Floating In Whale Song

An environmental short that is about innocent beast v man set in the Antarctica arena

It was indeed an unfortunate coincidence to have been the one to have caused the ice to slip away from the side of the mountain, at the only time she stopped for a breather.  Her insatiable thirst for adventure were the reasons she was there in the first place.  An expedition to map areas of Antarctica was just too good to miss.

And so here she was.  Or so she thought.

Gliding through the air like a wingless bat, clutching hold of a considerable ice shard, her eyes filled with beautiful ice crystals, that took the shape of a white shroud fitted out just for her.

As the pieces of ice showered into the sea like comets, she closed her eyes waiting for the cold embrace of the midnight blue sea.  But it never came.  Instead, it felt like the cool gloved hand of the sea herself had caught her mid-fall and was gently guiding her down.  She knew her family would be worried.  Her friends too, particularly the ones who had helped and supported her explorations into the unknown.  Ever since she had learned to walk, she was always careering off on some adventure much to the despair of her parents.

The mass of ice fall was such that huge pieces, as sharp as spears and as big as small islands, fell into the sea, their hidden deadliness laying just beneath the surface.  Woebetide any man or beast that tried to get near shore this way from now on.

The gliding shard turned into a float " a mini berg " as it landed softly into the sea.  The night sky above was illuminated by pinpricks of light, shimmering like the gills of a Patagonian toothfish that she had seen so many times in previous nights, darting in and out of the mysterious depths of the sea.

Despite the soft landing amid the icy meteor-like storm she had caused, she had banged her head enough to cause her to feel dizzy.  So she lay there, floating away from the debris, thinking of what lies ahead on the darkened horizon.

A spray of water suddenly jettisoned itself out the sea and awakened her from her daze.  On either side of her ice raft were two whales, dark, soulful eyes peeping out the water, filled with curiosity and wisdom.  She both loved and feared these beasts.  As a child, she had heard tales of death and doom about the giants of the ocean, and how they could swallow creatures by the hundreds in just one gulp of the salty sea.  But their actions and their voices spoke to her heart.  The whale song filled her ears as she lay as still as a mouse on the berg, the melody aeons old and told of ancient seas under ancient starlight, rising and falling like the waves she rode upon now.

As the two behemoth beasts sang melodiously to each other, she couldn’t help but pick up a tone of urgency in their voices.  Suddenly, the realisation struck her that they were talking to her, not each other.  They were warning her.

Gingerly standing up on the floe, she scanned the dark void around but could see nothing.  The shoreline was drifting behind, and no help was coming her way.

BOOM. BOOM.

The noise was as unnatural to her ears as it was the serenity around her.  A dark shape loomed and a noisy form that brought menace and despair and power.  The whales dispersed immediately, sinking to unimaginable depths far out of reach of this decibel splitting noise.

Staring anxiously into the sea, she was desperate to dive in but still felt dizzy from the head wound �" easy prey for the nightly predators out there who would be watching with interest through hungry eyes.

The dark shape came to a rest just off the coast; voices distinct, harsh guttural sounds are snapping orders and vicious commands.  Anchors were tossed overboard with a thud, and the deep beating of boots on wood could be heard underwater by the creatures of the deep, scared in their hiding places.

A flashlight ripped through the night with immense power as it scanned the coast with a gaze Sauron would be proud of.  It saw all, causing paralysis through fear to all caught in its circular beam.

It transfixed upon the berg she was on.

Standing up to the light, she stood facing the ship as the men towering above her, like evil shadows, on-board.  A shout went up, and soon there was a gathering.

The paralysing light washed over her but soon gave way to stronger feelings: resilience and anger.

A man started to descend from the boat, a metal hook in hand, coming towards her.

She remembered the whale song, and knew now what they were saying:

“Go home little penguin, go home. Man is coming.”

And with a swift twist of her sleek feathered body, she slipped into the water.  The men roared in anger and turned the boat towards her as she bobbed up in the water. 

Cascading towards her with an ugly menace, the boat looked set to crush her amid a flurry of spears and nets. 

Slipping towards the newly created shoreline she had helped build not long ago, she expertly slid between the razor-sharp teeth of ice, and found land, standing defiantly on shore.

Born with adventure in her heart, as the daze cleared from her mind, she remembered why she was up there on that mountain, at that time.  To find new homes for family, away from the hunters with metallic hooks.  

The boat crashed upon the rocks and screams, and yells filled the air.  But she turned deaf to their selfish cries and carried on up the coast.  

This was no coincidence, and was fortunate, for her friends, her family.

Her Penguin legacy.

 

Author's Note

Written in about 30 minutes, part of the First Sentence provided by Instagrammers, so not much time for editing, reviewing etc. It's to show that you can write in a short time, regardless of what's going on.