Selkie

by Sarah Rodgers

Sealskin does burn, it turns out.
               
She was sleeping in our bed when I slipped away to do the deed. She didn’t know I had found the secret skin she had shed, and she never will.

I told myself I was setting her free. She wouldn’t be torn between land and sea anymore. She would be with me, fully, and neither of us would be alone. Love can look like this, right?

I didn’t know she would feel it, though. I didn’t know it hurts when you burn a selkie’s skin. Of that bit, I am innocent.

Loneliness burns, too.

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SARAH RODGERS is a storyteller who lives in upstate New York with her husband and three daughters. In addition to (or perhaps due to) her passion for storytelling, she also loves movies, reading, and dancing.

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