If I Tell Him

Chapter One

A fisherman's life was lonely; well at least his was. But he had chosen it nevertheless.

Still, there was something particularly unsettling about this day. He almost wished there was someone to reassure him that he was wrong, that nothing was amiss. Silence and lack of human companionship never struck him as odd as it did now...The water, which was usually pleasant and bountiful, gave him no catch. Off days did happen, but looking into the dark pool beside his boat, suspicion could not help but rise up. Reaching out, Riftan held one hand just above the water, almost as if searching for something.

But he retracted his limb as a small spray of water hit his palm, before looking into the sky. It was quite obvious a storm was rolling in, the ominous, almost black clouds in his vision a clear sign. But something kept him anchored to his seat in the small boat. A bit of the course wood had scratched his arm when he withdrew it, and Riftan unflinchingly watched as the blood dripped from his tiny wound into the water.

Why did he sit there? Was it morbid curiosity? Perhaps he only wanted to know why his dog, Talon, would not cease barking into the sea. It should have scared him, irritated him at least, but the sound only droned on in the background after a while, and he could not hear it. Like the sound of the waves pushing and pulling on the shore, he had long become deaf to it.

Maybe it was that he had grown tired of the monotony of life and wished for something new to happen, even if it was drowning beneath the surface.

But he did come to his senses. In town, many people relied on him for food to eat. And he couldn't drag an innocent animal into his dramatic plight either.

With one sharp whistle, he was able to quiet the animal. Talon looked around once more like he wanted to start yapping again, but lowered his head before walking over to Riftan and nudging his ankles.

"It's alright." He patted the dog's head before finally drawing the empty nets back and getting in position to move. Just then, it began to lightly drizzle, and a flash of lightning momentarily brightened one corner of the sky. He glared at the sight, moving faster as his limbs urged him to go without anymore hesitation. On second thought, drowning would not be a particularly pleasant way to die.

And now he grabbed for the oars. It was a rather heavy vehicle, but Riftan had long gotten used to steering the thing. So he was surprised at feeling a slight strain on his muscles when he began rowing- it was still no issue, and yet, that the water had become turbulent so suddenly was abnormal for the region.

But thinking of how weird the situation was didn't matter at all, so he banished the thoughts and focused on moving forward. That was all he did recently; push his thinking away and move, move so there wasn't a chance to dwell on the past. Taking action, whatever that entailed, was part of his nature. Deep down Riftan knew he would never sit and wait for his end. Up until that moment he would be fighting, charging towards victory.

In this world, few were graced with a peaceful departure. Between the wars, hunger and abuse the people suffered, there wasn't much chance of it. He just hoped his own wouldn't be too painful.

He successfully anchored the boat near his home, and what was a light drizzle now came down in fat, persistent drops. Each speck of water felt as cold as ice on his skin. Though he involuntarily shivered at times- maybe he was still human- Riftan never flinched as the downpour drenched his body, used to living in terrible conditions. Instead he picked up Talon, sheilding him with his cloak, and climbed out of the boat.

Standing on the dock, he paused for a moment and looked over the horizon. With the sun gone, the sea looked just as black and dangerous as the sky above. It looked like a bottomless pit, with raging waves that would unforgivingly kill a person in a heart beat, that would drag a helpless body along with them until it succumbed to the power. For a second, he wondered how it could do that one day, and the next be so calm and inviting. How it could feed so many and then turn into this, this sight...that looked like it came from hell itself.