Girl Sailor

Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed of the open sea;
to be a girl sailor & explore the vast blue, guided only by her dreams
& Polaris. Each person she grew close to on land knew of her hearts desire,
& in knowing such deep-rooted dreams, each took a piece of her heart to be kept close to their own
(in the case that she would one day sail away). For she had a big heart and always offered her love, to those in need of love.

A day did come when the people closest to the girl, each with a piece of her heart, had changed drastically- into unrecognizable souls... the changes in each had been subtle, but added up to grand differences from their original form & nature. Taking notice, after trying to convince herself that, somehow, they were still the same people she had so selflessly shared her open heart with; she could no longer deny that they were transformed.
Upon this acknowledgment, she wept. She wept, filled with sorry & pain that her love could not suffice their insatiable hunger for contentment. She wept for nights on end & soon her tears had accumulated to form a salt-water estuary.

From this estuary, she was swept away- floating among the heron & the dolphins & all aquatic beings she once so longed to join. They welcomed her. From this estuary, she was carried past towering reeds & cattails lining its banks, so beautifully swaying to her sobs. The reached out to her as the current of her tears delivered her towards the sea. They offered their long, strong, stick-like bodies as a vessel for her in safe passage over the ocean she approached.Crafting a hand-made boat, she cut her hair which grew to the ground. Using her body-length locks as a sail, she embraced her life-long dream to travel the great endless sapphire of the world's waters.

Years passed as the girl grew to a woman, learning much from her venture; not only about the world & humanity & life, but herself as well... As these years passed, the people on shore who still kept pieces of the grown girls' heart discovered that they felt incomplete at her absence. They thought that without her presence, the pieces of her heart were not strong enough to sustain them with the memories of her love. So they individually bottled these pieces up & heavily tossed them into the sea, consumed with despair for ever taking her love for granted. Over these years, a lone fisherman began to intermittently reel in bottles with his catchings in his handmade nets... Bright, clear, gleaming bottles tinted with olive greens, midnight blues, & some you could see right through. Puzzled, he collected them hoping they would one day be complete & obvious, able to answer some age old question he held in his own chest.

One day, a tumultuous squall whipped the waters of the world into a storm of legendary proportions...

The grown girl held fast to her vessel & stared Poseidon square in his eyes. The lone fisherman, however; was dislodged from his boat, cast into the hungry waves. He undoubtedly thought he'd began his end... the blackness of unconsciousness engulfed him as his lungs could only breathe in water. He awoke the next day to sounds of scavenging gulls, hovering overhead looking to make breakfast out of anything that didn't survive the storm. The sun greeted his face & warmed his eyes open, which was when they met her. Her face, bright; cheeks red from the prior days wind-whipping, strands of long brown hair pasted to it in the most artistically strategic places... & that smile. Oh, if the sun didn't warm him, her smile surely did. Even under soggy blue turtlenecks & sopping yellow hats, they could tell right off- their souls were kindred. Servants to the great open blue, both of water & the map above that held the compass of the stars.

But as he recalled the previous nights trial, he at once was overcome with sorrow at the knowledge that his own vessel had sunk... along with it, all the puzzle pieces of hearts he'd been trying to solve. After explaining this to the grown girl, who had been listening all the while with perplexity on her face; she smiled that warm smile once again & did something the fisherman could not have expected in his most outrageous thoughts... She offered him a piece of her heart to help rebuild his collection. It was the last remaining piece, for as far as she knew, the rest were still among those she once loved on land. And then the fisherman, mouth agape, eyes wide as a blue whale's tale, understood. He was certain, he felt it in every fiber within (which were all regaining more feeling with each dot he mentally connected). He knew he had met the final piece of the puzzle, & instead of taking her heart, he offered half of his own.

It is said they still sail the seas, high & low, together... their hearts beat, together, as the tides change & the moon turns to sun, turns to moon. For if you follow your dreams, they lead you to your truth.

Sometimes we give little pieces of ourselves away. But never are we any more empty for it; just more able to house the love & care of someone who'll give back to us.

c.marie