Oct 21, 2020 17:24:05 GMT -6
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[attr="class","brTextTop"] MADELINE MCKENNA [attr="class","brTextSub"] I guess I'll save the best for last. My future seems like one big past |
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[attr="class","brBody"]People were gross. [break][break]
Every week she did this, and there wasn't a time they'd proven her wrong. [break][break]
While Madd wasn't exactly a member of Green Peace, she’d seen her fair share of ducks choking on pop rings. Honestly, all that suffering made her reconsider casual littering. And, after finding a seagull half-trotted by a discarded fishing net, she’d decided to do something about it. Not actually point out all the no littering signs or yell at anyone, of course; that’d offend the fourth-dimensional beings people called customers. [break][break]
Instead, she closed the shop a little early once a week and did a little deep-lake diving. She then scrounged up whatever garbage she could find and tossed it in the nearest bin. It not only let her get familiar with her seal form but also gave the Duke Quackers of the world a fighting chance. Madd supposed it was her way of making up for all those discarded cigarette wrappers. Normally done and out of the area in an hour, she’d been under for almost two. And the extended stay wasn’t by choice. [break][break]
Before she started working here full-time, she thought her biggest hazard would be fishermen trying to get a peek at her ‘buxom bosom.’ But, apparently, it was seaweed and fishing line. On her third dive down, she’d somehow gotten her tail entangled in a nasty ball of the stuff. Pulling against it only made it worse—like trying to break out of a Chinese finger trap. Now, it was cutting through the blubber and turning the water around her pink. In the murky darkness of the lake, even with the LED she had around her neck, Madd struggled to spot the strand that was holding her tight. [break][break]
Finally, after tossing and turning a dozen more times, she managed to get her teeth wrapped around the anchor strand. Got it! The taste of iron filled her mouth as she sawed her head back and forth. Come on! Come on! Teeth made for gutting fish eventually tore the low-level fishing line. She was lucky nobody around here fancied themselves a shark hunter. [break][break]
With two powerful thrusts of her flukes, the Selkie broke the surface of the lake. Reaching the shore was a clumsy and laborious process made harder by the weight of the line wrapped around her tail. After what felt like an eternity, she rolled her way onto the artificial sand to allow herself a better look at her injuries. If seals had the muscles for it, Madeline would have grimaced.
A bright glow enveloped her body as the Selkie tried to shift back. But the change only amplified the pain. Milk white calves were now dabbled in a mixture of blood and foam. With a shudder, she allowed her toes to shrink back into flippers. A sigh shook her frame as she surveyed the empty beach. Nobody really hung out around here this time of night. Still, Madd didn’t look forward to being stuck out here. [break][break]
With a frustrated huff, she resigned herself to begging for help. Drawing in a deep breath, she barked out a distress call. “Gheaaaagh!” Though some Selkies could manage human speech in either form, she lacked the control needed to get the job done. Hoping to sway a nice raccoon to come to her aid, she lifted doleful eyes to the sands and thickets before her. [break][break]
All she had to do was sit here and wait. Just be patient.[break][break]
Ugh![break][break]
The wiggling intensified.
Every week she did this, and there wasn't a time they'd proven her wrong. [break][break]
While Madd wasn't exactly a member of Green Peace, she’d seen her fair share of ducks choking on pop rings. Honestly, all that suffering made her reconsider casual littering. And, after finding a seagull half-trotted by a discarded fishing net, she’d decided to do something about it. Not actually point out all the no littering signs or yell at anyone, of course; that’d offend the fourth-dimensional beings people called customers. [break][break]
Instead, she closed the shop a little early once a week and did a little deep-lake diving. She then scrounged up whatever garbage she could find and tossed it in the nearest bin. It not only let her get familiar with her seal form but also gave the Duke Quackers of the world a fighting chance. Madd supposed it was her way of making up for all those discarded cigarette wrappers. Normally done and out of the area in an hour, she’d been under for almost two. And the extended stay wasn’t by choice. [break][break]
Before she started working here full-time, she thought her biggest hazard would be fishermen trying to get a peek at her ‘buxom bosom.’ But, apparently, it was seaweed and fishing line. On her third dive down, she’d somehow gotten her tail entangled in a nasty ball of the stuff. Pulling against it only made it worse—like trying to break out of a Chinese finger trap. Now, it was cutting through the blubber and turning the water around her pink. In the murky darkness of the lake, even with the LED she had around her neck, Madd struggled to spot the strand that was holding her tight. [break][break]
Finally, after tossing and turning a dozen more times, she managed to get her teeth wrapped around the anchor strand. Got it! The taste of iron filled her mouth as she sawed her head back and forth. Come on! Come on! Teeth made for gutting fish eventually tore the low-level fishing line. She was lucky nobody around here fancied themselves a shark hunter. [break][break]
With two powerful thrusts of her flukes, the Selkie broke the surface of the lake. Reaching the shore was a clumsy and laborious process made harder by the weight of the line wrapped around her tail. After what felt like an eternity, she rolled her way onto the artificial sand to allow herself a better look at her injuries. If seals had the muscles for it, Madeline would have grimaced.
A bright glow enveloped her body as the Selkie tried to shift back. But the change only amplified the pain. Milk white calves were now dabbled in a mixture of blood and foam. With a shudder, she allowed her toes to shrink back into flippers. A sigh shook her frame as she surveyed the empty beach. Nobody really hung out around here this time of night. Still, Madd didn’t look forward to being stuck out here. [break][break]
With a frustrated huff, she resigned herself to begging for help. Drawing in a deep breath, she barked out a distress call. “Gheaaaagh!” Though some Selkies could manage human speech in either form, she lacked the control needed to get the job done. Hoping to sway a nice raccoon to come to her aid, she lifted doleful eyes to the sands and thickets before her. [break][break]
All she had to do was sit here and wait. Just be patient.[break][break]
Ugh![break][break]
The wiggling intensified.
[attr="class","brInfo"]Thalia E'lswyr
[attr="class","brCredits"]TAIKO!
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