Watery Beginnings

23/6/960 AD 

On this day, my eyes slowly opened to a vast expanse of water spreading in all directions.  I cried and cried, my cries muffled by the water.  Eventually, my vision went dark as water filled my lungs.  I drowned.  I thought it was the end, but no, my eyes opened once more as though I were reborn.  My small baby arms flailed around in the water as muffled cries and screams left my throat.  Gradually, my lungs filled with water again and I slowly lost consciousness.  Until I died.  Thanks to my past two "lives", my baby instincts gathered that maybe crying and screaming wouldn't help with my situation.  And, so, this time I was silent.  This let me stay alive a bit longer.  Not for much longer though as I died only 1 or 2 minutes later. 

1/7/960 AD 

After repeating the same process of drowning then being reborn thousands of times, I had gotten used to the pain of drowning and just acknowledged it as a normal part of life.  On the other hand, I had finally figured out how to push myself through the water.  My small, stubby arms expertly pushed backwards, launching my body through the water.  A small smile of approval stretched across my tiny face.  Just as my arms were preparing for another launch, I felt an array of sharp things pierce my body.  This new pain unlocked my screams and cries.  I let out one small, fleeting scream of agony before I died.  And my eyes opened once more.  This time to a different scenery.  It was dark and there were the bones of small fish scattered within.  It was a small space; I could barely even sit up.  I also felt a burning sensation on my body as it was slowly dissolved by an odd liquid.  Before I could get the full experience of this burning feeling, I suffocated to death.  Lucky for me though, I was reborn in the same place, the burning sensation returning.  Eventually, I realised I was inside of whatever the array of sharp things I felt earlier belonged to. 

I died inside that small, cramped space a few times before I finally got fed up with it.  My tiny baby fists began slamming into the walls of this tiny space.  The whole thing shook.  My punches must've been irritating it.  But that seemed to be all they were doing.  They were just a minor irritant.  Still, I kept at it.  Before I could get too exhausted or my fists would hurt, I died of suffocation.  I would then be reborn, and all my exhaustion and pain would disappear. 

9/9/960 AD 

I had been inside that small space for ages.  I had already grown way too big for this small space.  Death from suffocation had befallen me hundreds of thousands, potentially even millions of times by now.  I had already given up punching its sides, since that hadn't done much.  The creature had also gone still a while ago.  I'm not sure why, but a lot of different fish had appeared at the entrance of this small cavern.  Obviously, I hadn't let them any further within, so they just rotted on the side. 

Well, anyway, the sides of this small cave area had gotten so weak that I could tear through it with my limited baby strength.  I tore the flesh apart, releasing a wave of a disgusting reddish brown liquid.  Unaffected, I continued digging through the thing until finally, I reached open water once again.  Looking back on it, that thing was probably a shark and that "cave" I was in would've been its stomach.  I must've starved the poor thing. 

20/9/960 AD 

Anyway, after what happened with the shark, I went back to my normal life of swimming around aimlessly in the vast expanse of water.  Drowning and being reborn, over and over again.  It was a boring life which seemingly had no end, whether that be an unfortunate or a fortunate thing. 

31/10/965 AD 

Nothing too interesting happened over the last 5 years, just more death.  I was eaten by sharks a few times and I saw some cool fish, but that was about it.  Until, today, that is.  I was discovered by a group of these things that looked similar to sharks.  Though, their mouths extended out like a snout type thing, so I don't think they were the same animal.  And they seemed much friendlier too.  They lived in groups, so I suppose that also adds to their friendliness.  Well, anyway, they seemed to want me to join them as one of them was trying to get me to grab its fin.  I did and what a good choice that was. 

As soon as my hands wrapped around, we shot off through the water at speeds my little body could never reach, though I do admit I am much faster now that I've grown.  My hair was sent flying out behind me as my eyes and mouth were pulled open from all the water travelling around us.  We were rising, higher and higher.  At this point, these creatures had taken me higher up in the water than I had ever been before.  It was magnificent.  And, for the first time in my life, I could see the surface.  The surface was closing in on us before eventually, we flew out over the top of the water.  My body instinctively took a deep breath in, something I had never experienced before.  What was this?  Why was my body doing this?  Regardless, it felt amazing.  Feeling a weird force on my skin that wasn't water, seeing the weird bright circle above.  Don't look into it, I tried, and it hurt my eyes.  And there was also another ocean surrounding this bright circle with weird floaty white objects.  It was beautiful, it felt like this place, above the water was where I really belonged.  However, this magical experience came to an abrupt end as we fell back down into the water.  And once more, my lungs felt imprisoned and trapped by the water. 

My ears were filled with weird sounds as all the creatures released noises depicting a positive emotion.  They were happy.  Very understandably too, that was an amazing experience. 

For the rest of the day, the creatures took me along on a great trip around the ocean.  I got to enjoy the surface to a great extent as these creatures seemed to love leaping out over the water.  I'd also learnt the basics of their language and, so whenever we sank back into the water, I joined in with their chorus of happiness. 

23/6/966 AD 

I am now officially six and I still live with the creatures that I have come to call "dolphins".  I've lived with these dolphins for almost a year.  I have learnt to speak fluent Dolphin, so now I can involve myself in their lengthy conversations.  I've also learnt to swim much faster than before thanks to them. 

"Good job, Scaleless," one of the older dolphins congratulated me as I beat one of the younger dolphins in a race.  And, yes, I'm called Scaleless.  It's because I don't have scales like other fish, not like they have any scales anyway.  "Thanks, Kalewi.  So, what do you say about me getting to swim by myself?  I'm fast enough!" Kalewi was the one who congratulated me. 

"I mean, I suppose.  If you can keep up with us, that is," 

"Easy, I can do this!" 

Kalewi and the other older dolphins gathered around me.  "Ok, Scaleless.  Are you ready?" Kalewi asked. 

"Yes, I'm ready," I responded.  As soon as the words left my mouth, the dolphins shot off into the water, swiftly followed by me.  I was fast enough to keep myself in level with one of the slower dolphins.  However, the big issue was that I couldn't hold my breath anywhere near as long as these dolphins.  I quickly ran out of breath, and water began flooding my lungs.  It wasn't long until I'd come to a complete stop, water filling my lungs swiftly.  In a matter of minutes, my lungs flooded, and I drowned.  My mind was sent to the pitch black realm, I was so familiar with, that being the realm of death.  But thanks to my ability to be reborn, my mind was placed back inside of my body, my lungs restored to their original capacity, my exhaustion, hunger and thirst extinguished.  Undeterred by my death, my body instinctively launched back into swimming mode.  I swam even faster than before, quickly catching up to the main group of dolphins.  This time, however, I was fast enough that I could reach the front of the group, where all the fast dolphins resided.  "Hello, Kalewi.  What do you think?" I smirked as my body began moving faster and faster.  My speed was increasing rapidly.  I was now ahead of the group of dolphins, the distance between us growing with each second.  Kalewi's eyes widened in shock before morphing into a competitive look "You can't beat me little Scaleless!".  Kalewi's speed exploded as his tail began bashing the water behind with great ferocity.  He quickly overtook me as my body slowly grew more and more exhausted.  Eventually, I fell back into sync with the slower dolphins.  'I get exhausted too quick!  My body isn't built for this!' I thought to myself.  'Is this really where I belong?' I looked up at the surface, remembering how the world above just felt right. 

Letting the dolphins go ahead, I slowly swam up to the surface.  As my head broke through the water and out into open air, I instinctively took a deep breath in.  My lungs felt truly free now that my head wasn't under water.  "This must be where I belong," I muttered to myself before sinking back beneath the surface, my lungs full of oxygen once more.  My whole body thrashed against the water, rocketing me back towards the group of dolphins that had travelled a long way during my revery. 

25/12/967 AD 

"Thank you, my dolphin friends, for all the fun times you've provided me over the past two years!  Don't worry, I'll come back one day!" tears fell from my eyes as I waved my dolphin friends goodbye. 

"We'll miss you too Scaleless!  I hope to see you again one day," this time it was Kalewi expressing his goodbyes.  And, with that, I set off once more out into the deep dark ocean.  Now, after living with the dolphins, I could surely fend for myself in these treacherous waters. 

I've grown a lot over the years.  I started off 7 years ago as a small baby that could barely move around in the water.  And now, I'm 7 and can swim as fast as dolphins.  I wonder how much I'll change in this infinite life of mine. 

3/1/968 AD 

While I was having fun, swimming around at high speeds through the water like I normally do, I had an accident.  I wasn't paying attention and I accidentally swam right into the mouth of a feeding whale.  "Aww, seriously, I don't want to have to live inside of some creature's stomach again," I muttered, annoyed, in dolphin tongue.  Unfortunately, my complaints went unheard as the water swept me further down the whale's throat and into its stomach.  'I'll make sure not to starve this poor creature this time,' I thought to myself as I settled in the vast sea of that burning liquid.  "Ahh, what a familiar feeling," I murmured as I floated around within the whale's stomach, my skin slowly disintegrating. 

15/1/968 AD 

It's been a while.  I've died a few thousand times in this whale's stomach.  Well, that's the negative stuff.  There's also some positive news.  Just like the dolphins, this whale seems to very kind.  Not that I understand its language yet, but from what I can tell, it's a very peaceful creature.  I don't plan on leaving here for a while. 

23/6/968 AD 

I am officially 8 years old today.  How weird it is to be celebrating my 8th birthday inside the stomach of a whale. 

Well, now for the progress update.  I can now finally hold conversations with the whale!  It's not like I'm entirely fluent with the language, I just know enough that I can hold basic conversations.  With a bit more practise, I could become fluent in the language.  The whale doesn't talk much, but from what I've gathered, his name is Laboon and he's around 51 years old.  He's also spoke of a great land above the sea, full of people who look just like me.  I think that must be where I truly belong. 

9/12/968 AD 

It's almost been a year since I started living within this whale's stomach.  I don't do much apart from suffocating to death, burning in acid and speaking with Laboon.  And thanks to the number of conversations I've had with Laboon, I can now say I am fluent in whale. 

"Hey, Laboon.  Could you tell me another tale about these creatures who look like me?" I spoke in the whale language. 

"Alright, young one.  Be prepared, the tale I am about to tell you is a very dark and sad one," Laboon's voice sounded rather sad. 

"Don't worry, I can take it," I spoke, eager to learn more. 

"Ok, ok.  So, this story takes place 50 or so years ago, when I was a mere calf still living with my mother.  One fateful day, whilst we were swimming near the shore, one of those two legs spotted us.  He gathered all his little friends, and they all boarded their water floaters and started coming towards us.  Once they were right above us, they started jabbing at my mother with their sharp sticks.  It didn't take them long to well, kill my mother," Laboon's voice trailed off as he finished his tale. 

"Why didn't you just swim away?  You saw them coming!" I exclaimed. 

"Well, we didn't know what their intentions were.  We had never experienced such a thing before," 

"Yeah, but how could you trust a creature you've never seen before?" I asked. 

"If you trusted no one, your life would be miserable," the whale responded wisely. 

"I suppose that does make sense," I responded, pondering the answer. 

"Anyway, young one.  What do you say about joining your own kind?" Laboon asked seriously. 

"W-what?  I don't know, they sound kind of evil to me," I answered, a bit nervous. 

"How can you be so sure?  All you've heard of them are my tales," 

"But, in all those tales, they're murdering animals," I muttered. 

"Well, I only have limited knowledge on them.  I can't go on land and truly get involved with them," the whale paused "and besides, your kindness proves that it is possible for the others of your kind to be kind too.  So, are you sure you don't wish to join them?  You aren't made for the ocean," 

Looking down at my hands, my mind was flooded with conflicting thoughts.  Should I really be with those land creatures?  But they're evil.  Are they really evil?  How can I be so sure they're all evil?  "Fine!  I-I'll, I'll go.  I'll join those two legs," I declared confidently. 

"Good choice young one," Laboon spoke quietly.  "This journey will be a long one," 

6/5/969 AD 

"I see them!  Just on the coast!" Laboon exclaimed in excitement.  Their long journey had finally come to a close.  "Really?  How many?!" I burst out in excitement, eager to finally meet more of my species.  "There's many here, I can see at least 50 of them but there could be more!" Laboon observed. 

"Let me out Laboon!  Let me out!" I shouted, swimming towards the entrance of his mouth. 

"Alright, alright.  Calm down!" Laboon's mouth slowly began to open.  I burst out of his mouth, into the ocean waters.  "Oh man, I haven't been out in open waters for ages!" I burst out in dolphin as I swam around excitedly.  "What was that?" Laboon, seemingly not understanding dolphin asked.  "Oh, it was nothing.  Now, where are they?" I asked Laboon eagerly.  "They're just over there, on the coast," I looked where Laboon was looking and sure enough, I saw a bunch of small little creatures with arms and legs just like mine.  My face broke into a great big grin.  "Goodbye Laboon!  It's been fun living with you!" I gave Laboon one final look.  "Farewell, young one.  I wish you well in your travels!" Laboon spoke with a slight sad tone in his voice as he watched me swim away. 

"AH!  WHAT'S HAPPENING?!  WHY ARE MY EYES LEAKING?" I was surprised to find my eyes leaking?  There was water pouring out of them and it kind of hurt.  What am I experiencing?  Thanks to my dolphin swimming training, I reached the shoreline in mere minutes.  My body washed up onto the sand.  The familiar feeling of my lungs being free returned to me.  Instinctively, I took a deep breath in.  And then another breath, and another, and another.  It felt amazing.  "Why aren't I moving?!" I exclaimed as my arms and legs flailed around.  I was swimming as best I could, but I was barely even moving.  "What is this?!  Let me move!" I kept flailing my arms and legs around, desperately trying to swim.  Eventually, I gave up and just lay on the sand. 

"Hey, why haven't I drowned yet?" this was the first time I'd ever gone longer than 10 minutes without drowning or suffocating.  "Maybe that's what this weird breathing thing does!  It somehow keeps me alive!  This is amazing!" I shouted out excitedly in dolphin tongue.  "I really love the land!  BUT WHY DOESN'T IT LET ME SWIM?!  I CAN'T ENJOY THIS GREAT PLACE WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO MOVE!!" My arms began flopping around everywhere as I tried my hardest to swim.  "Ugh, I give up," making no progress, my arms fell to the floor as I relaxed on the sand.  I stared off blankly into the bright blue floating ocean above. 

"Um, hello?  Are you alright?" a feminine voice spoke in a language I had never heard.  I looked up at her from where I lay in the sand.  "It's a two leg!  They finally found me!" I exclaimed in whale tongue, which got me a weird look from the woman.  "Where are your parents?"  Not knowing what she was saying, I made a confused expression on my face.  "Oh, do you not understand?  You don't speak our language?" she seemed to be getting it.  "Hmm, let's go get you dressed and warmed up.  You can't be naked in this cold weather!" with that, she bent down and scooped me into her arms.  Then she began swimming!  "How can you swim like that?!  How can you move?" I was shocked to see that people could actually move out of the ocean.  Hearing this outburst of dolphin, her face shrivelled up in confusion "I don't understand what you're saying!" 

"Huh, what was that?  I don't understand!" I responded as she carried me towards the rest of the two legs.  They were all in weird looking boxes.  "What are those?" I asked curiously, pointing at one of the supposed boxes.  Following where I was pointing, she seemed to understand my question and responded "Houses." 

"House," I repeated. 

"Yes, that's right.  House.  That's where we're going," 

I shot her a confused look before pointing at the ocean above, which had seemingly gotten darker.  "Sky," the woman responded. 

"Sky.  House," I nodded proudly before pointing at her. 

"Cordelia." 

"Cordelia!" I pointed at another woman. 

"No, not Cordelia." She shook her head.  "Girl," she pointed at the same woman. 

"Girl, Cordelia?" I pointed back at her, which received a nod. 

"Name, Cordelia," 

"Name?" I pointed at myself this time. 

Cordelia shrugged "I don't know your name," 

"Name, I don't know your name?" I asked, pointing at myself. 

"Name not 'I don't know your name'" she shook her head. 

"Name, Cordelia?" 

"Not Cordelia.  I am Cordelia," Cordelia sighed a little as she looked back up, "Oh, would you look at that.  House!" 

Following her line of sight, I exclaimed "House!" 

"Yes, house.  Cordelia house," 

"House?" I pointed at myself, asking if the house was mine too. 

"Yes" she nodded, a sweet smile on her face.  "Your house too," 

"My house," I smiled brightly from within her arms.  Cordelia set me down next to the door as she slowly opened it.  I tapped Cordelia before pointing at the door.  "Door, that is door," Cordelia spoke, quenching my curiosity. 

"What are you doing out there Cordelia?  Do you need help with something?" a deeper voice spoke from within the house.  "No, I'm fine dear.  Just a moment!" she picked me up again and brought me inside the house.  It was warm inside, much nicer than the ice-cold ocean.  Gently placing me down on a bed made of straw, Cordelia spoke "Do we have any clothes that could fit this young boy?" 

"Huh?  Who's this?" the voice I had heard from outside, who I'd now learnt was a man, questioned.  "I don't know.  He doesn't speak our language, so it's hard to communicate," Cordelia responded before hurrying away to a large box.  She grabbed out some clothes, similar to what I'd seen everyone else wearing.  "Why did you have to carry him?  And, why doesn't he have clothes on?" the man, quite obviously confused, continued asking questions.  "I think something's wrong with his legs, he can't even walk.  I found him, washed up on the shore, completely naked.  Poor thing," she responded to his question before handing me the things she took from the box.  "Clothes," Cordelia gestured at the things in her hands.  "Clothes," I repeated, picking the clothes up from her hands.  Not knowing what to do with the clothes, I looked up at Cordelia in confusion.  "What?  You don't know how to get dressed either?!" 

"I think there's something terrible wrong with this boy," the man, who had now walked over to us was shaking his head slightly.  "Yes, I know dear.  Let's talk about this later.  For now, let me deal with him," Cordelia sighed before grabbing the clothes back from my hands.  She guided my legs into the holes of one of the clothes.  Then she began placing the other piece of clothes over my upper body, putting my head through one hole and my arms through the others.  "There, perfect," Cordelia took a step back and looked at me with a proud look, she was obviously proud with her dressing skills. 

** 

A pleasant warm smell filled my nose.  My head shot up and spotted Cordelia handling some steaming bowl.  My arms thrashed around as I tried to swim again.  Realising that I still wasn't moving, I stopped trying to swim like I was in the ocean.  I wasn't, not anymore.  If I was in the ocean, I would've died a few times up to now.  I thought back to when Cordelia was carrying me.  She wasn't really using her arms at all.  And she was on her legs.  I sat up and placed my feet firmly on the ground.  I then carefully lifted the rest of my body up off the bed.  "I did it!" I shouted out excitedly, in dolphin. 

"What was that?  I have never heard anything like it," the man exclaimed. 

"Oh look, Harald!  He's standing!" Cordelia rushed over from where she was sitting by the steaming bowl, towards me.  "Stop treating him like a baby, Cordelia," Harald spoke rather grumpily.  "But he practically is a baby.  He can't walk, talk or dress himself!" Cordelia replied as she came to stand right beside me.  "Now, follow my lead.  I'll teach you how to walk!" Cordelia slowly placed one leg out in front of her.  I didn't understand what she'd said, but it was clear she was trying to teach me something.  Following her lead, I shakily placed my right leg out in front of me.  "Good job!  You're nearly there!" Cordelia squealed joyfully.  Internalising her joy and putting it all towards my concentration, I brought my other leg forwards as well.  "I did it!  I took my first step!" I exclaimed in dolphin. 

"I don't know what you said but HOORAY!  You took your first step!" Cordelia celebrated. 

"What's with all the commotion?  He only took 1 step," Harald complained with minor annoyance. 

"Yeah, well watch this!  He's gonna walk the whole way, by himself!" Cordelia declared confidently. 

"Woah, that's unbelievable.  What a talented 6 or whatever year old," Harald answered sarcastically.  I could tell this Harald guy was insulting me.  Rather than discouraging me, his insulting actually helped fuel my concentration.  I focused entirely on my walking and eventually, I took another step forwards.  Then another and another.  "Look, he's walking!" Cordelia clapped proudly.  After just a few more steps, I arrived in front of Harald.  I looked up at him with bright eyes, a smile on my lips.  I can now swim on land!  Tearing my eyes away from Harald, I looked down at the steaming bowl thing which I could now see was some sort of liquid.  I then looked back at Cordelia who seemed very happy with me.  Cordelia, noticing my stare, spoke "Oh right, you want food!"  She hurried over to us and began preparing bowls.  She began pouring the steaming liquid into three different bowls.  After that, she handed me this stick thing with like a curved end.  "Here you go!  Soup!" Cordelia placed the bowl in my hands.  "Soup?" I repeated. 

"Yes, this soup," Cordelia responded as she gave another bowl to Harald.  Confused as to what I was supposed to do with this bowl, I looked to Harald to see what he was doing.  It looked like he was scooping the liquid up in his stick thing and then pouring the soup into his mouth.  Copying what he was doing, I began eating the soup.  "Is it good?" Cordelia asked.  I looked at her, tilting my head slightly in confusion "Good?". 

"Hm, I'll show you an example," Cordelia then ate some soup and as soon as the liquid touched her tongue, she smiled, rubbing her stomach happily, saying the word "Good,". 

"Good," I nodded with a satisfied grin. 

"That's great!" Cordelia responded. 

"Ahem!  Cordelia!  I think it's time we discuss what to do with this boy," Harald grumbled in between mouthfuls of soup. 

"Right.  I say we keep him!  He can be our son!" Cordelia beamed. 

"Our son?  Look at the boy, he can't do anything!  He'll just be a waste of space," Harald shot down her suggestion. 

"But you know I can't get pregnant!  What if we never get a chance like this again!" Cordelia looked into Harald's eyes with a pleading look.  "He seems to be a pretty quick learner too.  He learnt how to walk just from watching us!  He could become someone great!" 

"Is it really that genius?  Anyone his age can do everything he can do but better!" Harald shot back. 

"Yes.  Yes, it is." Cordelia answered defiantly.  I looked up at them, sort of guessing they were talking about me, with a pleading look on my face.  "See, could you really reject such a lovely boy?" Cordelia took advantage of my cuteness. 

"Ugh, fine.  But, once he can talk, he will be joining me in the fields!  Got that?" Harald put on a disappointed act, but I could tell he was secretly happy with the outcome. 

"Yes, of course!  Thank you, dear," Cordelia grinned joyfully.  "I'm your Mum now!" Cordelia's face appeared right in front of mine.  "Mum?" 

"Yes, Mum!  And he's Dad!" she pointed at Harald. 

"Dad?" I walked over to Harald who was seemingly ignoring me.  And, with that, I had officially found a home within the two legs.  I had found where I belonged.