Surfacing

Amberella woke reluctantly, the bright dream fragments leaving her slowly but surely, though she fought to hold onto them- fought to recall the dream which had seemed so real, and had been filled to bursting with an emotion she’d never experienced before and couldn’t name. As the dream left her completely, a dull ache, filled with longing, replaced it.

Opening her eyes languidly, she sat up and peered around the room vacantly, oblivious to the beauty of the amber walls that had long ago turned the dull green of the seaweed which floated freely about, undulating in the water gracefully. How long had she been living here, in this underwater palace, alone, wondered Amberella as she contemplated getting out of bed. It seemed as if she had always been here, amid the amber walls and the other sea creatures.

A shiny bit of metal caught her eye. She was always finding strange and mysterious treasures, as she swam aimlessly through the grim waters of the Baltic Sea that was both her home, and her prison. Her father, Perkunas, had forbidden her from leaving it. She didn’t know why...all she knew was that he was always angry, and watched over her from his home, in the sky. Occasionally, when his anger reached the boiling point, lightning bolts pummeled the water and the Earth, her mother. In his thunderous voice, Perkunas called Amberella a devil-child, and told her to stay in her underwater palace, or he would throw her onto his chariot, and take her to the devil, himself. That’s where she belonged, anyway, he said.

‘Is this all there is’, Amberella asked herself despairingly as she lay back on her bed, swishing her tail from side to side, her eyes filling with the tears which salted the brackish water surrounding her. Then she remembered the dream, and its wonder, and the strange way it had made her feel, as if she were filled with warm luminescence or buzzing with the vibrations of a beautiful song. Maybe there was something else out there, she thought. Maybe there was another treasure for her to discover, out in the drab, green world. It was true that her life wasn’t all bad. She did love to swim up to the surface and find a spot to sit up on the rocks which jutted out of the sea, half in one world and half in another; there she would comb her hair, which shone like flames in the sunlight, and sing the sad songs her mother used to sing while Amberella swam around inside her warm and loving womb.

Amberella decided that that was what she would do that day. She would find a nice set of rocks to sit upon, and she would bring her golden comb which was inlaid with green amber and mother of pearl. When she went over to her vanity to grab it, she noticed the strange metal tubular object with the shiny clear circles of different sizes on each end that she had found while swimming aimlessly around in the green waters. She decided to bring that as well. Maybe she could figure out what it was.

* * *

Kastytis, meanwhile, had woken early that morning. He had always loved the sea, and the way the water always seemed to stretch out to him in welcome. He felt more at home and at peace by the rocky seashore than he did anywhere else. When he left to go home to his little house in the evening, he felt as if he were leaving a piece of himself behind. How wonderful it would be if his little house were by the water, and he could be lulled to sleep by the music of the sea, he had thought to himself many times. After drinking a quick coffee, he packed up some food and his fishing gear, then set off, rejoicing in the light of the brilliant morning sun, and at the thought that he would soon see it shimmering off the surface of the waters.

* * *

Amberella, her hair combed, and songs sung, took to fiddling about with the mysterious metal device. She turned it over and over, examining it from all angles. ‘Was there something inside it,’ she wondered, holding it up so that the light might enter it through the transparent glass, illuminating its insides while she looked through the other end. “Oh,” she exclaimed in surprise, when the glass revealed a young fisherman whose eyes were the brilliant blue of the morning sky. ‘Is he inside the tube,’ she pondered, lowering it carefully while she stared off into the distance. That was when she spotted someone far away, someone wearing the same colour shirt the man in the glass wore. Suddenly, she understood what the glass did. She raised it up again and peered at the man. She had never seen anything like him. He was so vibrant, so alive! And his skin and hair were like the skin and hair she had on her own upper torso...but different. He wasn’t shaped the same way she was, and his hair was darker than hers, more like the colour of mussel shells than her own flaming locks. She wondered what it would be like to touch his hair and his skin...surely his skin would not feel slimy like the skin of the fish who were currently her only companions?

Amberella’s heart started to beat faster and her head began to swim with the same sensations she had felt when she awoke that morning...the sensations she had felt in the dream. Tiny sprigs of lights seemed to tickle her skin with warmth. She began to sing again, hoping that some being other than the seabirds might hear her this time. She lifted the glass again to spy on the fisherman, to see if he might have heard her, but alas, he had not; the wind was not in her favour, and she was too far away. If he had heard anything, he must have assumed it was the sea’s natural music, which it was, in a sense. No matter. She needed to get closer. She felt strong currents pulling her towards him, and she intended to go with the flow. With a flip of her tail, she entered the water, plunging her head underneath the surface and propelling herself, with arms and fins, in the direction of the fisherman.

When she was still far enough from shore that she was safe from his hook and line, but close enough that she could see him easily without the glass, she stopped and swam up to the surface, deliberately forcing herself up with her strong tail, so that the water splashed when she burst through it.

This attracted the attention of the young fisherman, who wondered what could have caused such a splash.

As he looked in the direction of the noise, Kastytis saw the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his young life. Her hair shone in copper waves and her skin looked as delicate and as luminous as a pearl. Upon her head, she wore a tiara studded with amber gems, though their fire paled in comparison to the glow of her large phosphorescent eyes. These stared back at him, mirroring the wonder he felt. “How can you…,” he started to say, his words dying even as he uttered them. He tried again, “aren’t you cold?”

Her laughter was like the explosion of a thousand suns. “These waters are my home,” she said. “The green water is inside me. It is part of me. It can never feel too hot or too cold. Come inside. See for yourself,” she said, smiling at Kastytis and stretching sideways, her tail flicking busily this way and that.

It was a shock to Kastytis to see that the lady had a tail. Of course he had heard tales told of strange sea creatures and mermaids, and had wondered whether or not they existed, but seeing one for himself was like a splash of cold water. Still, even as his body reverberated in shock, he knew that he would not walk away from her. He was powerless to deny her request. He would follow her to a watery grave, if need be. Besides, she no doubt knew where to find fish more delicious than any he had ever eaten.

“What is your name, beautiful one,” he asked, “I will at least need to know that if I am to go with you.”

“Amberella,” she responded. “And what shall I call you?”

“I am Kastytis, a simple fisherman. I am honoured to join you,” he said, as he began to walk into the water.

“It is my pleasure to meet you, Kastytis. Do not be afraid. I will take you to my castle, under the water. There we can get to know each other better. But we must hurry, lest my father see us.”

“Will I drown, lady? How will I breathe, under the water,” Kastytis asked, as he swam up to Amberella. She was even more luminous now that he could see her up close.

Amberella reached out and touched his hair, her hand descending to his cheek, then his lips. ‘He is as soft and warm as I imagined,’ Amberella thought, her eyes widening in wonder. She sighed with relief at the knowledge that something interesting was finally happening in her life. “There is air in the castle, and I will provide what you need to get there,” she said, kissing him.

* * *

Kastytis looked about in wonder. “Who could have believed such a place existed under the sea,” he mused, as he walked around, trying to take everything in. The green amber which formed the palace’s walls shimmered and shone, lit by sunlight filtered through the seawater. It gave the place and everything inside it a strange, unearthly, dream-like quality.

As she observed Kastytis, Amberella smiled, examining the place which had been her home all of these years with new eyes. Everything, it seemed, was different now that she wasn’t alone. The walls which had seemed a drab olive green now seemed to glitter with promise and renewal.

That was when the low rumble of thunder sounded. Amberella looked up in fear. “Oh, no,” she exclaimed, “I think he may have seen us.”

“Who,” Kastytis asked, confused.

“My father, Perkunas, the god...perhaps you’ve heard of him? In any case, there’s no time to waste. We must go, now,” said Amberella, grabbing Kastytis’ hand and pulling him along with her as she swam as quickly as possible out of the palace. Another clap of thunder sounded. This time, it didn’t only sound like an indistinct rumble. Rather, it contained a message: “You would defy me? Me? How dare you!”

Rain started to fall on the surface of the sea, the droplets making dull tapping noises. They were outside the palace, but where could they go now? Amberella knew she needed to get Kastytis to someplace he would be able to breathe, and she needed to be quick about it.

A brilliant flash of light pierced the sea, and a thunderous crack sounded, causing both Amberella and Kastytis to look back at the palace. As they watched, there was a second brilliant flash of light, and the cracking noise came again, louder this time. Amberella’s home, the place she had lived all her life, had cracked in two. It would never be a home again. The bolts of lightning continued to hit the amber fragments, breaking them up violently, the way Perkunas no doubt imagined his daughter and Kastytis needed to be broken up.

Grabbing a piece of the amber that now floated everywhere in the water, Amberella called upon her mother, the Earth, to help her. As she concentrated upon the gem, Amberella began to feel her mother’s sadness, and her mother’s love. Just before them, glowing faintly, there appeared a passage to an underwater cave. Amberella didn’t know where she and her lover might end up, but she knew that her mother was guiding her to a safe place, a hidden place where they might shelter and escape from her father and his anger. She gave Kastytis’ hand a squeeze and then pressed her lips to his, giving him the air his body craved before they swam into the passage, side by side, leaving the broken pieces of the unhappy past behind them.