Once upon a time, a gentleman who lived by the sea was asked for his daughter's hand in marriage. The gentleman was not poor, but also could not afford to give his daughter the dowry he would like, and had worried that he would be unable to find a proper husband for her. So when the wealthy young man had offered a large bride price for the young maiden who lived by the sea, the gentleman could think of nothing better than to agree to the marriage.
The young maiden was upset to hear that her father had not consulted her before agreeing to a marriage between his daughter and the young man neither of them had met, but she knew her father's reasons, and resigned herself to know that the marriage would be of great return to both herself and her family. Though the maiden still held her reservations, the family ate well and celebrated their good fortune.
Three days before the wedding of the maiden and the wealthy young man who had taken her hand, the first meeting of the two was to take place, in the village next to the sea. However, the young man fell ill, and could not see the family himself. An attendant came to them instead, saying, "I am sorry, my master is ill. I will be his eyes, ears, and mouth, from him to you. I will be his eyes, ears, and mouth from you to him." The family did not see the young man, but the maiden's father was pleased with what he heard.
During the visit, the maiden stepped out onto the beach for a breath of fresh air, and went out on to the sand, shells, and stones, next to the house, next to the sea. The maiden looked out on the water and cast her eyes upon a field of shells, wood, and sand on the beach nearby. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, however, when she saw one of the massive, dark, and long pieces of driftwood begin to move, slowly with deliberateness, toward the house, until she could see on it eyes, ears, and a mouth. The maiden could only watch in fear as the driftwood, with eyes, ears, and mouth, slithered like smog into the guest house just as her family came out. After they had left, the maiden told her family all that she had seen on the beach outside the house, of the driftwood with eyes, ears, and mouth, but they only told her, "What mysticism has come over your mind! There is no creature in the ocean or the land like that. You must have mistaken yourself."
Two days before the wedding of the maiden and the wealthy young man who would receive her hand, the maiden traveled out of her home and into her village. The maiden asked questions to each person she knew and to each person she did not know. But every time the maiden asked about the driftwood, with eyes, ears, and mouth, she would only be told, "There is no creature in the ocean or the land like that. You must have mistaken yourself."
So the maiden went to the house of the scholar, and asked to look in his collection of books. She searched through each of the books and scrolls in his collection, but could find nothing about the driftwood, with eyes, ears, and mouth. When she asked the scholar himself, he could only tell, "There is no creature in the ocean or the land like that. You must have mistaken yourself." The maiden went to the house of the witch, and asked to look in her accounts of the strange and the mysterious. She searched through each of the diagrams and tales in her collection, but could find nothing about the driftwood, with eyes, ears, and mouth. When she asked the witch herself, she could only tell, "There is no creature in the ocean or the land like that. It must be from a world of the gods."
With one day before the wedding of the maiden and the wealthy young man who had bought her hand, the maiden traveled out of her home and out of the village, to the estate of her betrothed. She traveled by horse to the north, where the land met the sea as it did by her village, and traveled along the beach of the wealthy young man's estate. The maiden looked for a clue on the beach of the wealthy young man, but she could not find anything like the driftwood, especially none with eyes, ears, and a mouth.
As she went along, however, the maiden found a stone shrine, overgrown with vines, seaweed, and moss on the shore by the beach of the wealthy young man's estate. The shrine was open, with the vines, seaweed, and moss creeping throughout the building, so the maiden entered it though she could not recognize the god the shrine was meant for. But what made the maiden stop short was the image clearly carved on the wall at the center of the shine; a creature with the exact features she had sought, one appearing as though it were driftwood, with eyes, ears, and mouth.
"Are you interested in the shrine to the Old Sea God?" The maiden was alarmed to find a stranger suddenly come upon her in the shrine, a young man who came from the path leading up to the estate. She replied with caution, and the young man smiled in such a manner, the maiden very nearly forgot why she had come to the stone shrine by the sea. "This shrine was built here a hundred years ago to the Old Sea God. It was believed to be a mysterious creature that had lost its power in its old age, so it relied on its wisdom and cunning to ensnare humans. It was said to float on the waves of the sea, and to crawl on the sands of the beach, disguised as a piece of driftwood with eyes, ears, and a mouth.
"They have said that if a person were to catch sight of the mystical creature, their fate is marked, some say cursed even, the true light of which is only discovered after many years, when the creature comes to them from the sea and bears them away, never to be seen again."
The maiden was comforted by the young man's words and presence, though a lingering unease followed her out the temple, where dark and heavy clouds bore down with a storm. Even as the maiden followed the young man up to the estate of her betrothed, the unease followed her. Even as the maiden spent the evening in happy company with the young man, until the dark and large clouds cleared, and the sea was dark and clear with rain, the unease followed her.
Even as the maiden joined her hand with the young man, the day of her wedding, and reveled with her family, new and old, the unease followed her. It followed her in the carriage, to the estate, to her chambers in the home, where it formed a pit in the image carved into the shrine wall, of the driftwood with eyes, ears, and mouth.
Through the far window of the estate, the maiden, then a lady, could spy the mossy stone shrine by the sea. She gathered up the pit of unease in a bottle, with sand and wood, and set it on the sill. Years passed, and the lady, then a mother, picked up the bottle from the sill, looking again to the shrine, mossy and overgrown, and the image of the driftwood inside flowing through her mind like the sea over stone. Her child tugged her skirt and the mother bottled up the sand and wood, salt and water, and set it on the sill.
Years passed, and the mother, then a gentlewoman, called to her daughter as the girl picked up the bottle from the sill, looking at the water and sand that were part of the sea, seeing only the shrine out by the sea, and hearing only her family at home. The gentlewoman's son laughed, calling to his sister, and the girl looked once more into the bottle with wood and shells, and set it on the sill. Years passed, and the gentlewoman, then an old maid, stooped and white, veiled and black, cradled the bottle in her hands while she looked out to the green and worn shrine by the sea. She undid the pit, pouring out the sand that glittered like stars over the sea's sky and wood as smooth and brittle as glass.
The old maid took her cupped hands, overflowing with water and broken shells, stepping out on the long path to the shrine by the sea she could see out the far window for so many years passed. She stepped out on the beach, where every dark, entangled branch against every bleached, cracked strip of wood seemed to stretch on forever, from the old stone shrine to her toes, from the sea to her home, so far away then. She still held to the worries and fears that she had taken from the bottle on the window sill, even as she walked slowly over sand and shells to the waves of the sea. She still held to the pit she had bottled and held for many years passed, even as she stepped out into the freezing waters of the sea.
While the open ocean held and numbed her in its cold embrace, the old maid, then one long past, let go the wood and water, shells and sand, letting it all flow out with the sea, the waves, the driftwood floating in the water like sea gods from another world.