Mara's Forbidden Legend

**"Look at the sky, Mara. It's beautiful, isn't it?"**

I nodded and leaned against the railing. The sun shone through the gaps between the clouds and bathed the deck in a soft glow. The crew was busy with their work: some were polishing the brass fittings of the ship, others were cleaning or fixing something, or just relaxing and talking. I listened to their laughter and looked at the waves that splashed against our boat. The wind blew softly through my hair and ruffled my dress. I took a deep breath of the salty air and sighed contentedly. It was all so peaceful.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me and someone took my hand. It was Caelan, one of the young sailors on our ship. His long blond hair waved in the wind as he turned his head towards me and smiled.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be working right now?" I asked him as I carefully set down my glass of water on the railing while trying not to spill any of it. Caelan helped me by taking a cloth from his pocket and wiping away the drops that had fallen off my skirt onto the planks of the deck. He put away his rag again and then turned his attention back to me. "I'm always working," he said with a slight shrug, "but every now and then one has to rest for a bit." He glanced out at the horizon and then turned back to me again. "Besides," he added, "it's nice up here." He pointed at a spot high up on the main mast where two men were climbing around with ropes while they worked on repairing some part of the rigging above us. Caelan grinned mischievously at me before he grabbed my hand again and dragged me towards them and up some stairs to get there faster. I laughed as we climbed higher into the rigging until we finally reached a spot where we could lay comfortably on some old sails spread out over several yards between two crossbeams that held up part of the rigging above us. The seagulls flew around our heads as if they were curious about what we were doing here in their territory and stared curiously at us from a distance before they returned to their nests among the ropes above us again. I made myself comfortable lying down on my side next to an old sailbobbin that was also serving as a pillow for someone's head, but Caelan sat down next to me on his knees with his hands resting casually on his legs while he smiled at me. He leaned forward until his face was only inches away from mine, but he didn't kiss me like I had thought he would do next; instead, he just looked at me intently while we suddenly fell silent and listened to each other's breathing echoes across what seemed like limitless silence around us before it blended in with all of nature surrounding us here on this ship far out in open waters where no land could be seen anywhere in sight anymore when we looked down into endless sea stretching out in every direction around us until it disappeared into boundless horizon line that stretched endlessly into space beyond what we could see anymore during this moment when time stood still around us both when we hovered weightlessly suspended in space while nothing moved anymore except our own hearts beating furiously inside of us both like two captured birds fluttering wildly inside our chests beating against ribcages with wings clipped tightly together unable to move freely until suddenly torn apart by inner longing burning too brightly inside of us both hoping for freedom so desperately wanting to break free from these invisible bounds holding us back from reaching out for each other until finally breaking free so violently that reality shattered after it broke into thousands upon thousands shards raining down around our heads into infinity drowning everything else into absolute darkness drowning everything including thoughts drowning everything including pain drowning everything including hope drowning everything including love drowning everything including hope drowning everything including hope drowning everything including hope drowning everything including hope drowning everything including hope until finally swimming underneath surface of infinite blackness taking hold of hands reaching out desperately towards one another seeing blurred figures moving closer together watching countless faces appearing smaller getting closer merging together until finally merging together completely disappearing into eternal darkness nevermore seeing anything more again blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blinded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded blindfolded by light so bright blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding blinding

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I blinked my eyes open slowly after being carried away by memories from my past when suddenly I noticed that I wasn't alone anymore here on this ship struggling against strong winds blowing gale after gale over open seas full of rough waves tossing our little vessel around like a toy without any chance against these giant forces tumbling our little boat from all directions at once making us helpless because we were just small insignificant human beings all alone in middle of vast emptiness surrounded by cold merciless space threatening to destroy us after patiently waiting for its last opportunity waiting for final chance to swallow our lives whole without leaving any trace behind without leaving any trace left behind reminding anyone who might have been watching that there are still people alive somewhere out there even if they may have already forgotten about them already lost them forever just like they have lost people they loved before who never came back never came back ever again never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back never came back..."

* * * *

"Hey Mara! Wake up! There's something happening down below! Come quickly! We're going ashore!" A young sailor named Sean barged into my room unannounced through an open door without knocking first thinking no one lived in here anyway so why bother? He shouted with excitement shining brightly in his eyes making him look almost like an excited child running excitedly towards something new important waiting impatiently for someone else who made him feel excited this way too person who shared his eagerness making him feel like doing things he didn't do very often otherwise especially not with others but mostly only with her...

I jumped off my bed immediately after hearing Sean's voice reading aloud what he had called me since nobody else besides him used this name anymore except for... I stopped thinking about him blocking out all thoughts about him pushing them far away behind layers upon layers of foggy mist trying hard not remembering anything about him... pushing hard trying hard pushing harder trying harder pushing hardest trying hardest pushing hardest trying hardest pushing hardest trying hardest pushing hardest trying hardest pushing hardest trying hardest pushing hardest trying hardest...

**"Don't forget your walking stick!"** Sean called from outside when I left half asleep holding onto my cane looking disoriented out into hallway still yawning confused pulling myself together slowly adjusting to sunlight dimmed because curtains kept window covered keeping no light outside where it belonged instead letting all light shine inside illuminating every corner so bright making dark places even darker particularly those spots most dark where shadows played hide-and-seek deep inside hiding playing games leading lives far away from people living lives far away from others suffering silently inside wanting someone else who would understand how they felt trapped imprisoned confined forced lurking forbidden trapped imprisoned confined forced lurking forbidden unable ...