found herself bobbing in the waves, the salty brine tickled her nose and pinched at her eyes causing her world to seem blurry for a few moments. Her vision cleared though and with powerful strokes she swam off towards the sun, enjoying the cool refreshing waves and her first time unsupervised.
Tarni took a deep breath, her reminiscence was to be interrupted it seemed as her slightly older sister called her name. She couldn't help but sigh, she would have to return her another day and continue her reverie, she decided it was a good way to spend a lazy afternoon.
