The wooden boat rocked with the rhythm of the waves as it occasionally grazed the pillars of the dock softly. Distant calls of water splashing in the seas sung out in a soothing tone, matching with the echoes of various birds chirping while gliding through the wind. At the end of the wooden dock stood Timo, a boy with lightly brown hair with single long strands of blonde hair, all tied back behind him in a blissful ponytail. Behind him was the gentle sea, a sea that had sung out to him before, only this time, he was about to sing back.
At the entrance of the port stood a girl similar in age, yet noticeably older than Timo. Her dress was dirty as dust cluttered the surface of the tan dress, but it directly stood out as it gracefully waved with the direction of the wind.
“Why do you have to go? Why won’t you stay?”
“You know why I won’t stay.” Timo then untangled the rope connected with the boat in a looping motion. Timo afterwards looked back upon the girl and the town he was about to leave behind. In a hopeful glance, Timo stared directly into the eyes of the girl. “Come with me, please?”
The girl stepped back and began to look back. “I- No, I won’t follow you.”
“Why not?”
“Well… I just like it here.”
Timo stood up and placed his foot onto the untied rope that connected to his boat. “What is there here? Nothing. Just pure nothingness. It’s been nothing before, it’s still nothing now! How could you want to be in a place like this!?”
The girl was taken a back. The patterns of the wind began to become hinged as the wind began to flow harder and tougher. The girl grew red in the face as she approached Timo more directly.
“That says a lot coming from you! You want to know what I see in that sea behind you? Piles of water, that’s all it is, and that’s all it’s going to be! We’ve known each other our whole lives and you decide now to go? What kind of person does that?”
Timo quickly interrupted her. “Well you don’t understand me!”
“Well you don’t understand ME! Have a nice ride on your boat, hope you don’t drown due to your ignorance!”
“Fine, Maria! I’ll make sure to do that! Oh wait, to not do that? What am I even saying at this point…” Timo turned around as he gathered his belongings to toss into the boat. The water soon calmed down entirely as he entered in, and gave one good glance back. Just before grabbing the paddles, Maria had returned back onto the dock.
“I’m sorry, Timo. It’s just that… I just… I- I really don’t want you to go.” The two then teared up as the wind blew more peacefully than before, wiping their tears away in the process. “I may not want you to go, but I understand how you feel. The sea is calling you, but I simply don’t hear anything. I’ve gotten all worked up over something I shouldn’t even be worked up about.”
Timo let out a quick giggle. “I guess I just didn’t understand you either. You want to stay and I want to go; complete polar opposites when you think about it!” The two began to laugh as this would be a moment the both of them may soon never experience again.
“I’m gonna miss you, Timo.”
“Yeah… me too.” Timo reached out both of his hands towards the paddles, and went along with the sea. With each stroke, came ripples of water that reached with the dock. As Timo furthered away, Maria waved her hand to signal a goodbye to someone who was finally going away. As Maria glanced at the water, the ripples of the sea became fainter by the second. Suddenly, Timo was out of view.
Maria’s hair flew with the rhythm of the wind while looking out into the distant sea. She tried to hear what Timo heard, but the song of the sea simply wasn’t discovered. Whatever call the sea gave to Timo, Maria knew Timo was in the right place. She then whispered to herself softly, “Don’t drown out there.”
A smile grew on her face as she walked back towards the village. In the distance, the laughter of children and the yells of animals all echoed throughout the air. This was her own song that Maria heard.
