Water
to Water
by
Karen A. Wyle
Genre:
Science Fiction
When the time comes for Vushla to die, they go into the ocean and are dissolved away. Or so Terrill has always believed, and still believes after taking part in his father's final journey. But when he meets a young Vushlu who lives by the sea, Terrill must confront information that calls this fundamental belief into question. Will the two of them discover the truth? And what should they do with what they find?
EXCERPT
Honnu squatted by the campfire, all four legs comfortably sunk in the sand, his lower armor
sealed tight to keep sand out, and watched the procession approach the sea. It was a small
group, with only one young Vushlu among the older ones. A funeral, then. The young one must
be the son or daughter of the Vushlu, aging or ailing, whose funeral it was.
Honnu turned away before the group reached the edge of the water. He knew, of course, what
would happen, but he had no wish to watch. After all, he lived with the ocean, lived from it, rode
out every day to toss the nets and haul them back. He and his family depended on the ocean.
But he often thought he must feel like a farmer with a very, very large and powerful bull. Such a
useful animal — it sired strong beasts like itself, and it pulled plows through earth too sticky for
pull-cycles. But it could, any time it chose to, trample the farmer into jelly. The farmer could
hope that the bull would never turn on its master. Honnu lived with the certain knowledge that
one day, the ocean would reveal itself as the largest possible beast, and devour him whole.
No, he had no need to watch it happen to others, not when he would be paddling the boat out
again tomorrow morning.
CHARACTER INTERVIEW
Character
Interview with Terrill
[NOTE:
Terrill is a Vushlu. He would have become an adult next year by
taking a ritual first journey to the ocean with other Vushla his age.
Instead, he attained adult status prematurely, accompanying his dying
father to the ocean, where his father went into the water to be
dissolved.
Interviewing Terrill is a tricky task. As the book begins, he is
understandably morose. Later, when he is less so, he has good reasons
not to reveal his activities and concerns. I’ve dealt with this
dilemma by splitting his interview into two, and working within the
limitations Terrill sets.
The first interview
takes place at a rest stop during the funeral party’s return trip.
Terrill speaks in a quiet monotone most of the time.]
Q. I’m very sorry
about your father.
A. Thank you.
Q. It will take you
quite a while to get home. How are you occupying yourself along the
way?
A. I’m trying to
remember as much as I can about Da. [a pause; he clenches and armors
his fists] But the things I remember keep reminding me of things I
don’t know. Questions I never asked, and never can, now. [long
pause]
Q. Have you found
any ways to keep your spirits up?
A. There’s a
Weesah peddler who’s been traveling alongside us. He likes to tell
stories. When I listen to them, it takes my mind off . . . other
things. I’ve even laughed a few times. [glances to the side] Not
that my uncle approves. Of the listening or the laughing.
[An older Vushlu
approaches; the interview concludes]
-----------
[The second
interview takes place around three months (or the equivalent) later.
Terrill is now traveling in the peddler’s wagon, as is Honnu,
another Vushlu about his age.]
Q. Is this where you
expected to be, at this time?
A. No. Nothing about
what I’m doing these days is as I expected. One unpredictable event
has led to another.
Q. What can you tell
me about these events?
A. [a slight smile –
which for Vushla means a rounded mouth] Very little, I’m afraid.
Except that one of our funeral party, my aunt, became very ill on the
way home. The others returned to the sea with her. I [a short pause]
chose not to. That led to my becoming better acquainted with Honnu.
And that led to everything else.
Q. So do you think
you’ll become a peddler?
A. [another smile] I
don’t think so. But for now, I’m a peddler’s assistant and have
my duties. I’d better go.
Q. Perhaps we’ll
meet again along the road.
A. I . . . don’t
think that is very likely. But stranger things have happened. [a
quiet chuckle] Indeed they have.
Karen
A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in
Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers
herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest
ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she
was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to
the goal at age 9.
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