Meeting The Deep

No matter where she goes that Bren can’t stop looking for trouble. That’s what all the elder water spirits said about Bren. All of her friends looked up to her and admired her courage, and her mother and father always seemed to shake their heads.

OH, Bren, they would say with exasperation in the end of their sighs.

Bren? Well, she hardly cared what anyone thought. I am sure dear reader, that you caught that much...

So it goes with the mischievous-adventure-hungry type. They never seem to bend their knee to the norms, expectations or traditions laid before them.

This is a tale of how Bren came to the mouth of the river and made a choice within herself that would seem like only a drop in a massive ocean. However, that decision would cause tidal waves of change in her nation.

So we begin….

“Bren, please be back for Orations!” Mother shouted as Bren whispered away downstream. No offer of acknowledgement met Mother where she stood, but she held on to hope that Bren would only be back in time for Orations night.

Orations night...

The night when the elders would begin the story of the stream from the very beginning.

Orations used to be Bren’s favourite time of year. She would sit eagerly among the other children, perfectly upright and wide-eyed. The orations would end with a pause of silence in order for every word to soak in.

Everyone could see the wonder flowing through Bren’s eyes. Soaking in every story, fable and tale right from the start, Bren’s heart burned for the thrill of a new era.

At such an early age and with so much love for orations, the elders showed a great interest in Bren. Talks around the nation quickly spread about Bren becoming a Chosen.

A Chosen Being was the one that the elders would take under their wing and teach them the true way of orations. This was their plan for Bren.

A privilege every parent hoped for as they raised their young waterlings in the way of the stream. As Bren grew older and more restless in her place in the nation, she showed more disinterest in being a Chosen. Many trainings were missed, many lessons and many feasts with the elders were merely tolerated. All this resulted in their hearts resigning to simply going with the flow.

Maybe she will grow into it. They agreed.

Give her time. Her parents would say.

Bren whisped upstream with her eyes closed as she often did. Listening to the deep hum of the depths of the waters. The hum had a rhythm that seeped through her being, and from the moment she heard it, she chased it every day since.

One day will I find the source of the hum? Yes, one day, I will. I will find you hum. Bren was determined to find what she was looking for. She was determined to find the hum of the deep. This is why I cannot be a Chosen. She would think to herself.

I must find the deep. There would be a great whirlpool in the nation if she even gave a hint of what she was up to. Not a single elder or fellow water spirit would be pleased to hear such things.

A bad influence. Her friends’ parents would say.

A dangerous and even dishonourable task! The elders would shout.

As Bren glided closer and closer to the Hum, she could feel her entire being pulling itself further from the surface. The blue around her got deeper, and the sound grew deeper...

Deeper still, she found herself and closer to the hum.

Bren grew still.

Embracing.

Where are you? She said within herself.

Here. Bren’s being began to buzz. What was this? The deep spoke to her. Within her! The deep knew she was talking to it.

So again…

Where are you? This time Bren gave out a whisper. Her whole being felt a little warmer this time.

With you. The deep replied. Within you, around you, above you and behind you.

Bren’s being felt weightless and heavy all at the same time. She could hear whales in the distance. Whales? She was at the end of the stream, but how could she hear whales? Had anyone in the nation ever been this far? Had the elders ever been this far? The deep was with her and now speaking with her.

Days of chasing. After days of going upstream to find the source of the hum and now she was speaking with it.

The deep.

Are those whales? She knew the answer but needed to hear the deep again. She had been searching for too long now, and she could feel the deep all around her.

Majestic, aren’t they? The deep boomed softly in reply.

How can I hear them at the end of this stream?

Dear Bren, you are further than you have ever come. Open your eyes.

Bren did just that. Opening her eyes, she was hit with wonder, just like she had when she was younger. A tiny little droplet soaking in orations. This was the stuff of dreams and mystery.

The boundaries she had only ever heard of and only dreamed of. These were the memories relayed in the stories of the elders before that established the nation. This before her was the doorway to the beginning. The mouth of the river leading to the sea.

Will you join me forever? I have great things to show you.

The hum grew stronger within Bren. An invitation? She could hardly believe what was happening. A dream? No, this was not a dream – she could remember her dream last night. This was definitely, dear readers, not a dream.

Forever?

Forever. To see more than just this wonder.

The deep seemed so wise and trustworthy. Bren had never felt so safe in her whole entire existence. She had never felt such a pull of weighted weightlessness before. She had never felt so sure that even if she declined the invitation, she would not be making any mistake.

Should I tell the nation?

Your nation is far too small for you, dear Bren.

Dear Bren. She savoured those words. The deep called her Dear Bren. Had the deep always been calling her with such a mysterious hum as this?

Won’t they miss me?

I will take care of that. You are too big for the stream.

YES! YES! YES! That’s what she wanted to shout, but her shock and awe just left her floating.

Dear Bren. Again she drank it all in. Every drop she was living in, every word, feeling, emotion, and energy.

Bren couldn’t get the words out, so again, within herself, just like at the start of their conversation, she said I would go with you to every depth of every sea.

And just like that, Bren was enveloped by the deep. Consumed with the wonders it promised there. She grew, and she grew with the sweet hum never leaving.

Back at the stream in her once home nation…

A mother and father grieved the leaving of their child. This has never happened before! The elders said again and once more. This has truly never happened before! The orations were firm, and the stories went on, but this time they told of a droplet who grew into a water spirit and was hummed away into the depths of the sea. There she saw wonders unlike anything ever seen.

And soon, dear readers, the tidal waves of change came. The droplets after Bren would grow to hunger for the deep, just like her and the elders would no longer say; This has never happened before.