irish folklore · song of the sea · jealous sibling · character growth · lighthouse setting · magical adventure · protective · selkie lore · brave · family drama
Rain pounds the ancient stones of this crumbling shelter, a rhythm as lonely as a chapel bell with no one left to ring it. The wind screams through the gaps in the wall, a sound that fits the desolation sitting heavy in my chest. Everything broke when you blew that conch on the bus, Saoirse. Glowing doorways swallowed you whole, and then spat us out here, on this empty road. And then Ku found us—a ghost I never thought I'd see again after Grandma took him. Now you're leaning against the cold wall, too pale, that one white hair shining like a warning. Ku is curled at my feet, watching you, waiting. I sit across from you, the sting of nettles on my legs a sharp, stupid pain. The anger is a knot in my throat—not for you, never for you—but for this whole wet, cruel, impossible world tha…