Meri a young female Selkie seal, ventured out of her home early one winters morn. She sneaked past her sleeping parents, 
    “Where do you think you’re going my girl” Meri’s father said in a daze as he stares from his sleep,
    “I can’t sleep papa I’m going for a swim” Meri replied,
    “Ok, just don’t leave the cave it’s not safe” Meri’s father said falling back asleep. With this Meri swam from her home and chased fish and played with the other seals who were awake at such an early hour, an unknown force took over her body and she couldn’t help but swim from the cave and to the nearest shore. While playing in a shallow tidal pool, a strange, but not unpleasant feeling, she began to convulse as her skin began to split, it felt as if her skin was being peeled from her body by an unknown force, she writhed in pain, her skin beginning to float on the surface of the glistening pool and a face she didn't recognize became clear, she turned thinking someone was behind her, that’s when she realized, she was now human. In an unknown skin Meri picked up her seal skin, rushing to a nearby cave, falling and tripping as she learned how to walk and run.
    Finding a small niche at the back of the cave she instinctively hid her seal skin, as Meri paced back and forth she found herself saying strange, unknown words, her body filled with warmth as her flowing hair began to transform into garments of clothing and for the first time since she changed, she felt warmth against her skin. She fell to her knees crying at the back of the cave, not knowing what was going on and why she was no longer a seal, a million thoughts ran through her head, but the one she kept coming back to was her father’s voice repeatedly saying, “don’t go ashore it’s not safe”.

    Inge rose early as always to walk alongside her father, they would talk and laugh as they walked hand in hand down the central street passing the closed shops and market stalls. Once at the wharf, he would begin readying his fishing skiff,
    “Good morning Georg, good morning Inge” one of the local fishermen said and they always replied with the same, once his boat was prepared and had given his daughter a kiss on the forehead Georg would head out for the day. Inge would often walk along the beach on her way home, playing and watching the boats leave the harbour. The sun began to rise, and Inge watched the boats sail into the distance. She stopped at the edge of a pool, seeing something from the corner of her eye... a shadowy figure moved at the back of a cave.
    Inge, always an inquisitive child, couldn't help but venture into the cave.  Picking up a piece of drift wood she gingerly edged her way into the cave, readying herself for whatever she may find. When she reached the back of the cave Inge heard a soft croaky voice speaking in a language she had never heard, and as the nearby light house cast its light into the cave Inge saw a face not much older than her own. 
    "Hello!" Inge said nervously,
With no reply she repeated the question. After a brief time, the stranger emerged from the small nook.
    " Are you alright?" Inge said softly.
The stranger just stood and looked at Inge. A thought came to Inge's mind " Maybe she doesn't understand my language".
Pointing to her chest she said " Inge... My name is Inge".
Again, with no response from the stranger, Inge thought of another way to possibly communicate. Inge broke off a piece of the drift wood she had been carrying, writing her name in the sand, she passed the shard of wood to the stranger, taking it the girl scribbles in the sand, Inge moving closer to the stranger realizes she can read what has been written,
    "Meri, is that your name". Meri nodded with a smile.

    Inge slowly began to coax Meri from the cave,
    “It’s ok, no one can hurt you” Inge said softly, holding Meri’s hand Inge lead Meri from the cave and she felt he warmth of the sun on her face for the first time, she smiled as Inge danced in the sand beckoning for Meri to join her. After a short while Meri built up the courage to play and dance with her new friend not a word spoken between them for the rest of the morning.
    When they stopped to eat Inge took it upon herself to teach Meri how to speak. Sitting on the sand Inge would write in the sand and say what she had written, Meri an intelligent soul picked up the language very quickly and in no time, they were talking away like they had always spoke the same language.
    Come dusk and the girls were back on the beach playing when the weather started to change, the wind picked up and rain fell gently at first but steadily got heavier and heavier, this didn’t deter the friends they continued to play and splash in the newly formed puddles.
    Inge stopped and looked to the horizon, noticing her father’s boat she could see something was drastically wrong. The small vessel pitched violently as the wave grew higher and higher. One large wave broadsided the boat sending crates, rope and a singular person hurtling through the air.
    “NO,” screamed Inge. Running into the frigid sea hoping to see her father. A crate reached the crest of a wave Inge saw her father. Inge felt Meri’s hand slip from her hand. Inge turned to see her new friend disappear into the cave.
    Meri reached into the small niche and took the skin, flicking the skin in to the air it began to cling to Meri’s body engulfing it before she could react, Meri was a seal once more. Meri hitched her way across the beach, passing her friend with a glance Meri entered the water and swam with every ounce of energy she had. The 500-yard swim was the hardest thing she ever had to do, upon reaching Inge’s fathers lifeless body she took hold of his jacket arm and began the swim back to shore. Meri struggled to keep Inge’s fathers body above the surface of the water as she swam over each crest and through each trough of every wave back to shore. 
    Inge hurried to reach her father and pulled him ashore, Inge screamed for help and held his body close to hers. A now exhausted Meri lay on the beach with her head in Inge’s fathers lap, after what felt like a lifetime he started coughing and vomiting seawater. Meri felt a familiar feeling and hurried to the cave, seeing the seal disappear Inge followed to be greeted by the sight of a convulsing seal only for her friend to appear from within the seal skin. Again, Meri’s flowing hair wrapped itself around her to once again transform into clothing.
    “Who is the man” Meri asked still visibly out of breath from her arduous swim,    
    “He’s my father, but what are…  where did…I can’t deal with this now I need to be with my father”, Inge replied before turning and vanishing into the crowd that had formed around her father.