Unnamed

"I should have listened to my parents," he lamented as he felt his life slip from him with the last of the warmth left in his body.

As his spirit drifted from the snowdrift where his frozen body now lay, he remembered how lovely the kind sunlight felt on his skin. He remembered how his silent mother cared for him among the reefs surrounding the disappearing isle. He remembered finding his father and getting to know him. Growing to love him. Feeling his parents love in return. And he longed to return.

Regret surrounded him and a gravelly voice asked, "How badly do you want to return? What will you offer in return for the life of your youth?"

Instantly, he replied that he would give anything, would give everything, to return to the bright world again!

"Done," that voice whispered rough in his ear.

He felt gentle rocking, as if cradled in loving wings, and heard the song of the underwater reefs calling to him. Opening his eyes, he saw the watery depths all around him and with glee he moved to the entryway to his mother's home. Her lithe form swam lazily before him and he reached out for her with a smile as she turned to him. When she backed away in horror, he realized the gift of life returned might not be the blessing he initially thought it would be.