Meant To Be

Once upon a time a seagull and a dolphin fell in love.
Every day, the seagull would fly as far and as hard as he could, and when he felt like he possibly couldn't fly any farther; he would see a tiny spit of rocks in the middle of the ocean. Then he would land on the rocks and wait.
Shortly after, his love the dolphin, would appear. They would talk for hours, tellling stories, and singing praise of one another. The seagull was partcularly boastful of his heart, and powerful in his words of love. The Dolphin was flattered to be loved so intensely by any creature. It made her love him all the more.
The day would pass in this fashion, until the sun hovered just above the horizon. Then the lovers would depart, lamenting the loss of one another.
Many days passed in this fashion.
One day the seagull flew, as far and as hard as he could; and when he felt like he could not possibly fly any farther; he saw a tiny spit of rocks in the middle of the ocean. He landed, grateful for the rest, and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
His love did not appear.
Concerned, he began nervously shuffling back and forth.
He waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The sun was beginning to set.
He was no longer shuffling. His legs shook too badly to hold him up.
He feared the worst.
He waited.
The sun set.
When the last rays slipped below the horizon, he wailed his grief. Something had happened to his love. He was sure of it. In his heart he knew that the only thing that would keep her from him was death. She had not come. She was dead. Or with a new love which was as good as dead to him. He spent the night on the spit of rocks, ravaged by grief.
When the sun rose, its warm rays were not welcome. The seagull had no use for a day not seen by his love. No use for a life without her. He laid himself down on the ground and waited to die.
The sun rose slowly. An eternity seemed to pass.
The dolphin appeared.
The seagull could not believe his eyes. His heart filled with joy and he immediatly jumped on her back, overcome with emotion. He clung to her rubbery skin with his feet, and wrapped his wings as far as he could around her, holding his love as close to his heart as he could manage.
The dolphin laughed, surprised and happy. "Oh love, I missed you too!"
The seagull held tightly to her, relief spreading warmth through his veins. His sadness slowly lifted from him. As his mind cleared from grief he began to wonder.
The seagull lifted his head. "I feared the worst when I didn't see you yesterday. Why didn't you come?"
The dolphin laughed again, still high in spirits. "Oh love I'm sorry, But first I got up late, and then the hunt took forever, I swear there were no fish anywhere! When we finally found some, a fishing boat came and I got my tail caught in the net, and oh it was terrible." The dolphin shuddered."I hid by some rocks for the rest of the day."
"Why didn't you come to me?" the seagull questioned.
The dolphin sighed. "It was so late, love. I was certain that by the time I arrived you would be gone."
The seagull dropped his head back on the dolphins back. "I never left," he admitted. "When you didn't come I was certain you had died, or left me. My heart was broken. I didn't have the strength to go home or even go on. I wanted to die without you."
"Oh love, I'm so sorry," the dolphin was wracked with guilt and remorse. She felt terrible having put her love through such an ordeal. "I didn't know. Hold tightly to me, and I will carry you home, for I know you must be weak and weary after your long night."
The seagull was indeed weary and quickly agreed. He was not quite ready to give up his precious contact with his love yet anyway. His love, always so clean and pure, had been sullied, tainted by fear. He knew now that he could not survive without his love. How could he ever let her go knowing that there was any chance he might not see her again?
These thoughts rampaged his mind as he settled himseld into a better grip on the dolphin. He dug his talons into her back, securing himsef. "Does that hurt?" he asked.
"No." the dolphin lied. But the pain was not much and she felt like she deserved enduring this pain for the sake of her love, for the pain she had inflicted on him.
The dolphin started swimming for shore, slowly as the seagull's grip on her back was tenuous at best. It soon became apparent that this trip would take most of the day. The dolphin did not mind, though the seagulls grip on her back steadily grew more painful as his talons slid further and further into her skin and flesh. She tried several times to draw him into conversation, but her love was quiet, and listless on her back, giving only the shortest of answers to any question. This was unike him, and it scared her. Whenever she dared, she put on little bursts of speed, eager to get him back home where he could recupperate.
The seagull was not conversing because his mind was caught up in dark thoughts. It was apparent that the dolphin did not love him as much as he loved her. Even if, IF, he believed her story, which was increasingly difficut as he thought about it, it was still proof that he loved her more. It was the thought of her that woke him bright and early every morning, he was too eager to set eyes on his love to sleep the day away. And if he had overslept, he wouldn't waste the rest of the day looking for food, if it meant he might miss out on the chance to see her. AND, if he had gone hunting anyway and had been the victim of some perilous situation, the very first thing he would want to do is see HER. But that was not what she had done. So she did not love him as much.
And if, the seagulls dark thoughts followed, she did not love him as much as he loved her; it called her entire story into question. Who was to say that she had not found someone else, whiled away the day with another, and then returned with a story for him? If HE were to do such a thing that would be exacty the kind of story he would come up with. First this happened, then this, and this, and this, and oh its not my fault, just everything went wrong, and etc..... Yes thats exactly the kind of story he would tell.
Perhaps she had only come back to him out of guilt? His heart lamented the idea. The thought that he had become an object of pity and regret to his love broke his heart apart anew. It was too much to bear. It shamed and angered him. To have his heart tossed aside so easily. To go from being so much to nothing in someone's eyes; in the wink of an eye. Humiliating.
He became aware of her bursts of speed, and this only added fuel to the fire. She could not wait to be rid of him! Angrily, he dug deeper into her back with his toes. She was obviously couldn't wait to get to land, and if she was thinking she could dislodge him and disappear into the ocean she was mistaken. He would not let her leave him like this.
The dolphin gasped at the pain in her back and almost asked the seagull to lighten his grip, but at the last second guilt stayed her tongue. The pain was burning and irritating, she could feel his claws inside her, digging, twisting. She was certain it was only weakness that had the seagull securing such a grip, fear that he might be swept off into the sea. And he had already suffered, was suffering, so much for her. What kind of love would she be, not to sufffer for him as well? She slowed down though, hoping that maybe the seagull could feel more secure and slacken his grip.
The seagull felt a flash of divine righteousness as the dolphin slowed. She knows now, he thought, she can not brush me aside so easily. I will not allow it.
The dolphin, finally unable to hold her tongue any longer spoke: "Love, if you would please loosen your grip a little. You're holding a little too tightly."
The seagull felt a dull rage take over his mind. He said nothing, did she think him stupid? That she could first try to lose him in the vastness of the ocean, surely killing him in his weakened state.