ONWARD IMAGINES

Shoreline (part two) | Barley Lightfoot

The magic swirled around you, lifting you off of the rock you were sitting on. You were blinded by it; it was beyond the light of the sun against the waters. You were lifted only for a moment before you were placed back down, this time without a fin, but instead two legs. You were covered by your top and a torn skirt made from material from the sea that you had wrapped around your waist prior to swimming to the surface.

You didn't know what to do. "I can't believe it," you whispered.

Ian looked nervous. "Do they... do they work?"

"Well, I don't know," you said. You kicked your feet. They felt like they did. "Let's find out."

You held out your hands for both of them and they took them. Their hands fell on your back as you struggled to stand up. It was so strange to stand on two things, especially without the safety of water around you. You gripped on tight to Barley's hand as you swayed, trying to get the hang of it.

When you finally were able to stand without fear of tilting, and you loosened your grip on their hands, you finally looked up at Barley. You grinned.

"It really worked," you said.

He smiled wide and threw his arms around your waist, lifting you off of the ground. He laughed happily and dropped you gently back down on the sand. You held onto his shoulders and looked around.

"I did it," Ian sighed out in relief. He fell back against the rock, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Holy tooth of Zadar, that was stressful."

"Thank you, Ian!" you said. "Oh, I want to get off of this beach. I want to... I want to..."

Barley laughed. "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know," you said, shaking your head. Your body was shaking, you couldn't stop smiling. "I want to go everywhere. I want to see things."

You let go of Barley and almost fell. He panicked, reaching out to catch you, but you held up your hands. You wanted to know what it felt like to stand on your own. You backed up against the rock and sat down, then stood up. It felt so strange to move like this. You shuffled your feet forward, one hand on the rock as you walked around it. You walked.

You suddenly gasped. "Barley! We can play that game you're always telling me about that I couldn't play."

"Okay, sure. We can do that."

"Really? Your first time to see whatever you want and you want to play a board game?"

"It's a roleplaying game, Ian," Barley said.

"Still..."

"I want to do a lot of things," you said, smiling. "I don't want to waste any time."

"Then waste, we won't," he said, walking to up you and taking your hand. "Let us go, my love. Three days of fun and adventure await us!"

/ /

Barley showed you everything. It took an hour to get home instead of twenty minutes because of how he pulled over so you could look at every single thing that caught your eye. Unicorns eating through trash, a police cruiser speeding by, the lights flashing, a tall building, the gas station. You were fascinated by all of it.

The first stop was to a clothing store. You wanted to find normal clothes. You went into a clothing store in the mall and picked out a t-shirt, a pair of black boots, and a pair of jeans. You tried them on and asked for the boy's approval before deciding if they were okay. They both cheered you on, agreeing that you looked great.

After changing back in the dressing room, you followed Ian and Barley to the checkout. Barley took the shirt, jeans, and shoes from you and dropped them on the counter. The cashier scanned them and you smiled as Barley took out his wallet.