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Ebba struggled across the soft sand. The skin was heavier than it had been when she’d dragged it down to the house; it seemed to grow thicker and damper the closer they drew to the sea.
Her back ached and she shifted it, yet again, from one shoulder to the other. To start with she’d been careful not to let the skin drag across the rough scrub, worried about tears and scratches. As it grew heavier she’d stopped being so precious with it, and now she was on the sand she allowed a good part of it to trail behind her.
‘I thought you’d be here before this,’ Wayanna’s voice called out of the darkness.
‘This damn thing’s heavier than I expected.’ As she spoke she felt a shudder move through the skin.
‘I’d be careful if I were you,’ Wayanna said. ‘You’re to live in that for the next while.’
‘You speak as though it’s a separate thing. Aren’t skin and person connected?’
Wayanna shrugged. ‘Separate parts of a whole, perhaps.’
Ebba began to unroll the skin. It was like a cloak, except the hood was a face and the bottom didn’t flare out but instead tapered down to a narrow, hood-like hollow, just above the tail.
The skin was warm, and Ebba felt it quiver with excitement as it sensed how close it was to the sea. She’d felt that excited energy growing every step of the way, so much so that in her own stomach little schools of fish were darting about, making her feel seasick.
‘I just wrap it around myself?’ Now she was faced with the reality, Ebba wasn’t so sure she’d made the right decision.
‘Well, you ought to take off your clothes first.’ Wayanna grinned. ‘They won’t be comfortable underneath the skin.’
The last thing Ebba wanted to do was get undressed, but she nodded, took a deep breath, and pulled off her jumper.
‘It’s so cold!’
‘You won’t be, in a minute.’ The light was back in her sister’s eyes, and Wayanna moved in close to help Ebba with the skin.
‘Just wrap it like this, and pull the mask over your head.’ Wayanna pulled the skin tight around Ebba’s shoulders, then the mask over Ebba’s face. Everything went dark, and Ebba’s skin tingled, and her chest constricted. The skin closed around her and she fell to the ground, her lungs fighting for air. The damp sand clung to her stomach and chest as she struggled, but then her face fused with the mask and she could breathe and see again, though everything was distorted, taller and larger than she was.
It took her a moment to realise the pale spindly things in front of her were her sister’s legs, but by then they had gone and instead she was eye-to-eye with another seal.
Wayanna gave a joyful bark and lolloped towards the sea. Ebba understood the ‘come on’, and followed behind, clumsy and awkward in her new form.
The awkwardness lasted the distance to the water. As soon as Ebba was deep enough the water held her, and she understood for the first time the freedom of this weightlessness as she and Wayanna frolicked in the waves.
She dived down deep, her attention taken by a school of darting fish, and she followed them, opening her mouth to capture and swallow a small fish whole, savouring the soft texture and salty taste.
Joy swelled in her chest, and she leaped for the sky, breaking out of the waves and twisting to dive deep again.
She repeated the process, but this time a light caught her eye on the shore. She returned to the surface and floated there, watching and curious.
‘Ebba!’ The call echoed out across the waves. ‘Eh-bah!’
Wayanna swum up next to her. Ebba could understand every word, even though Wayanna spoke in barks and snorts and whines.
‘Did you tell them?’
‘I tried. They didn’t want to hear.’
‘Do you want to go back?’
Ebba shook her head. ‘Not yet.’ She gave Wayanna a friendly head-butt and dived back under the water.
‘This way,’ Wayanna barked, darting off to Ebba’s right. ‘Best follow me, sis. At least till you learn where you’re going.’
Ebba grinned and twisted through the water, marvelling at the ease of movement. This felt wonderful.
