RIP REDO(10-21-24): from May 31st, 2024
The Song of the Humpback
The song comes from the ancestors who swam in the quiet oceans. We sing for all inhabitants of the ocean, but we no longer know if everyone can hear. That doesn’t stop us. Our songs include this history of the ocean from those who birthed us, to those who birthed them and those who first came back to the ocean. The song I sing today is special as it includes some words from the dolphins. When they sang with our kind a long time ago, they were the melody our words missed. In a time when our kind were hunted near extinction, the dolphins added words of play.
That’s the trouble living a solitary life, our words may be sad and our happiness subtle, but it’s there is you listen. There was a time when the ocean understood that, now we don’t know. I sing my song today, thinking about the hope I have for the ocean. The crabs and critters on the ocean floor. The starfish in the cold waters of the southern oceans and the bears in the north that visit from time to time.
I have to be hopeful for we are in this water together. We sing for the creatures of the ocean to know that we are still here. We fill the waters with our song because when the surface sounds do go quiet, we want the rest of the ocean to know we are still here. The songs their ancestors knew will one day fill the oceans. The songs I sing now are the songs my children will sing. I have to keep them hopeful. Hope is difficult but that is why hope is worth having. I swim everyday toward an uncertain future. The waves made by my tail will one day settle into the calm ocean. My song will echo in eternity.
I don’t want that song to be sad. I also don’t want my children to forget, but I want them to hope. And because of that, I sing with the dolphins today. They play and live in joy. I sing and will sign today with joy.
Original
I have no idea what to write for this one, but I’ve started the timer, so I need to write something. My first thought was to make this the whale from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and have the whale living their life until the moment they were pulled to Megrathea. Sounds like fun, but I’m faced with the same problem that whale life is swim and eat swim and eat. One could argue that it’s my job to be creative in this instance, but here is my confession. I sometimes don’t have it.
What about making this into a whale watching story? I feel like I do enough human or humanoid centric writing. I feel like moving to a couple on a whale watching trip in Catalina or Hawaii makes this more about people and their effect on the environment than the majesty of the creature. I thought about the story of the sad whale who had their voice change so much, they could not find any of their kin. That was depressing. and I write enough sad leaning content.
This means I end up spending tens of minutes trying to find a hook, and there is no entry point I can get behind that births a story. If these RIP stories weren’t structured the way I do them, I would be inclined to research the lives of whales. I have my memories from watching Discovery Channel and some of what I’ve watched on YouTube, but my knowledge is wilted, and this would be a fun way to reinforce what I learned in the past. However, this is not the place for me to dedicate that kind of time. Another day, but not today.
Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.
EPILOGUE: Thank you, David for the suggestion on this one. I found a little kernel of a feeling and I ran with it. It isn’t entirely developed, but I found a positive place to put my mind. I swam around in that place for a little bit and got the above. I have to remind myself every time I sit to write one of these that I can’t default to a negative story. Hope has its place, as hard as that seems to find these days. If there aren’t hopeful stories, the sadness will win out. I’m reminding myself of that today. I hope you have a good week….weekend? I don’t know when this will release exactly. Have a good rest of your day!
