Astrila is a normal girl in her Inuit tribe, but is left alone by her mother's death. She runs to the cliffs that overlook the sea and grieves, before she slips and falls off of the cliff into the icy sea. Something saves her, but what is it? Join h...
Ahnah ducks through the iglu doorway and Astrila scrambles to her feet, the snow crunching beneath her boots. Ahnah looks at Astrila, whose face is drawn with worry.
"I'm sorry, Astrila. There is nothing I can do. She is going to die."
Without responding to the village shaman and healer, Astrila bursts past her and into the room, half-lit by oil lamps. Her mother is sitting up against a pile of pillows and furs, her face gaunt.
"Anaana, you can't die, not now!"
Tears run down Astrila's face as her mother beckons her closer. Astrila moves to the side of the bed and her mother weakly pulls her into her arms and a hug.
"It's alright Astrila. Let it out."
Astrila starts sobbing as her mother strokes her inky black hair. After a few minutes, the tears slow and fade. Astrila pulls back slightly to look at her mother with red and puffy eyes. Her mother, Amka, is watching her with bright eyes despite the exhaustion she certainly feels.
"I have something for you, Astrila."
Astrila's brows furrow in confusion and she frowns. "Anaana?"
Amka reaches behind herself and lifts something over her hair. She holds it out to Astrila, whose eyes instantly narrow in on the pendant.
Astrila's voice is laced with surprise. "Your fishhook? Anaana, are you sure?"
Amka smiles wearily at Astrila. "My little seal pup, you're not little anymore. It's time to make your own place in the world, I just won't be there to see it. Besides, this fishhook is an important piece to who you are."
Astrila gently reaches forward to take the pendant before burying her head against her mother's chest, just listening to her heart. Her mother's heartbeat is weak and irregular, and as the moments tick by it is harder and harder for Astrila to detect it. There is a sigh from Amka and her heartbeat fades entirely. Astrila lifts her head up.
"Anaana? Anaana!"
There is no response from Amka and Astrila starts to wail in grief. Ahnah hears Astrila's cries and rushes in.
"Astrila, come on. Come out of the room now."
Ahnah gently pushes Astrila out of the door and away from the cottage and leaves her standing in the snow a few meters away from the cottage. Astrila stands there unmoving, numb in her grief. Slowly, her thoughts return to her and Astrila realizes that she has been staring blankly towards the sea. Something sharp is poking against the skin of Astrila's palm and she looks down at her hand to see the pendant sitting there, its carved surface gleaming dimly in the fading light of the winter day. Astrila slips the pendant over her head and tugs on the end of the cords to tighten it so that it won't fall off.
She breaks into a sprint, running in the direction of the cliffs that overlook the sea, only about a kilometer or so away from the village. Astrila slows when she reaches the cliff, as its bare stone surface is covered with a slippery layer of ice. All the snow has been blown away by the sea winds,so all that is left is the ice. Astrila approaches the edge of the cliff and sits carefully, leaning over the edge to look down at the sea below, it's dark surface dotted with the white chunks of ice. Astrila cradles her head in her hands and lets herself cry.
A puddle slowly forms beneath her face as the hot tears melt away the ice beneath. The puddle is right on the very edge of the cliff and occasionally, a tear misses the puddle and falls to the sea instead, despite the white chunks of ice that are slowly consuming the shoreline. Seven tears escape over the cliff this way, unbeknown to Astrila herself. Astrila wipes her face to keep the tears from freezing to her skin and uncurls her feet from beneath her to stand. She pushes herself up, but since she is standing so close to the edge, she has no space to recover when her feet slip on the ice that is slippery with her own tears.
Astrila slips, and the momentum sends her tumbling over the edge of the cliff and through the air, screaming as she plummets towards the freezing ocean below. The impact of hitting the water forces the air from her lungs, despite her best attempts to keep it there. Astrila kicks her arms and legs weakly, trying to return to the surface before she drowns. Astrila manages to reach the surface for one brief moment and gasps wildly for a breath of air. She gets one full breath before her limbs go numb due to the cold and she sinks down again, unable to keep her frozen body moving.
The last thing Astrila sees is a dark shape cutting smoothly through the water toward her. She hovers there, meters beneath the surface of the water, hearing murmurs from the darkness around her. An instant later, a blinding pain flares through her body like a flame. One of the symptoms of hypothermia? Her mind can't focus on it, the cold is shutting her mind down. After an unidentifiable period of time, the wave of pain finally ebbs and Astrila returns to the state of no feeling. The murmurs continue, sounding increasingly worried and frantic. Astrila tries to speak, tries to tell them to be quiet, but her body doesn't respond to her. The darkness swells, rendering her unconscious to anything and everything around her. ________________________________________________________________________________ Oh no! What's happening to Astrila? What do you think she saw in the water? Are you guys excited for this book? Tell me your thoughts! Oh! Here is a picture of Astrila for you!
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