Tell Me, Grandmother; Why is the Sea Salty?

Oh so many ages ago, but just a blink ago against all time, the Mother surveyed Her work as the vessels she had created during the Beginning found their place within the Great Space.

Some, unburdened by Obligations or Science, delighted in rushing through the Darkness and left great breaths of gases, sparkle, and fiery nodes in their wake. The rush of their passing swirled, twirled, dandled, and danced together, creating rivers of light and refraction within that Space and pointing the Way towards That Which Had Passed Before.

Some, those that had felt Her Breath, retained the quickening Spark, pulling That deep into their cooling cores, wrapping the elements deep around It, nestling, feeding, burnishing, and treasuring It-happy with the knowledge that She danced within it.

Her Children, Twins that shone with Her luminescence, watched without weariness as the Great Space changed, evolving in the ways that She knew it would and allowed it to be, and they danced among the Glory filled with joy at the Newness and recognition of what was Always and Ever.

The Mother saw Them move and how Their presence worked upon the vessels. Where They drew closer the elements leapt as if to touch Them, and made pinnacles upon the surface of the vessel. Where they darted closer still Their breath reached out and was welcomed; leaving wavering steam, brittle icy, leaping rivers, roiling oceans, and pirouetting rain on and within the vessel as a precious and vital part of Them that joined with Her spark and sustained them.

When They withdrew the vessels hardened against Their absence, layering Their absence within, feeling the loss of Their attention, and smoldering with an icy intensity that, over the ages, would collapse upon themselves and pull others in the black Holes of eternity.

The Twins knew none of those consequences, although the Mother was aware she gave them reign over their actions as She did to the rest of Her creation. She watched as, together, they drew near to a vessel that teemed with Her breath and spirt and watched the elements reach out in joy towards Her Twins.

The Soul of the vessel called out to the Twins, "Come, stay with me! Let me embrace you always!" Intrigued, the Twins drew nearer, for they always felt complete when they moved together. The Mother watched.

The vessel's pinnacles climbed out from its core, reaching upward and higher, straining for the union with the Twins. Its longing called out to them both and They drew nearer, Their breath increasing the oceans and fogging its surface with dew. Closer still, and Their presence caused the mists to swirl and separate, revealing the calm reflection of Themselves upon the waters.

The Great Space suspended its movement for the moment the Twins beheld the Glory of Themselves upon the waters, and unwarily unwilling to resume Their cosmic dance, They drew even closer, hovering above the surface of the waters.

Heedless to the song of the newly birthing stars, blinded to the ecstasy of the universes spiraling endlessly, They impetuously drew so close They hovered above the calm water, gazing at the revelation of Themselves. So incautious were They, that the vessel reached higher, this time with a sprite of water and touched one of Them with the tip of a wave, then wrapped the tip around that Twin and pulled Them under the water, down deep then yet still deeper, close to the bottom of the endless waters that wrapped around its surface.

With a cry the other Twin leapt for the sheltering succor of the Mother, seeking Her help and reeling from the broken connection to Their Twin. The Mother, watching from the center of all that She had created, tasked Her Twin to find its sibling, directing the Twin to return to the vessel, now rapidly developing with the spark of Her within itself, and nurtured by the Twin in its depths.

So the lone Twin began its search, which has continued through the beginning ages, and continues still. It traverses the Dark Spaces, staying close to the vessel but not too close to be pulled down, peering first at the waters then turning away to gaze at the Mother.

That is why the round and cold face of the Twin, the Moon, changes as it journeys through the sky; sometimes it is full as it looks through the water, sometimes it shows just the side as it seeks the Mother.

When it gets close and sees the face of its Twin upon the surface of the waters it reaches down, down, down to reunite. The Twin under the waves of the Earth senses the pull and rises up to be closer, and that is the rise and fall of the tides.

And when that longing is unfulfilled, that lonely immortal Twin succumbs to its grief and cries, endlessly releasing the bitter salts of its tears into the seas.

~

Stories, and grandmothers, help us understand the world around us. You may also enjoy this short story that explains a family secret:

Please let me know in the comments: What story told to you as a child do you remember best?

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