Magical Creatures

|Kai: A Call From The Sea|

by Lilian Carmine

I grab a piece of dry wood from the pile beside me and toss it into the faint glowing embers in front of me. It’s a feeble attempt to rekindle the fire, but it doesn’t work. The bonfire spits out some ashes in the air, and the red glow of the ember slowly fades away again. It seems the bonfire - along with the party - is on its last breaths.

I have to accept that my last night at home is coming to an end.

I can’t complain, though. This has been a great going-away party. Milo had done an amazing job organizing everything. I’m lucky to have a best friend who also happens to be the best party thrower on the island. There’s been good food and good drinks, with some enthusiastic singing and lots of laughter shared around the bonfire tonight.

A great time was had, that was for sure.

Milo had been ambling around the party the entire night, talking and making sure everyone was having a good time, but now that everybody seems to be leaving, he decides to take a break from his host duties and slump heavily by my side with a slight, hazy expression on his drunk face.

“Hey, man, there you are! So, what did you think of your party?” he asks, slapping me on the back affectionately.

I lean against a big log of wood to watch the bonfire in front of us. It gives its last sizzling sigh and dies out.

“It was awesome! Mahalo, my brother.” I say, giving him a tired smile. My voice comes out with a sliver of melancholy that I didn’t intend to give and I glance up to see if Milo had caught it.

I don’t want him to think I’m sad because I’m not. For the past weeks, I’ve been so excited to leave. I’ve been dreaming about going away from this island for so long, but now that the moment draws near, I find myself with a mix of contradicting emotions.

I realize I’d miss home more than I imagined I would.

“It’s the farewell you deserve, my friend,” Milo replies, smiling back at me, seemingly unaware of my emotional slip-up.

He looks as tired as I feel, but he’s never going to admit it, at least not to my face. He’s the island’s party King, and party Kings do not get tired of parties, ever.

“Man, I can’t believe you’re really leaving tomorrow.” He huffs out, frustrated. “What about our plan to start our own business together here on the island? How am I supposed to run a surfboard store without my best surf instructor friend to help me out? Are you really choosing this Akheron University over our store, for real?”

I smile softly at his frown as he sulkily scribbles lines on the sand with a stick.

“I know I’ve backed out on our deal, Milo, but I can’t pass this scholarship up. It’s too good an opportunity to refuse.” I reply.

“I know, Kai. My bad.” He is quick to apologize. “I just thought we were going to take on this store dream together, that's all.”

“Yeah, but dreams can change sometimes, just like the tides in the sea.” I try to reassure him. “Don’t worry, Milo. It’ll all work out in the end, you’ll see. Life will lead us where we need to go, brother. We just have to trust it and follow where the currents are taking us.”

“All right, man. If you say so.” He begrudgingly agrees. “But still... I’ll miss you, brother.”

I smile and nod. “I will too, Milo.”

We both stare at the sand on our feet in silence, lost for words for a moment. It’s just Milo and me sitting around the dead bonfire. There are a couple of drunks passed out on the sand close by, but most of the party-goers had left home. I toss sand over the embers and ashes to put it out of its misery.

The party’s officially over now.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go home,” I conclude, brushing the sand off my hands before I gingerly stand up. “There are still a few hours until my flight, I can still have a bit of shut-eye before I leave.”

“I’m going home too,” Milo says, standing up as well. “I’ll see you at the airport tomorrow, then.”

“The airport? Why?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah, I’m making company for your mom, for when she sees you through the departure gate.” He explained.

“Gosh, thanks, man. My father is away, she’d love to have you there. I appreciate the support.” I thanked him, grateful.

“Of course, brother. You can count on me.” We clasp hands and do a cool handshake we had invented in our first year of high school. Then he hugs me. ”Ola nui kaʻakaʻaka nui nui.“* he says quietly, before letting me go.

*(live well, laugh often, love much.)

I give him a nod but say nothing back, in fear that my voice could betray me.

Goodbyes were made, it’s time to find my way back home.

The walk home is quiet and pregnant with too many emotions. The road is dark, and there are only a few scarce lamp posts to cast a faint yellow glow to light up the path for me.

Those lamp posts are my compass, guiding me back to my place, but they aren’t that necessary, since I can find my way anywhere on the island with my eyes closed. I know every nook and corner, every palm tree, every beach, every patch of rocks and sand in this place...

White-washed walls soon become visible in the distance, their blue-painted windows dark inside. The house stands quietly in the night, resting in peaceful slumber. I circle around the back and head to the kitchen door, stopping at the garden for a moment, to try to put the scene into memory.

How many times have I sneaked into the house like this, in the middle of the night, hoping I wouldn’t get caught by my mother? How many times have I stolen furtive kisses, leaning against these worn-out fences in the back garden? How many times have I tiptoed outside with my surfboard behind my arm, eager to catch a few waves before sunrise?

Maybe I still have time to do that one more time... perhaps catch one more wave, one last time, before I go? The thought makes me smile to myself.

I’m still smiling as I slide the glass door as quietly as I can, then I step into the kitchen and head towards the small room at the side, where I used to leave my surfing gear.

“Had fun at your party, son?” I hear my mom’s quiet voice asking from behind my back, making me freeze in surprise.

I turn slowly around to see her by the kitchen cupboard, wrapped in her robe with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands. Her hair is rolled up in a messy bun as she sits on a chair and hunches over the table.

“You haven’t been waiting for me all night long, have you, Ma?” I ask with a quirked eyebrow.

“Pft! Of course not, Kai. I have better things to do than wait for my adult son to get back from a party,” she says with a scoff. “Just couldn’t sleep, that’s all. Thought I’d get up for some hot cocoa, instead of flipping around in bed like a damn sardine on hot oil.”

She gives me a good once-over, sadness pooling at the bottom of the dark circles under her honey-brown eyes. “Come taste this.” She orders, extending the cup she’s holding up for me. “I made it just the way you liked when you were little. See if it’s the same as you remember.”

I walk up to her and take the cup from her hands before I give a quick sip.

“Yeah. Tastes the same, Ma.”

She nods and smiles sadly. “It feels like it was yesterday when you were crawling around this kitchen in your diapers. Every time I remember these moments, my chest feels weird... I don’t know, heavy somehow. My friend Tiana says this is something called ‘empty nest syndrome’. Always thought this was nonsense, but look at me now. You haven’t even left, and here I am, with this silly syndrome.”

Suddenly, she seems so small, old, and tired. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her close to me. “It’s going to be okay, Mom. You’re going to be fine.”

“I know, I know,” she dismisses with a wave of her hand. “And you are going to be fine too.” She says, hugging me by the waist. “Hey, you still have a few hours left before your flight. Go rest now, son.”

“Actually,” I tell her, giving a tentative smile. “I was thinking about going for a quick swim, maybe try to catch a few waves one last time before I leave, you know?”

“In the ocean?” she asks, alarmed.

“Yes, mother. That is where the waves usually are.” I reply with an eye roll.

“Oh, no, no, Kai. It’s too dangerous! You know what happened last time you were in the ocean for that surf competition. You can’t risk going back now that you’re so close to your flight. It took months for you to recover; you still have a scar to remember what it was like.”

“But mom-” I tried to protest, but she didn’t let me.

“No. Don’t be so reckless, Kai! If you had been more cautious the last time-” she went on her usual rant, but I had heard enough and interrupted her. “Hey, how was I supposed to know that my father’s kind was organizing an attack on the day of my surfing competition? I had no way of knowing that, Mom, come on!” I protested. “I didn’t even know they hated me so much to the point of wanting to hurt me like that.”

“They’ve never approved of my relationship with your father. They think you’re an abomination, can you believe that?” She scoffed and eyed me worriedly before gently placing a hand on my shoulder. “But none of this is your fault, Kai. They are horrible monsters, that’s what they are.”

I sighed, tired of this discussion. “They are not monsters, Mom. They’re just... different, that’s all. They think I’m a threat. They were only trying to protect themselves, you know?”

“That’s stupid. Protect from what? You? You’re just a kid, no threat to anything or anyone.”

“My very existence is a threat to them, Mom. They think they’ll be exposed if people ever find out about what I really am. And then they’ll be hunted down. Exterminated even.”

“Bah! No one will find out about you, Kai! They are the ones revealing themselves to everyone that day on the beach, attacking you in that surfing competition right in plain sight.” She harrumphed. “I still don’t know how everyone believed that lame ‘shark attack’ excuse your father gave. If it weren’t for your father, I don’t even know what would’ve happened to you that day.”

“It took six months for you to recover. It’s not worth taking any chances, son, not now that it’s so close for you to leave,” she insisted, squeezing my shoulder softly. “And your father is not here to save you this time. I don’t want to see you near that reef again.”

“There is no more danger, Mom. Dad made sure this whole bay area was safe before he left. Nothing’s going to happen, I promise.”

“You can’t make that promise, Kai,” she protested. “You don’t know what will happen.”

“Mom,” I place my hands gently on her shoulders. “I know you’re scared and only want me to be safe, but you can’t keep me away from the ocean forever, you know that. I have my father’s blood in me, part of my heart will always go back to the sea.” I cup her face with both hands and plead one last time. “And another part will always come back to land. To home. To you. Let me say goodbye to the ocean, please. I don’t know when I’ll be able to see it again.”

She blinks at me and then lets out a resigned sigh. “Go on then. But be careful."

I kiss her gently on the forehead and hurry to grab my surfboard. She is back on the chair by the table, taking sips of her hot cocoa when I walk out with my board under my arm.

“I’ll be right back, okay?” I tell her, sliding the glass door open, and before I leave the house, I dare to make a cheeky suggestion. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were some breakfast ready for me when I get back from the beach? A hearty meal would surely give me the much-needed strength for the long journey ahead of me. Just a thought.”

I flash a wide grin and watch as she rolls her eyes and begrudgingly gets up from her chair.

“I sure will not miss slaving away in this kitchen for this boy...” I hear her grumble under her breath while I walk outside.

“Yes, you will!” I shout from the back garden.

"Fine! I will!" I hear her shout back from inside the house.

I laugh and strut happily to the beach. The sky isn’t as pitch black as before; a deep blue hue is hinting in the distance, signaling a sunrise nearing the horizon.

The sound of waves crashing nearby fills my ears and soothes my heart immediately. The weight on my chest gets a little bit lighter with each step I take toward the ocean. I feel even better when my feet touch the soaked-up sand, then the foam, and finally the cold water. The scent of sand mixed with salt fills my lungs. It’s the best smell in the world, nothing can ever compare to it.

I’ve been back to the ocean only a couple of times since my wounds healed. I made sure Mom wouldn’t know about it, of course. Getting back to the water helped me so much, though; it was like the ocean was healing my spirit too, somehow.

When I’m in the water, I can always find a way out of my problems. The motion of the waves helps me clear my mind and gives me balance, but now... I don’t know how I’m going to do now that I’ll have to live so far away, so far from the water’s embrace.

At least I get to visit the ocean one last time before I leave.

I walk into the ocean until I can’t walk anymore, and then, I swim. People usually don’t like to surf at night, because they can’t really see much. The sky is black, and so is the water. You can’t see if any sharks are coming.

Or something else, something more dangerous.

I can see pretty well in the dark; it’s a skill I inherited from my father. He doesn’t need his eyes to know if something is around; he can sense everything that’s in the water, as fish usually do. I wonder if I’ll be able to do that too someday...

I paddle ahead, pushing my way toward the reef. The area near the reef is the best one to surf in the entire area. It’s where I was attacked last time.

I was planning on surfing, but I realized that the adrenaline that comes from surfing isn’t what my heart really wants. My heart seems to be asking for something else. It’s asking me to pay attention to something important, but... I’m not sure what.

I think it’s trying to make me listen. The sea has been calling me for some time now.

I need to find a quiet place so I can listen, and I know just the place to go. It’s a special spot by the edge of the reef, a small rock formation that peeks out of the water, like a trail of stones on the sea. I like to go there whenever I need to think.

It’s the best view on the whole island. From there, you can see when the sun starts to rise, and the sky meets the sea, overflowing into each other.

For that brief moment, the world merges into one.

It’s the most beautiful thing you’ll ever see.

I find my spot and climb onto the rock, pulling my board along with me. There’s a crevice just at the east side, where I can stick the board safely and away from the grabbing water.

The sky is now painted with a vivid, clear blue. I watch for a few minutes until the sun finally peaks from beneath the water, tinting the air with oranges, reds, and yellows, and the ocean shines with sparkling, glittering gold.

Every sunrise is different, and everyone has a unique beauty of its own.

Something in the water catches my attention, and I tense in alarm. There’s something there, and it’s coming my way. I clutch at the rock where I’m sitting, my nails growing into talons, leaving scratch marks on the hard surface.

I didn’t see it coming on the day of the surfing competition, but that’s not going to happen today. Nothing will catch me by surprise this time. I have come prepared to defend myself.

A unique pattern of scales and fins on a long, strong tail flicks out of the water. I exhale and relax, shaking my head in amusement. I know those scales. I shouldn’t be this surprised. The ocean has been calling me all night long, trying to bring me here.

The sun rays wash over me and, for a moment, I am bathed in gold. A gust of wind brings the scent of salt, iron, and seaweed mixed in the air. It’s a familiar smell, one that I’ve known since I was a baby.

“Hi, Dad.” I greet him with a soft smile.

“Hi, son.” My father greets me back, sitting right beside me.

His voice is raspy and rough, as it usually is when he’s been in the sea for too long. He never uses his vocal cords underwater, and when he surfaces and speaks for the first time, his voice always comes out this way.

“I didn’t know you were coming home,” I say, turning to him.

He blinks at me with strange, alien, golden-colored eyes that slowly morph and change into the same green I have on mine. His facial features slowly change shape, too.

The scales and fins disappear from his body. The angular chiseled cheekbones get more rounded and smooth. His flattened nose protrudes out, becoming more human-like, and the grayish-green coloration fades away into a tanned skin tone.

I get the eye color, height, and blond hair from my father. My dark bronze skin and good-natured temperament come from my mother. She used to say I had the color of the earth, the hair of the sun, and the eyes of the sea in me. The best of sky, land, and ocean.

“I’ve been traveling all night, trying to get here in time. I wanted to see you before you left.” Dad says. “I was just passing by the reef when I spotted you up here on these rocks.”

“Are you mad that I’m in the reef?” I ask and give a side-long glance at him.

“Why would I be mad about that, son? You can always come to the reef, any time you want,” he says and then frowns, seeming upset. “Is your mom forbidding you to come here? She knows better than to try to keep you from the sea,” he grumbles, shaking his head.

“Leave it alone, Dad. Please, don’t start a fight over this.” I plead. “Mom has a lot on her plate, with me leaving, she doesn’t need more aggravation in her life right now. “And it’s normal that she worries about me; she just doesn’t want to see me hurt again. I don’t want you hassling her about this, please.”

He sighs, stares ahead at the horizon, and decides to change the subject. “So... you’re leaving in a couple of hours, then. Are you ready, son?”

“Yeah, all my bags are packed, and my flight leaves soon. I’m good to go.” I reply in an anxious tone.

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, are you ready? To go to new places, do new things, meet new people? Are you ready to conquer the world, son?

“Well, I’m not sure about the ‘conquer the world’ part, but the rest of your list seems doable, I guess.” I joke with a chuckle.

He nods, not quite getting my joke. His sense of humor is different from humans; it’s kind of hard for him to get jokes sometimes.

“But... I’m kinda worried, though.” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

He turns to face me, his green eyes curious, watching me intently.

“I don’t know how I’m going to handle this one thing... I... I think I’m going to go insane in that University, you know?” I confess, worried.

“Why do you think that, son?”

“Well, because of the time I spent recovering from my injury back at home, stuck in my room, all day long. It felt like I was withering away in a prison cell. And the University is so far away from the sea, Dad! I don’t know if I can take it!”

“It’s not the same thing, Kai. When you got hurt, your body was trying to bring you back to the ocean. Like waves to the sand on the shore, pulling it back to the sea,” he tries to explain. “Because it’s in the water that you need to be, to heal faster. I told your mother this, but she wouldn’t hear it. She didn’t want to know about anything that could put you in danger again.”

“If she had listened to me, you wouldn’t have gone through all that misery, locked up in your room like that.” He huffs, passing a hand over his hair in aggravation. “It was not the first, nor will it be the last time that your mother and I argue about this, son. Your mother used to love the sea so much... but when she realized my people could be a threat, she renounced the sea for your safety.”

“We come from different worlds, and we show affection in different ways. I know it’s hard for her to understand. And sometimes, I’m not the best at communicating. Talking to humans is... difficult, for me,” he says mournfully.

“I don’t like it when you two fight, especially when it’s because of me,” I say, looking down at my hands.

“I don’t like fighting with her either, son. She has made so many concessions, I know that. But you don’t need to worry, Kai. Going to college won’t feel like when you were recovering from your injury. You’ll feel perhaps more homesick than normal, but it will be fairly manageable. It won’t be so bad, I promise.”

“Yeah, ‘not so bad’, right. You can’t stand being away from the sea, Dad.” I grumble, unconvinced. “It looks like you’re being tortured whenever you have to stay more than a week inland. I’m supposed to be away for months."

“But you’re a halfling, son. It won’t be as bad for you as it is for me. Part of you is human; this takes a lot of the sting of being away from the sea. You’ll be okay, son. Trust me.”

I nod, feeling a lot more reassured now. I’m glad I got to talk to him before I leave. This was worrying me more than I was willing to admit. He leans closer and rubs his arm against mine, a gesture he makes to show affection. Things in the sea don’t usually hug each other. They rub against each other to say they love you. To show they’re there for you. At your side, for whatever you need.

“Love you too, Dad,” I say, and he smiles at me.

“How about we get going? It’s time to head home to see your mother. She’s been calling,” he motions with his head to the shore.

“Calling? What are you talking about?” I give him a baffled look, and he barks out a laugh. “You need to learn to better listen to your heart, son. If there’s a tug inside you, like a fish caught in a hook, it’s because someone you love is calling. Can’t you feel your mom tugging at your heartstrings inside your chest?”

He leaps out of the rock into the ocean and begins to swim to the shore.

“Ah. So that’s what this is...” I mutter to myself. “Time to stop listening to the call of the sea and start listening to my heart, then,” I say before I grab my board and leap off the rock, following him back home.

Breakfast awaits, and then, a new adventure.

I’ll be alright.

The end.

Kai’s story has been adapted to comics and is available at Webtoon! Go check it out!