Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

31. A HOUSE WITH THE YELLOW DOOR

A small house on the beach had been my parent's home away from home for years. They spent their summers there swimming, diving, sailing and that one time, changing the life of an Aquantien girl forever.

That wooden house painted teal blue had a special place in my heart. Its yellow door matched the ones on our house in the suburb, but looking through its windows, one would not see cypresses or the tall grass. Instead, there was a sailor's paradise in the form of endless blue water that moved in synchrony with the movement of the Moon.

Last summer I made some wonderful memories with my new family in that house. Once all my stitches healed, I was allowed to swim. The first contact with the water after all those changes felt so strange. I must have drunk half the ocean before I learnt to keep my mouth shut when I was swimming.

My father bought me a very simple but unusual device that I put on my nose to prevent the water from coming in through the nostrils. Without gills, there was no way for it to get out. It would go straight to the lungs, causing waves of coughing.

Eventually, I got the hang of it. I learnt how to hold my breath while diving, a skill that was so unnecessary before. I even came to peace with the loss of speed caused by the lack of webbing between the fingers and toes.

Swimming in the ocean was the part of my former life that I missed the most.

As soon as the car pulled over, I jumped out. I could see the shimmering water, I could smell the salty air, I could hear the song of the waves. I suppose I too heard the water calling me.

Wait just a while longer, my thoughts whispered to the sea.

It seemed like it took forever to unload our luggage and carry it inside. The fact that I was constantly looking over my shoulder did not help speed things up.

"Go," my mother said with a smile that touched the corners of her eyes. "Make sure the sea is still salty."

She did not have to tell me twice. I ran towards the coast line. My footsteps made the gravel on the beach grumble. I kicked off my sandals and let the waves caress my bare feet.

I remembered the words my father had said soon after my transition to land was completed.

"When you dip a finger into the sea, you are connected to the entire world."

As I stood there, my feet connecting me to the whole world, my gaze fell upon a silhouette of a person standing on a stone pier not far from me.

The breeze tangled up its fingers into her hair, moving it away from her face. It played with the silk scarf around her neck, making it seem like fairy wings.

The more I stared at her, the more familiar her silhouette seemed. My feet moved on their own, taking me towards the woman standing on the pier. I startled her when I addressed her.

"Professor Cyan?" I said when I came close enough for her to hear me.

She turned around to look at me with wide open eyes. "Azora? What are you doing here? Have you followed me?"

Followed her? Of course didn't follow her. I had no idea that, of all the places in the world, I would meet her right here.

"No! My parents own a house here on the beach," I hurried to explain, pointing at the house with the yellow door. "They've been coming here for years and, now that I'm a part of their family, I've joined them."

"Isn't that just an astounding coincidence?" she said, but because of the way she said it, I seriously doubted she considered that coincidence to be astounding at all.