A nice spring evening was everything to Droplet. Feeling the cold breeze and the warming-up ocean, with the grainy sand below his talons. It was calming, and helped clear Droplet’s mind. His mother usually joined him, and they would sit together in peaceful silence. Not tonight, though. She was out finishing a late-night shift at Seashell’s Trinkets. She’d be home soon.
In the meanwhile, Droplet watched the sky. He saw the sun yawn and stretch its rays over the ocean’s surface. He saw the first stars awaken and the moon rise into the sky. He recited each of the sky’s constellations, from Scallop’s Belt to The Big Dripper. Droplet could find the brightest star in the sky and know what time it was.
But… it was unreasonably high in the sky. Almost as if… no. She’s not late. Maybe… But she’s never late. And if she’s never late then why is she now? Droplet turned around to see Drown in the doorway of the hut. With his night vision he could tell she was worried. Did she figure the same thing? Bubbles stood behind her, with Ripple right next to him.
“We’re going to go look for her,” Drown whispered. Weed and Lichen were asleep, as they usually are. “Melt would come but he can’t see in the dark.”
“Can I come too?” Bubbles asked.
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“Sorry, Bubs, you’d slow us down,” Ripple said with sympathy in her voice. She followed Drown as they dove into the calm ocean. The SeaWings sat there for a quiet moment, listening to the waves rushing against the beach. Bubbles sat next to Droplet and started making a mound out of wet sand and knocking it down, over and over again.. It was his way of clearing his mind.
“Do you know if she’s okay?” Bubbles asked again.
“Likely. She’s probably just stuck with an annoying customer.” Droplet said. He looked off into the distance, watching as fog started to come in. It concealed the islands around them, as if it wanted to protect them from something. Well that’s ominous, Droplet thought.
Droplet awoke to a silent poking on his wing. He opened his eyes, blurrily watching as Drown signaled him to follow her. He carefully hopped out of his hammock and onto a ladder to avoid waking Bubbles below him. He climbed down after Drown and followed her outside. It was foggier than it was the night before. Drown looked at her twin with a worried expression.
“Ripple and I couldn’t find her,” she said softly. “Her manager said she hadn’t shown up yesterday. We asked the neighbors and they wouldn’t tell us anything.”
Droplet didn’t know what to say. He stood there, still and quiet. He couldn’t decide whether to go look for her himself or to stay here and wait. Waiting was possibly the best option since he didn’t even know where to begin looking. But for now, he would make sure that nobody left the island.