The Song of the Sea

Lyle's Story - The Beginning

My life has never been easy. Not since I was five years old and I watched as a Siren ripped out my father's soul while my brothers beat each other to death under her spell. I spent the rest of my childhood in fear. Afraid of everything. Afraid of death, afraid of living, afraid of the monsters under my bed. Something changed when I turned 16. I guess I stopped being afraid. But I stopped being a lot of other things too.

People call me grumpy. That's alright. I can live with that. People would call me a lot worse if they knew what I kept inside. But that's what I'd become good at - keeping things inside. I buried things so deep within me that even I forgot about them. That's until something forced the memories back out. Like when I first clapped eyes on Raephier.

But burying things deep inside had its problems. Because even though I stopped thinking about things, even though I stopped grieving for my dad and brothers, and I stopped resenting my mother for re-marrying just 6 months after my dad had passed, someone forgot to tell my face that. And more specifically my mouth. So yes, I was grumpy, and yes I tended to yell at people and be rude and not really seem to care, but actually that was just the price I paid for keeping everything else hidden. Because if I didn't, if one day I let those walls down and thought about everything and let those emotions out, I wasn't sure how far the fall out would reach.

So as I watched The Flying Bounty leave the harbour, I carried on doing what I did best - I locked those feelings up tight and buried them deep inside before heading back to the tavern for a much needed drink.

I spent the next four months working on my Uncle's farm. It wasn't bad work. And I got on well with my cousin Joseph who practically ran the farm now my Uncle was approaching sixty. I wasn't sad or angry. But I wasn't exactly happy either. I just....was.

It was an unusually warm day towards the end of October when I heard the news.

"LYLE!!!"

I looked up, hammer paused mid air, when I heard my name being called.

"THEY'RE BACK!"

I let the hammer fall from my hand and stood upright as my cousin's son came running down the field. He was only 8 but was already as fast as a whippet. He didn't need to say anything else. I knew who he was talking about.

I felt a tension I hadn't even noticed release itself. They were safe. They were home.

"Lyle! Come on!"

I was pulled from my thoughts by Connor who was pulling on my arm, tugging me towards the gate which led back to the farm house.

"If we hurry we might be able to see them dock!"

"Alright, alright!" I groaned, pulling my arm free from Connor's insistent grip. As soon as my arm was free, I went to my tool box and began putting away everything I'd been using.

I could sense Connor almost vibrating with energy next to me, but I wasn't in any hurry. There was a nervous sort of anticipation flowing round my body and I wanted time for it to settle down before I went anywhere.

Once the last tool was put in its place, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep Connor waiting for any longer, so I set off with him back to the farm house. From there, we took the pony and trap along the lane to Greyton which was only 3 miles away.

The lane took us out to the coast, giving us the perfect view of The Flying Bounty as she inched slowly closer to the harbour wall. I felt something heavy settle in my stomach at the sight of her, and I wasn't sure why. I found my eyes glancing out to sea, looking out for any sign of movement in the water.

I caught a slight movement in the corner of my eye, over by the rocks. I stared hard, my eyes searching the water.

There it was again, only this time it was further round the headland, heading towards Gunter's cove. I felt my lips twitch at the hint of a smile.