Life is like a...

4.

School began without much of a hitch. Mrs. Wilder opened up the school house and the children begrudgingly filed in. They were joined this term by a few new children from the Pescada tribe. Karen was in the same study level as Breydon, and Breydon was on an eighth year study level. Asa was on a second year study level and Cheryl was third year. The three Forster siblings would wait for the children from the Pescada tribe to show up. Kipper, Bream and Cheryl would appear with a few of the other children from the watery deep. Kipper was a year older than Breydon, and Bream was the same age as the human boy. They all would trek together to the school house in town and meet up with the other children from town and a few of the surrounding villages in the yard.

Asa generally stayed with Cheryl, Kip or Bream throughout the day. The other boys in school would rapture on and on about how great at sports Breydon was and Karen was often busy reading during school breaks. Thadius was often sick but when he was at school, Asa liked him. Breydon was also good friends with Thadius, but the older boy was often wary of Thadius’ sister. Alana and her friends didn’t sit well wiht Asa, mostly because she was a strange breed of girl that he had grown to be frightened of.

It was a fairly normal day; winter was winding down, and Asa had worn a lighter jacket. Karen, Breydon and Asa had all went down to the beach after helping their mother set up shop at the bakery. Karen sat on a rock reading, while Asa and Breydon raced back and forth along the sand bars. The Pescada children would be arriving soon, and sure enough, they all started rising from the waves. Cheryl ran ahead of her brothers and ran over to Asa.

“Hey, Ace. Did you finish your homework?” she asked. He sighed deeply.

“Yeah, I did. How about you?” he replied.

( You know how I feel about homework )

2.

Chunks of ice floated idly in the cold sea. Asa couldn’t go swimming now and his mother forbade him from leaping on the frozen slabs of ice. Sitting in the sand that mingled with snow, he waited for his best friend. Cheryl was from the Pescada tribe that lived beneath the salty waters. The Pescada were proud fish people, who came in all colors and sizes depending on what kind of water they lived in. The tribe that lived in Cullis Bay came in a variety of blues and greens, and were generally slender and lithe. With the unique ability to breathe above and below water, it made them ideal sailors, which was favorable in the small port town. Some of the tribesmen had married people who lived in Asa’s town, so there was constant and fairly peaceful relationship between the two different peoples.

Asa picked up a few shells and drew with a stick on the wet sand. Cheryl said she’d be back the night before. He wanted to tell her all about the things that happened while she was gone, like Breydon’s failure, and the latest story Karen had read to him. He really liked talking to her more than anyone else outside of his family. Everyone always talked about Breydon and how amazing he was, but Cheryl talked about… well anything. Asa was getting tired of waiting, the day was very grey and cheerless and he took to throwing rocks out in the water.

Poking her head almost curiously from beneath a slap of ice, was Cheryl. The fish girl swam to shore and shook the ice and seaweed from the mass of dark blue tendrils that served as her hair. Her wide, expressive mouth curved in a smirk as she raised her eyebrows.

( I’ve told you time and again that when you throw rocks in the water you risk hitting someone important )