Tahong -2024- -

He looked up. His eyes were the color of a stormy sea. When he smiled, his teeth were small and sharp and arranged in a pattern that was not quite human.

It was not unpleasant. The pressure held her like a mother’s arms. The darkness was soft, and somewhere in the distance, lights flickered — green and pulsing, like the inner lips of a shell. She tried to swim toward them, but her legs wouldn’t move. She looked down.

“They’re singing, Mama. They want us to come back.”

“They’re green, Mama. Like the shells.”

He looked up. His eyes were the color of a stormy sea. When he smiled, his teeth were small and sharp and arranged in a pattern that was not quite human.

It was not unpleasant. The pressure held her like a mother’s arms. The darkness was soft, and somewhere in the distance, lights flickered — green and pulsing, like the inner lips of a shell. She tried to swim toward them, but her legs wouldn’t move. She looked down.

“They’re singing, Mama. They want us to come back.”

“They’re green, Mama. Like the shells.”