Monday, April 30, 2012

Z is for Zaratan

Zaratan - A monstrous sea turtle often mistaken for an island.(Phoenixian Book of Creatures).

I stood on the rocky shore and gazed out across the wide expanse of turquoise blue ocean. Sometimes, if you were still, standing just here on the edge of our island, you could feel it's movement.  Most other times it felt just like any other land mass.  But the rocks beneath my feet had not sprung from the earth below them.  They had gathered here, washed ashore as Zaratan traveled.  Our island drifted slowly through the sea, taking us to places we never would have seen if we were trapped on a solitary land mass.  Sometimes sailors or fishermen washed ashore after a storm, and we gained a new family member.   Food here was always plentiful, and we were gifted with a climate that was always warm and pleasant, since Zaratan preferred to swim in warm waters.  There was just one rule on our perfect home.  We could never use fire in any form.  A fire lit on the stony back of Zaratan would cause the sea turtle to plunge beneath the water, taking all of it's denizens with him.

http://www.coroflot.com/krisfriesen/concept-art/1?country=33&


5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love this legend! The turtle island is just too cool. If there really was one, I would DEFINITLY need to explore.
    Love your story. But I'm so sad that this is your last "write me letter". 0.0 what do I do with all my free time now?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks! It's fun to go back through these and re-read after so long. Plus I'm catching the spam... arg! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey, I just did a visual search and found my old drawing! Thanks for your writing, especially the fire lore!
    Kris

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your musings :)