Cerulean (One Thousand Blues) (16 page)
I sink down, wrapping my arms around my knees. “Will she recover?”
He squeezes my shoulder. “Nope. Seems to be a permanent state. That’s why we formed this colony. Your kin cares for one another. Survivors help those who… didn’t quite make it.”
“What about my father? Does anybody know what happened to my father?”
Brooke and Jesse have finally caught up. They stand near Captain’s chair. Captain looks over at Brooke, but she just shakes her head and whispers, “Plumaria’s husband.”
Captain curses again. “Give us some space!”
The lower portion of the beach slowly empties. “You know of my father?”
“Right sad story it is,” Captain says.
“He… he didn’t make it?”
“Oh, he made it all right. I helped him off the platform and brought him out here. And we waited… to see if Plum would recover.”
Their generation didn’t approve of the shortening of names, as was the trend in mine. My mother loved her name, Plumaria, but my father insisted on calling her ‘my little Plum.’
“But she didn’t recover.”
“No, she didn’t. Your father was beside himself. He told me he cut his gills first, and she copied him, desperate not to lose him.”
Nobody had ever shared how it happened. I was summoned to the Authority, who gave his condolences and then reassigned me to the children’s residence.
“Your father hadn’t been in the sunshine long enough to recover. He took his guilt to the highest rock there and threw himself off. He didn’t make it, li’l mermaid.”
Hope disappears into the seas and the wave of despair comes crashing over me. My father took his life, not once, but twice? Why did neither of them think about what they left behind? Me. All alone.
Captain turns to me, as serious as I have ever seen him. “You need to fight this. You’re strong, but you need to fight the sadness away.”
“How can I? The waves are dragging me underneath.”
“You haven’t spent enough time on the beaches to learn how to deal with waves. Let that sadness roll right over you. Then, when it retreats, you stand up and fight.”
“Fending off the despair is never that easy.” How can he understand? How can anyone living in this world of sunshine and happiness fully understand?
Captain takes my hand and squeezes tight. “I know it’s not easy. I lost someone myself.”
Captain knows the wanting, the longing, the grief?
“She was the first one we pulled from the ocean.”
“The first… She was from the
waters
?”
He nods. “She floated onto our shore aboard a chunk of wood. I nursed her back to health, and we fell for each other.”
“What happened?”
“We were expecting our first-born, and then… she disappeared.” Captain stares toward the ocean.
“Disappeared? Where did she go?” But I already know the answer. I have felt the ocean’s call myself.
He gestures to the water. “She didn’t have gills or Skin anymore. The ocean took her—took them—away from me.”
Two tears trickle down my cheeks.
Two more lost lives.
“Is that why you sail out every week?”
Captain nods. “I hauled the floating dock into your section of the waters and anchored it. Saving your people is how I fight the despair.”
He understands.
Captain grabs my hand again and squeezes tight. “I didn’t mean to deceive you, li’l mermaid. I just worried that you needed more time in the sun before dealing with all this. I always thought if Lili’ had a few more months of light, then…”
“Why does everyone keep talking about sunshine?”
“Why, that’s what causes the blues. We figure there’s something you must get from the light. A few months above the water, and the sadness goes away.” Captain points to a group, close in age to me, who laugh and joke with one another.
Pod members
, laughing.
“D—does the Authority know?” Someone with his power and reach should know of these things.
“Oh, he knows. Rachel wrote him a note, and I delivered it to the platform myself.” Captain crashes his fist onto his chair. “That’s the true shame of the matter.”
Since he never needs to fight the sadness, why should he care?
The importance of this question becomes clear. Why
doesn’t
the water affect the Authority the same way?
21
The rain has finally ended, but the mist still hovers over the beach. The sun’s rays finally break free from their cloudy cover. I watch the sunlight dance upon my skin.
I have found my cure.
Humans were never meant to exist entirely within the waters. Even our fellow underwater mammal cousins—the dolphins and the whales—breach the Surface.
I could accept ignorance. If the Authority and his Committee simply did not know what was causing the despair, I could understand. But to know—to let the people you are entrusted with die off, one by one—that is unforgiveable.
Captain’s voice echoes in my head:
You need to fight this. You’re strong, but you need to fight the sadness away.
My voice chimes in:
Fight the injustice that stole my parents away.
I will return under the water. I will share the cure and tell people of the Land.
I learned too late to save my parents, but I will protect the others. Even if it means challenging the Authority.
I look into the azure sky, toward the sun, the
cure
. My heart clenches. Colors paint the sky—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.
A rainbow. The colors glow, as beautiful as I always imagined.
Turning to see the others’ reactions, I spot a girl climbing down from the steep black rocks. She stares at me. Her pale, pink-tinged skin seems unfamiliar to me, but her wavy red hair reminds me of…
Could it be?
The girl finishes her climb down and calls across the beach, but she remains too far away to hear.
As she grows closer, I see the familiar color of her eyes: the same cerulean as the sea, the unusual eyes of my closest friend.
We run towards each other. We embrace, for the first time underneath sunlight and painted sky.
After all this time, ’Bow has returned to me.
Cerulean is dedicated to Ric O’Barry and the Cove Guardians.
Dolphins and whales are still slaughtered by the thousands year after year. Thank you to all the brave, modern-day warriors who risk themselves to ensure that the Hakus of the world will survive until the future.
If the Pairings touched you, consider taking action to help protect the dolphins.
http://www.seashepherd.org/cove-guardians/what-you-can-do.html
I want to thank all of the people who contributed to Cerulean. Writing a novel is never a single-person endeavor. Without the inspiration, feedback, and support of the following people, the ideas behind Cerulean may have never made it to their written form.
Enormous hugs and thanks to:
My sister, who journeyed to her own island so many years ago (giving me good reason to visit her in paradise). Without those inspirational trips, Chey’s journey to Land wouldn’t have been nearly as vibrant. Mahalo, Colleen.
My critique partners at CC. Your suggestions and ideas helped shape this novel.
My extraordinary team of beta-readers. Stephanie, Laurie, Caity, Diane, Logan, and Izze—your feedback was invaluable. (And special thanks to Logan for saving me from the embarrassment of the Chevrolet Mustang. Who knew there wasn’t such a vehicle?)
The Red Adept editing team, who worked tirelessly to ensure Cerulean was as polished and error-free as possible.
Renu Sharma, for the amazing cover. Your artwork truly inspires. If only I could write fast enough to capture all of the ideas that it brings.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to read Cerulean. I hope it was as much fun for you to read, as it was for me to write. Cerulean does ask the reader to take a leap of faith. Is it possible for humans to communicate with other marine mammals? Could humans and marine mammals really co-exist?
The answers are not clear at this point in our history, but evidence is mounting that dolphins and whales are sentient, intelligent creatures. Dolphins have been observed using unique signature whistles to identify one another. Whale communication is so complex that researchers are still trying to fully understand its meanings. And in 2012, a group of marine biologists and philosophers joined together to advocate for a universal bill of rights for dolphins and whales, citing sufficient evidence of intelligence and self-awareness.
Could humans really exist under the waters? Who knows? It was fun to create Chey’s watery world though.
Cerulean addresses some serious issues. If the discussions about depression and suicide triggered you in any manner, please seek out a mental health professional to gain support. Psychologists and therapists are typically far more empathic than Dr. Cloud!
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