As I sang the whole ground, at once, was gone. The boys and the animals who were listening were gone. My father was gone. My body was gone. I expected that soon I would be gone.

Then there was only white, like when your eyes are burned by the sun and cannot make out anything. And I saw, below me, the sea. I sang to the oceans, and then I was a bird. I flew until I saw land, and came down on the beach.

An owl flew in front of me. He looked old, and slightly tired. He hooted at me, then spoke in a pleasant tenor voice, which seemed wise yet friendly:

"Marin! Marin who sings of awakening! You survived Koholint, the dream world. I have brought you from there and now you must go to a far country. Yes, you must. Hoot!"

"Who are you?", I asked.

"I come from the spirit of the Wind Fish. The island of Koholint was a dream, it lived while he slumbered. Now the Wind Fish is awake and free; the people of Koholint are gone. They were nothing save his in his thoughts. The Hero, Link, rose him from his rest. Indeed he is awake now. Hoot, hoot!"

"Then how am I here?"

"You were given your own spirit, a spirit apart from myself and the Wind Fish. Your desire was to sing to many lands. Now this is fulfilled. You have become a seagull, whose song can awaken the dreamers. But you are to use this gift well. Hoot, do you understand?"

"Yes, I've known. I believed that I was one day to leave that island and sing throughout the earth."

"There is a realm to the west, called Hyrule. From this land came Link. You were meant to meet him. His spirit appears in the world through every generation. It is the spirit of the Hero. Whenever evil comes and threatens the peaceful, he shall be born to protect them."

"I knew he was somebody wonderful. The kindest, most good-hearted boy I have known. Will I ever see him again?"

"Only if you complete the task that I am giving you. Should you succeed, you shall be reborn at a time when he is reborn. Then you shall meet once more."

"I love him", I said. And my heart, though trapped inside the tiny body of a seagull, became boundless joy at the memory of Link.

"Hoot! For him to be reborn the fairies of Hyrule must guard the people of the forest. Otherwise the Hero cannot descend again. Only the fairies can make the Hero's spirit enter his body, and only they can make yours enter a body where you can find him."

"Take me to these fairies."

"They are trapped in Hyrule, by the cruel magic of the Evil Man. You must bind this Evil Man, and awaken the fairies with your music. Only you possess the beauty of voice to rise them. Go now, to the west. Hyrule requests you. Hoot hoot!"

The owl flew so fast I could never catch him. I flapped my wings, and glided away from the beach. I was afraid of what was before me, yet heartened at finding Link again.