Sea, Land, Sky

***

At first there was only Sea.
She was mighty, vast, beautiful,
and terribly alone.
Her heart longed for the warmth of another.
From her deepest darkness, she scraped the silt together;
stones, mud, long water grasses,
and shaped the one called Land.
They were a wonderful creature:
A cascade of green swayed along their sturdy back, their powerful tail.
They were heavy, and gentle, and hers.
Upon their first breath, they looked upon Sea with wonder.
Sea was the one and only thing they saw when their eyes rolled open.
Her abalone gaze, the waves that lashed in her mane;
the soft currents of her whiskers played across their form,
and Land could not help but fall in love,
and Sea could not help but love what she had made.
The two spent all their time together.
There was not a moment without touch.
Not a moment without presence.
As time went on, such moments slipped in.
For thought, for quiet and space.
For explorations.
Then, one day, Land dipped their head above the surface for a drink of air,
and met Sky.

"Who are you?"
"I am what is not Sea."
"But what of me?"
"What of you?"
"I am Land."
"Land?"
"Born of Sea's careful hand."
"So you are."

Sky took a long look at Land, marvelling at their features.
His winds rushed through Land's grasses with joy.
He feared Sea, but Land…
Sky wanted them more than anything he had ever dreamed.
In the watery deep, Land felt someone tug upon their tail.
It was time to return to Sea, she loved them so,
and could not go long without their company.
Land began to sink beneath her boundary,
but Sky caught them by the breath.
"Return to me, some day,"
he said,
and let them disappear.
Land settled down in Sea's embrace,
and told her of their meeting;
the stranger with clouds for hair,
and great open blue that mirrored her span.
Jealousy bloomed in Sea.
She forbade Land from Sky.
She held them close, groomed their mane,
curled her fearsome tail around their own,
and did not let go.
A long time passed before Land realized they could not breathe.
Caught in Sea's hold, air was scarce.
They thought to Sky. Bountiful, radiant Sky.
He was not so heavy as Sea,
and though he could seize their very lungs,
Land found themself wanting.
It was longer still before Land dared to stir.
Sea had lulled into a slumber after all this time.
Her weight was upon them, but they shifted and pushed.
gradually, they were almost free,
and just as their hind slipped away,
Sea woke.
Her fury churned the waters.
Her claws sunk into Land's hide, dragging fissures into their flesh,
spilling blood behind them, which swam away to become fish and things that scuttle.
Land wept for a pain now sharper
than leaving their beloved Sea behind.
Their head breached the roiling waves in a tremendous splash.
Sky reached down to pull them up,
and his claws left marks of their own, raising mountains,
and from what holes he bore flew all the world's birds,
and crawled all the world's beasts.
Finally Land could breathe, and regained their strength.
Sea wailed, still she did not let go.
She lashed at Land, washed over them in waves.
She dragged their creatures into herself, left fish upon Land's shores.
Yet Land did not falter.
Sky had lifted Land so high, Sea could never drag them down again.
To this day, she grieves.
Her fights with Sky raise storms,
which make Sky's tears fall heavy;
her teeth wring from Land a shuddering;
which makes Land shake and quaver;
and now and then, she sends her children to take us back for good.
Though, time has tempered her anger.
She yet clings to Land, yet quarrels with Sky,
but every so often,
Sea can hold what was once hers,
Land can look into her eyes,
and Sky shines upon them both.

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