It's a strange and beautiful thing, the sea. Nellie was convinced there was nothing quite as beautiful, as endless, everchanging, and unpredictable as the ocean. She had been there once, a foolish girl who had been frightened by the waves crashing against the shore, higher and higher like some great formless monster, spraying foam and threatning to yank her under and down...down...down...
But then it fell until it was little more than a warm splash curling about her legs, leaving her laughing and breathless, delighting in how the earth rushed from underneath her feet.
The sea was like her on the surface: evermoving, passionate, wild.
Underneath was an entire different world and it was while she was embraced in that still, quiet and wonderful haven...weightless and mysterious as a mermaid that Nellie found true peace. Both with the world and herself.
That was the last time Nellie could remember skies that blue, air so warm, and happiness so real. The burning in her lungs had driven her to the surface. Up to reality. She had almost stayed.
It was ironic really, that the sea she adored had been the very thing that had taken Benjamin from her (not that he had ever been hers) all those years ago. But it was also her memory of the sea that kept her living after he was gone,
It was foolish to foster the dream that she'd one day live by the sea, but it was all she had, and the promise of peace that came with it.
By the sea, Mr. Todd, that's the life I covet...
By the sea, Mr. Todd, Oh I'd know you'd love it!