~....She had lost him on a day much like today. The skies dark and menacing, the seas choppy and cold.
They had been out whaling, hunting for what was predicted to be a long cold winter. Meat to keep them sustained and oil for their lanterns. They had been heading back to land with the whale meat laden to their gunnels, their ship laying low in the water with the weight.
As they were nearing their port the birdseye had heralded two large fine specimen killer whales to their starboard. The captain had given the order to give chase but Bjorg had pleaded with the captain to let them go. They already had too much weight on the ship, another one and they would surely risk being swamped by the heavy seas losing all including their lives.
But the captain had swept Bjorg's concerns aside saying they could handle one more, that they would harpoon one and drag it on their lines behind the ship. Besides, they were so close to land and calmer waters now that they could not let this opportunity go. They would get a fine price for one of these enormous creatures when they landed. The order was once again given to swing to and give chase.

The whales were swimming close to each other, a bull and a cow. The cow was about to birth but was seriously injured after being attacked a few hours ago by a shark which the bull had in turn killed with swift and brutal speed as the shark was coming in for the final kill, flipping the shark right out of the water and launching itself up at the shark with jaws wide open as it hit the water. The shark was literally bitten in half. The bull then gently nudged the cow closer and closer to land, guiding her to calmer shallow waters in the hope of keeping her safe.

This is how the whale hunters had come to find them side by side and close to land.
The harpoon had hit its mark fair and deep into the cow embedding itself deep within her blubber.

It had all happened so fast after that. The bull had circled the small ship with great speed, stirring the seas around it with such power that it had created great waves which were swamping the ship. Over and over it would launch itself out of the water near the ship and send great powerful waves of foaming water crashing over the decks of the ship. Water that the ship could not take...water that was sinking the ship. The whale hunters had tried to launch their rafts but it was too little too late and soon the ship disappeared below the waves, their precious cargo going down with it and taking many sailors down in its wash.
Bjorg and a handfull of sailors had found themselves flailing about in the water amongst some of the blubber that had already been sliced from their catch. They were so near to land but still so far. Too far to swim it safely in the freezing waters. But nothing would have saved them now. Bjorg had heard the great gush of an oncoming wave from behind him. He didn't even have a chance to turn around. The cause of this wave had come straight at him at great speed, all he felt was the sensation of the water parting around him before his body was propelled into the air with such force that every bone in his body was broken instantly. The bull had tossed him around as if he was seal but instead of playing with its prey till it died, this one impact had killed him instantly.

That had been four weeks ago.

Shayla's grief was gut wrenching and all encompassing. With each passing day the tears would stream down her beautiful face, so totally inconsolable with the loss of her love. She was alone, totally alone now. Her love had been stolen from her by the one thing that had bought them together, the thing that had sustained their meagre existence and the one thing that they both had a total and respectful mutual love for...that being the seas.
Since that fateful day, the villagers would lower their heads in respect as Shayla would make her way down to the bluff to be alone with her thoughts in her grief and to listen to that very same bull that had killed her beloved Bjorg as it too cried for the love it had lost. The cries of a creature mourning the loss of its mate and unborn pup. The cries which Shayla felt resonate through her entire being as together they cried the "Lament of the Sea"....~



Dedicated to


Best seen in Full View




Stocks:

Shayla [link]
Cliff and Sea [link]
Hair Strands [link] and Orca [link]
Water splashes over rocks [link]
Water Splashes on Whale and Light Rays
Sky (sorry am unable to supply link as stockist has removed this stock from her gallery)

Seagulls are private stock.



I hope you all like "Lament of the Sea".