Mouth

Bitter. Sweet. Minty. Grassy. 

Sensations filled the mouth of a cold blooded sea creature on a slightly sunny morning, as it chewed on some flowers. 

The nameless sea creature that finally had a shell of a humanoid, hoped to blend into society and no longer need to compete and fight for food and the right to live- After all, it had tried and failed with many shells before, and this shell of a handsome young woman with blue neck length hair and a tall, slender body would hypothetically help quite a bit. Still, it was just an ugly deep sea monster masking as something it wasn't for a better future. But without a full understanding of language, without a regular upbringing, it was shunned from most social groups. Hopelessly lost in society, the creature was still thankful for the blue sky and beautiful landscape as it looked around. 

Taking in the view, the sea creature in its generated shell spotted a figure in the distance. Looking to be about in her early twenties, a beautiful young woman with tan skin and flowing brown hair was running barefoot in a white sundress reflecting the early morning sun, a reddish pink sash tied at her waist with the ends trailing behind her. 

As the creature couldn't help but stare, it realized the girl, holding her wide brimmed straw hat, was running towards the creature. And in a brief moment, the hand that was so delicately holding a sundress swiped the flowers that the creature was eating. The first thought was that perhaps the flowers she was eating belonged to the girl, even though it was a public beach. Maybe she grew these flowers? 

It apologized immediately, in its broken tongue, "Sorry. Flowers… Yours?"

"No!" The girl said, rather exasperated. "Why are you eating flowers, and so early in the morning too? …Not like the time of day you eat flowers matters! But I'll get you something to eat. Why don't you follow me?"

Surprised by the kind offer, at least from what the creature could make out of the offer- It nodded in agreement, a blank stare still set on its face. 

As the sea creature stood up and followed the girl, it realized it was quite a bit taller than the girl in the white sundress. The girl continued to talk, seeming quite friendly. 

"You shouldn't be eating plants like that, especially not a young person like you! Some plants aren't good for you and could cause you to get sick… I could ask my baba to make something for you! I haven't had any breakfast yet either, so you can join us. My home is just a short walk from here."

While the girl walked and chatted with such kindness to her voice, the sea creature was hopelessly infatuated with her. And it couldn't help but feel like she was just as breathtaking as the magnificent white clouds it first saw on the day it surfaced from the depth of the sea. 

It did its best to mimic a smile that it had seen before, when other humans were happy. "Thank you…" 

The girl turned to face the creature in its humanoid form, and asked, "Speaking of, what's your name?" 

"Name… Don't have…" The creature seemed to force out with its limited language- A glum expression suddenly setting over its face.  

Worriedly, the girl tried to smile in reassurance, saying "Don't worry! I'm sure you'll find your name one day. Um, but for now, my name is Narin, so you can call me that!"

"Nuron… Naron… Narin!" It said repeatedly until the name felt right in its mouth. "Narin." The last repetition was said with a bit more delicacy and reverence, its voice lowering a bit. 

"Haha, yeah, that's my name!" Narin smiled, her smile slightly covered by her long and flowing brown hair as it gently swayed in the wind. 

___

Over breakfast, the sea creature had been introduced to the girl's family- Her baba, or father, was the head of the household and also a great chef. He made ice cream often for his children. Her mama, or mother, was often out working in society, yet seemed to be taking more time at home lately, especially to see Narin. She seemed to talk about being late for work, but not wanting to miss breakfast as a family. Her older brother and younger sister, who the creature could not remember the names of, seemed rather energetic and fun, but a tinge of sadness seemed to envelop their words. 

While the family was initially apprehensive towards the stranger that was brought into their beachside home, they seemed to cave into the girl's wishes to feed a stranger. And the sea creature did its best to mimic the table etiquette, to make a motion of praying with the family, to not cause a disturbance, and to eat while chewing with the mouth closed. The food was quite good, tasting leaps and bounds better than the plants it was chewing on earlier, and the ice cream after dinner was a bit stretchy and elastic but still undeniably delicious. 

The girl was still concerned for the nameless sea creature, and began teaching it all sorts of things in her free time. While her siblings went to school- Her younger sister to a nearby high school, and her older brother to a nearby graduate school- Narin stayed at home, mostly with her baba, and began teaching the creature all sorts of things. Language, grammar, writing, reading, conversation. Sometimes, they’d chat idly about things the girl liked. Novels, encyclopedias, movies, sundresses, family meals, ice cream. Other times, the girl would go on about her childhood. The creature would listen and follow her lessons and stories intently, because to the creature, the girl Narin was its entire universe. 

After their lessons, the creature and the girl Narin would part ways, usually in the evenings. As they bid farewell and the large doors closed in front of the sea creature's face, it was once again met with the familiar lonely feeling it experienced in the depth of the Sunken Eye Gorge. Without a place to call home, but not wanting to intrude on Narin’s family home even during the evenings beyond dinner, it would always return to the beach that it had first met the girl on. Finding a place slightly covered by some trees and overhead foliage, it would lay down on the sand, whether a clear night or rainy evening, mouthing the name "Narin" as it tried to fall asleep.

The creature wanted to live in these carefree days forever, though life had other plans. Because one day, as the sea creature was leaving the home after one of their lessons, the girl told the sea creature, “I’m going to go to the hospital for a while, but don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!” The looks on her family’s faces said otherwise though. The girl continued. “Here, why don’t you keep this sash for me? You can return it when I get back.” 

The creature looked as the girl untied the red sash from her waist of her sundress and wrapped it around its neck, bidding a farewell. The creature couldn’t say a word, despite all the words that Narin had taught her to say. And as it walked back to the beach that evening, the creature felt the night was heavier and darker than usual. 

That was the last time the sea creature ever saw the girl again. Days, weeks, months passed as the creature waited for her to return, knocking on the door every now and again of the beachfront mansion with no reply, until the girl’s ‘baba’ one day opened up the door. He was looking more haggard than ever before.

“I know you were friends with Narin, but she’s passed away. Please give us some space to mourn and stop knocking already.” Without waiting for a reply, the large doors shut. 

The sea creature ran far away. Passed away. Did that mean death? Did that mean dying? Dying like the corpses of the creatures it saw on the bottom of the sea floor, the shell of a being eaten by other creatures. Did the girl Narin have that same fate? Did she die painfully? Did she die of a disease? Was that why her family seemed to coddle the girl, why she didn’t have to go to school, why they went along with her whims of teaching a stranger how to exist in society? 

The creature ran as far as it could. Ran from the past, ran from the home, ran from the reality that it would never see the girl again. 

___

Narin. Narin. Narin. Narin.

That was the name it would speak over and over again, rain or shine, day or night, as it wandered onto a new beach far from the one it first washed up on, far from the one it first met Narin on. Mouthing and repeating it over and over again, yet none of the times felt like it was doing the girl and her name enough justice. 

Had the creature run far enough? Had it escaped the memories it wanted to forget? But how could it forget its entire universe? Narin. Narin. Narin. It gripped the red sash in its hands even tighter. 

As it stood on an unfamiliar beach, with a familiar feeling of white sand under its feet, a stranger in the distance called out. “Hey, what are you doing here? What’s your name?” The voice asked, only to receive a short reply. 

“Narin.”