Tyler had always been fascinated by the sea. She was born the daughter of a cobbler and his wife – but to be more precise; she was born no one. She was not only born no one but for the early years of her life she was still no one. Tyler had an air about her that was unlike that of other people. But she was still young, and was content to laugh and run and help her mother with the chores in their small house. There was little care in her life and that was perhaps a good thing – because this time was the only one where she could truly be at bliss.
Like many children, she lost countless memories from the town where she spent her early years in but a few remained. But one of the ones she kept with her she cherished her entire life. She had been quite young at the time. No older than five – perhaps only four, but memories like this fade with time. So age and names become smudged over time and the only things that actually matter are the events that occurred.
--
Tyler ran down the docks, followed by her mother. It was a bright day but most days were like it; hot, humid and sunny. It was the weather of the Caribbean – where the water was the color of the sky and it stretched as far as the eye could see.
Tyler paused to wait for her mother, who was now a considerable distance from her. She looked down at the docks and saw where the waves crashed up against their wooden posts and receded, each one leaving its mark.
It is incredible, she thought. It leaves behind its mark on anything it touches.
Her mother had almost caught up to her by this time. "Mother?" she asked.
"Yes, child," Answered the woman. Tyler did not notice it, but her mother was incredibly fond of her. Although Tyler was out of place in essentially every caste of society, being the wild first born girl made you loveable to – and perhaps only to– your mother. Although all of this was unnoticed to Tyler, who simply did as she pleased.
Tyler paused a second as if considering her words, though this was highly unlikely. "Mother – must I marry a man?" she asked. She phrased it calmly, staring out at the ocean not looking towards her mother who had paused to look out at the sea with her. But she was not as intrigued with it as her young daughter was.
"Someday." She replied flatly, almost emotionlessly.
"Must I?" she asked. "I do not love men. I love the water. I want to be a sailor, married to the water." This was a rather complex thing for Tyler to say. She was often quite simple and in her own world. Unaware of the life she had been born into. But here she acknowledged that and she would be forced to live a life like this one till she died. There was no other way out.
"Child, fate may lead you along a path that you never expected to travel. Perhaps you will stay here forever and perhaps you may find another world to be a part of."
As quickly as it had come upon her, Tyler's mind switched back to the mindset of the innocent. She tilted her head up and laughed as if it was funny and proceeded to run towards the market with her mother trailing behind.
--
Tyler's life continued in this fashion for a few more months. At which time her father found it impossible to support his growing family in such a small port town. It was decided, without the consent of Tyler or her two younger brothers, that they were to move back to England. There her father could work in a factory where he would make enough pay to support them.
Tyler was sad upon learning this but she soon forgot about it and went on with her life. She simply put the thought at the back of her mind, like everyone does with facts that they do not wish to think about. She did not want to leave the sea which she loved so much, nor the constant warm weather of the Caribbean, so she did not think about it.
She would spend hours on the docks each day sometimes sitting with her legs hanging off the sides watching the water hit and recede from the docks in perpetual motion. She taught herself to swim that summer and explored the fish and other things in the water rather than from above it.
She often talked to the sailors who came into port at the town. Although she was a nuisance she was so much of a happy nuisance that they did not mind her. She brightened up their days reminding them of innocence, happiness and childhood. All things they had lost and wanted to regain.
--
Tyler was not all together overjoyed about returning to the land of her ancestors. She had no choice in the matter however so she went along with it, spending her time as she would as if the prospect did not loom over her.
On the day before she left, she was travelling down the street that led to her father's shop and above her house. It was a narrow street, but wide enough so that two carriages could travel through it at the same time and manage to avoid hitting the other.
Tyler heard behind her wagon wheels coming down the street. She moved to the side of the road and it travelled past her, stopping three shops before her fathers. A woman was helped out by a coachman and she, somehow, for she wore clothes that Tyler thought would strangle her, climbed down and entered the shop.
The coachman waited there by the carriage as Tyler passed it. She turned her head, ever so slightly, to see inside. She had always wondered what it was like to live rich and now she saw. The inside of the carriage was a deep red color, far deeper than blood, which Tyler often had the inconvenience of seeing, often, when she slipped, fell or in any other way injured herself. The seats looked comfortable and Tyler was again stricken by the knowledge that she would never sit upon them. Sitting upon them was a young girl bout Tyler's age with blonde ringlets, in a white dress that seemed like a smaller, simpler version of her mother's complicated array of fabric. Tyler kept walking however, as not to disturb this girl or delay herself.
As she walked by, something curious happened. The girl stopped Tyler. Tyler had never talked to a child of this status before. They lived in completely different worlds. It was a border that existed boldly and no one even thought to cross. Unless Tyler became a servant in this girl's house, they would never have even seen each other. But for whatever reason she did stop Tyler.
"Miss," she said. "Will you stay here a while, while Mother is in the store. I'm awful lonely."
Tyler nodded. She didn't know what to say. This girl talked too proper. Not like the people she was accustomed to speaking with. Perhaps her mother talked like that – but hopefully not to that extreme.
"What is your name?" asked the girl.
"—" A/N: Her name has been censored out. She is Tyler. It doesn't matter what she was called before then.
"I am Catherine," replied the girl, she did not hold out her hand. She would not have touched this scum for fear of her mother's reaction.
At this time, Catherine's mother exited the shop and returned to the carriage, giving Tyler a nasty look as she passed. Tyler looked down at the cobbled street beneath her feet, ashamed. Again, she had no idea what to do or say. She told herself that she must remember not to speak to these people, for a fear of offending or insulting them. The woman entered that carriage, not waiting for the coachman's help and Tyler continued on her way.
It didn't hurt her, but it showed Tyler a world she wouldn't have wanted to be a part of. That woman in the carriage and her young rosebud of a daughter were just symbols to the world outside of Tyler's. The world she couldn't enter unless in a masquerade. A world so different, but yet so close to her own
--
On the following day, Tyler her mother, father, two younger brothers and one younger sister boarded the ship. It was many weeks a journey back to England, so they would be at sea long enough for Tyler to be happy – even if she would never see it again after this.
The ship set out right before sunset so that by the time it disappeared behind the horizon land was still in sight. It was a lovely sunset, bright and beautiful against the blue water and the orange sky. Tyler stood on the deck watching it and as she did so a sailor approached her. He was a man she knew from her dallying about the docks.
"'ello," he said. He was watching her eyes fixed on the fast fading colors. "Do you know the story of the green sunset?"
She gave him a quizzical look.
"Tis an amazing story," he said. "On some nights when the sun is setting down there by the horizon, there's green light that lights the sky fer half a second. Some never sees it. I believe I saw it meself once. A few years ago it was. I'd like to see it again, but I should be happy with wha' I seen. It's more than many a man ever lives to watch."
Tyler smiled at this. The sea it held so many mysteries…so many secrets. So many deep and dark stories that only men like superstitious sailors dared to tell you. "What does it mean?" she asked, her eyes revealing her inner excitement.
"It tells us when a soul returns o'er from the land of the dead." He replied, his voice seemed dark and distant.
Tyler nodded and they remained there, watching the sun dip down into the blue sea. The silence protruded through them while Tyler thought about his tale. At this point, Tyler went down with her family to sleep. She slept easily – for one of the last times in her life, for the years following, her nights were plagued with constant, wretched insomnia.
--
For a week the family's voyage across the sea was uneventful. Naturally Tyler found it incredible, but she was the only one who felt this way. She was happiest on the sea and lucky for her, her time with it was no where near its end.
About a week into the voyage there was a storm. It was a warm humid night. So much so that sweat drenched the bodies of men other than the hard working sailors. Many people, including Tyler, were out on the deck that night. Then there was a clash. It came out of nowhere, scaring Tyler and many others. She ran to her mother and held onto her skirts. Then came the thunder and the rain. It poured down so suddenly that people who ran for cover were already drenched. The sailors stayed out working to keep the ship going. Their strong bodies shiny and wet, reflecting the glares of the lightning and the moon as well.
Then it happened. A bolt came clear out of the sky and hit the mast, toppling it over onto the ship, breaking it. Tyler looked around her. Everyone had a fearful expression on their face. It was then that the adrenaline kicked in, knocking out all sense. Little would be remembered by the one survivor of the incident, that being Tyler. She was pulled by someone and thrown into something, which happened to be a boat. Four others were there too, looking scared. As they sailed away from the sinking ship Tyler had no thoughts in her mind of her lost family nor fear. She was not thinking at all, rather letting the events play out the way they would.
The storm made the water wild and dangerous. Over the course of the night a man was lost. When Tyler finally came back to reality she found that the man who had saved her life was the sailor she had talked to on her first night on the ship. The other two were an older man and a middle aged woman. But none of that really mattered. The day passed uneventfully a light drizzle remained all day though. There were no oars so they followed the currents. The sailor had collected some rain water which he gave first to the old man, then Tyler, then the woman, and finally to himself. They caught a bird as well which needed to be eaten raw seeing as they could not have started a fire in a little wooden boat. But any food was good food to a group of starving castaways.
During the night the storm picked up once again. There was no lightning this time. The sailor took out a compass so as to see which direction they were headed towards but it mattered little because they had no idea where they were on the map. And then all of sudden they saw it.
The water simply ended and they had no way of avoiding it. As Tyler looked around her she saw the woman and her sailor friend both pray. She saw the old man with a look of terror and then she saw nothing. She heard nothing, just falling. Down, down, down into a new life.