The Secret

(Written for the MFF Conbook 2007)

The Secret

By Felix Sagittarius

Moan

clatter

whimper

rattle

sob

The seal poked his nose over the edge of the floe, and looked around to see what was making all the noises he'd heard. Seeing a man on the ice, it instinctively dived again.

Then, after a moments thought, it came back for a second look.

The man was naked, stripped of his furs and left to die by his people for some crime, and slowly freezing to death.

The seal grinned to himself, then slid up onto the ice.

The man turned at the noise, then gaped in shock as the seal began to change, becoming a man wearing a sealskin cloak.

The selkie smiled at him and said, "Well lad, I don't do this for everyone, but you're dying, and I'm curious why. What terrible crime did you commit to earn a fate like this?"

"N-n-nothing," the man forced between chattering teeth. "I swear it! I found I could do something. I thought I could use it to help the tribe hunt, but, when I showed them, they all screamed and ran away!" He moaned and hugged himself, shuddering.

After a moment, he continued, "The men came back with spears, and bound me! The Elders sat in judgment, and ordered me banished, saying I was dangerous to the tribe. I swear I wasn't! I told them that, but they wouldn't listen! They brought me here, took my furs, then pushed the floe out to sea and left me." He shivered, his lips, fingertips, and toes blue with the cold.

"That's hard, lad," commiserated the selkie. "What did you do, violate a taboo?"

"No, I did nothing," the dying man said, haltingly. "Oh... So cold... So hungry."

"Sorry," the selkie laughed. "Can't help you. Against our ways, you see."

The selkie bent closer, watching the man slowly die.

"I swore I'd never do it again, I swore..." the man gasped. "But..." He moaned, then he screamed as he changed.

White fur spread over his body, and he suddenly grew massive. Where he'd sat freezing, there was suddenly an enormous polar bear.

The selkie froze in horror as the enormous bear rose over him. He grabbed his cloak and fell to seal to escape - too late. He shrieked as the bear grabbed him. A blow from one huge paw, and the noise ended abruptly.

"Well," thought the skin changer, "At least I'm warm now, and not hungry any more!"

The huge bear turned. At a shambling walk, he crossed the rocking floe to the sea and slid in. He'd found he liked the taste of seal...and selkie.

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