By Ya Han Hsu

The endless grayness stretched beyond the horizon. Eliza gently stroked the surface of the water, the sea always went icy cold in the winter. Just like her heart. She had never felt this numbness before. On another day, with the same routine, she wondered if she did belong here.

Throughout the years, she and Damla had sailed the sea. A curse, people said, for they could never fit with other people, the Daughter of Seas always have. Their only fate was to live solitary on the ocean. Damla had once said, “The Daughter of Sea is a sacred and ancient job. It’s an honor to be chosen by the gods. You should always feel proud.” She had never doubted that in the early years. However after Damla died and she was left alone on the boat, she began to wonder if Damla’s words were only to comfort her. Damla must have felt this way, too. Eliza still loved the ocean, she knew that she wouldn’t survive without it, but she longed for human company, too. Alone is not the nature of humans. Not even Eliza, the girl chosen to be Daughter of Sea.

She missed Damla, her kind and lively mentor. She was always in good spirits and gave Eliza the mothernal love Eliza had never experienced before. “ I can sense that you are going to be a powerful Daughter of Sea, maybe even one of the strongest of all times. You are special. I’m old and sick, so don’t feel sad when my time comes, it’s only nature. The ocean and I will alway be at your side, you won’t be alone “ She had told Eliza.

Now, with Damla gone, she felt as if the joyfulness had gone with Damla too. Eliza felt empty, as if a piece of her heart was taken away. The only jewelry on the boat, Damla’s sapphire ring still gloried even in the fog. Damla had told her that it was a sailor who gave her, they would have been a happy couple if fate hadn’t played the joke. Fate had tricked her too. The sapphire’s gentle deep blue always reminds Eliza of her beloved mentor. She felt like only her nutshell was left, that her soul had gone away.

Suddenly, a deep low animal call made her jump. She got up all shakely, alerted to the hidden sharks or other dangers. Gigantic waves surged on the sea, Eliza had to pull the rope with all her might to keep the boat from flipping. Water poured down in torrents above her. In that very second, her eyes met the humongous creature’s.

It was a blue whale. The creature was so beautiful that it made Eliza gasp. The blue whale was just like she had imagined when Damla told her the stories, only more macnificent. It’s eyes were gentle like Damla’s. Eliza dropped down and burst into tears. She cried as if she was tearing her heart.

She could no longer tell if it was her tear or the splashes of water.