The Ocean and the Unicorn

I never understood why my mother loved the ocean so much. Sure it was beautiful, especially when the sun set on the horizon and the many colors seemed to dance across the waves. But all it was water in my eyes. At least that's what it always used to be.

Though, as I sit on the beach as the sun sinks into it's bed, I realize what my mother meant. She always said that the ocean, through all the changing days and times, would have a story to tell. It was the first thing on the earth, and it would probably be the last. It could tell you the story of every single creature it held, even though it held millions. She used to say, if only we could understand the stories that the waves told. If only we could understand what the water said as it roared through the storms and rippled in the calm winds. If only...

When I was younger we would go out on the beach, after all the people had left. We'd walk out to the most secluded stretch we could find, without hotels and casinos behind us. She'd sit down on damp and softened sand so that the waves would lap at her toes. I'd sit upon her lap and rest the back of my head on her shoulder as we watched the sun go to sleep. Every time she would break the silence by telling a story, that I never got tired of. It was the story of how the ocean was made by the tears of the great unicorn in the sky. Then we'd try and find the unicorn in the stars, and if the stars weren't out that night, we'd find him in the clouds or the waves of the water. After we had both found him multiple times my mom would sing. It was a different song every night, but my favorite was always "Sanctuary".

I stare out at the darkness as the night devours the light of the sun, and the moon begins to shine. I fall back in the sand, the water touching my ankles, and I stare at the sky. I can't find the unicorn.

My mom used to say that sometimes, when she was a child, she would come out to the beach and listen to what the ocean had to say. She said, just like any human or creature, sometimes the ocean just wanted to be heard. It just needed someone that would listen to it. She taught me to close my eyes and open my ears so that I heard things that otherwise I wouldn't notice. I used to swear I could hear words in the whispers of the wind and the lapping of the waves, or hear a song in the foam that sank into the sand beneath my feet. And, every so often, I could hear the chatter of the crabs as they burrowed into the earth.

I begin to hum to myself, the words of "Santuary" only a muffled memory as my eyes scan the stars and my ears follow the harmony of the waves.

I was almost never awake after my mom finished singing, and when I was, I always pretended I was sleeping. My mom would pick me up gently, still humming, and carry me all the way home.

I have a faint memory of a time when my mom too fell alseep and we both woke up just as the sun was rising. It was a beautiful sight and I'm sad that only a single ripped photograph image remains in my head. That was such a long time ago.

I breathe in the salty air, enjoying the taste and smell of the night. I force myself to not close my eyes as I sit up and turn to stare at a little box next to me in the sand. I'm still humming, though maybe slightly louder.

A few months ago my mom had left our house alone, without telling anyone what she was doing. I had followed, grabbing a flashlight as it was getting dark. It was impossible to distinguish her footprints in the beaten sand, but I knew exactly where she had gone. I found her, in the darkness, sitting by the same cove we had always gone to. I hadn't been there in at least two years. I turned off the flashlight and just watched her from a distance for awhile. It startled me when she spoke the first time.

"Wouldn't this be the place to die? Wouldn't this be just the perfect place to rest eternally."

I stared at her for a very long time before I spoke. I said the stupidest thing at the time. "I suppose so."

Even in the darkness I could see my mom turning to face me, a soft smile on her face. "When the time comes, darling..." She paused, looking out at the ocean. "...this is where I want to be."

I only watched her in silence until the sun had gone completely down. She stood up and walked towards me, and we went home together. When we finally reached our house she looked at me and said, "You know the magic never leaves the heart that believes." She kissed me on the cheek. "I saw the unicorn tonight."

After she went inside I stared at the sky for an hour, but the lights were to bright to distinguish the stars.

Tears now stain my face as I pick up the box, gently wiping off the sand. I stared at the simple wooden contraption in my hands, fingering the latch, but not opening it. I ran my thumb over the engravings on the top. "The magic never leaves the heart that believes." My lower lip trembles. I'm humming louder now.

Last week, my mom left to go take a walk on the beach. She invited me to go with her. I decided not to go, ingaged in my computer. Hours passed and my mom did not return. I didn't think much of it until I looked out the window to see the sun had set and thunder began to roar outside. I called her cellphone but it only rang in the other room. I grabbed my jacket and pulled out the same flashlight from months ago.

By the time I reached out special cove, the rain was pouring and lighting striked the horizon. Every time the thunder roared my heart pounded even faster until I swear I could hear it over the crashing of the waves.

I called out her name many times, shining the flashlight everywhere. Quickly the flashlight filled with water and stopped working. I stumbled through the darkness, my eyes darting every time the lighting flashed. Finally I saw a figure lying in the sand. My heart lept as I ran over, sinking in the wet sand and falling on my knees next to my mom.

For a moment all I could think was, How could my mom sleep through all this rain? Then the lightning flashed again. The roar of the thunder exploded in my mind, then silenced. Even my heart stopped as the sound of nothing cascaded my ears.

Red soaked the sand around my mom. Scarlet stained her shirt above her breast. Her sandy long hair lay strewn across the ground and her face... oh her face. At first it almost sickened me. The paleness, the spattered blood, the calmness.

I fell foward, till all my body was held by my shaking arms. I couldn't close my eyes as the rain soaked through my body, tears of the sky sliding down my own face and falling off my trembling jaw.

The police still have not found who shot her.

My hair falls over my face as I push the memory of that night out of my mind. I look up from the box out at the ocean. I am now singing as I rise to my knees, then to my feet. The box shakes with my body as a cold wind whips by.

The water is now up to my knees and I can not go further without being sucked out into the sea myself. Words dance from my mouth, riding along the wind and away from my ears. But my mother's voice echoes in my ears.

I still hate myself for not being there with my mom. But I try to remember my mother's words. "Even when one's body passes away, even when the visable part of an existence crumbles beneath the powers of death... the spirit will always live on. If not only in your heart, but also in the things they loved."

I look at the ocean, and all I see, hear, feel... Is my mother. She will live forever, even longer than the sea itself.

I lower the box so that it rests in the hands of the water, but does not leave my fingers. I raise my head to the sky, closing my eyes, and sing out to the wind. Sing out to the stars. Sing out to the ocean, to my mom.

I don't remember when my fingers let go of the box. Let go of my mother's ashes.

It has begun to rain, but my voice radiates over the sound of the storm.

I don't know how much time passes as I sing the song again and again until I feel as if I could fall asleep, letting the ocean carry me out.

I open my eyes, staring at the sky. And there, in an opening of the clouds...

Is the unicorn.

Author's Note

Not a true story. Not about a real person. Dead or alive.
Just, as usual, came to me.
Hope all enjoy.

Reviews

[Susanna F]

Absolutely amazing story! I love it. At first the changes in tense threw me off, but I got into the rhythm of the changes, and it was wonderful. Reminds me a little of a story I started writing when I was 15 and finished at 18, only in that it also ended with the sighting of the most lovely and mysterious of mythic creatures. I'll read more of yours.

[Warrior]

Great story telling. This did justice in the realm of getting the message across. Great message. There's lot of times where a story can have a great message to aim for, and have a lot of under lining things but then no one gets it, and if no one gets it, then the point has failed. But in my opinion this did well to get the message across. You made it clear, which is why I think it's good. Keep up the good work. What was also great was that I could imagine the story as I read it, and that is also a strong point of stories. The ability to have the reader imagine it because after all we're reading not watching it, but it was as if I was there as I read this, and that is great. Good job once again.

[mark slade]

i like your experimental use of writing. really cool.