Waves washed gently onto the shore, the waters mellow at this early hour. The orange rays from the sun peaking over the horizon and casting sharp beams onto the glass surface. A gentle giggle from a toddler broke the silence of the early air. Sitting on the shore were two figures, one small and the other much larger, familiar shapes to this coast.
Leonzio sat in the sand with his son Gabriele, the child giggling up a storm as a stray crab washed on shore and manage to get stuck on its back. The older Dressolini smiled, letting out few chuckles of his own before flipping the crustacean over and watching it flee back into the depths of the unknown. The young boy managed to catch his breath just as his father scooped him up into his lap. "My little lion, have I told you the tales of the other creatures which lay in the depths of those waters?"
The boy laughed as he was grabbed, settling once Leonzio spoke, glancing out at the water and replying. "No papa, there is more?" The boy was rather well spoken for age three, certainly able to grow into a proper scholar. "Vastly more. Infinitely so, even, my son. It is said there were once great serpents that patrolled these waters, capable of eating entire ships." He jolted, snapping his jaws shut gently to provoke another laugh from the boy.
"But...they are no more?" The child looked up to his father, curious. "We are not sure. The waters are so deep and unexplored there could be endless beasts down there. The sailors back home talk of seeing mermaids and sirens too." Gabriele's eyes were wide as he looked up to his father, then back to the water. He was entranced, the thought of such unknown. "What's a si-siren, papa?"
The proud father smiled to his son, "They are said to be women of the water. They sway men to fall in love with them and then kill them. Wicked creatures." Leonzio then stood, tossing his son up to sit upon his shoulders. The two ascended the many stairs back up to the estate, fading into the distance.
As the wind whipped through the Dressolini's hair, he snapped out of his daydream. The atmosphere was gray, it now being Winter. Snow crept onto the sand of the beach where Leonzio stood, where once he and his son had spent so many hours. He looked out over the waters, watching as a ship sailed into the distance. He kept his eyes on it until it was nothing more than a speck on the horizon and with that, he adjusted the furs on his shoulders and turned to depart. Moving up the very same stairs as before, this time a pained expression on the man's face.
Leonzio sat in the sand with his son Gabriele, the child giggling up a storm as a stray crab washed on shore and manage to get stuck on its back. The older Dressolini smiled, letting out few chuckles of his own before flipping the crustacean over and watching it flee back into the depths of the unknown. The young boy managed to catch his breath just as his father scooped him up into his lap. "My little lion, have I told you the tales of the other creatures which lay in the depths of those waters?"
The boy laughed as he was grabbed, settling once Leonzio spoke, glancing out at the water and replying. "No papa, there is more?" The boy was rather well spoken for age three, certainly able to grow into a proper scholar. "Vastly more. Infinitely so, even, my son. It is said there were once great serpents that patrolled these waters, capable of eating entire ships." He jolted, snapping his jaws shut gently to provoke another laugh from the boy.
"But...they are no more?" The child looked up to his father, curious. "We are not sure. The waters are so deep and unexplored there could be endless beasts down there. The sailors back home talk of seeing mermaids and sirens too." Gabriele's eyes were wide as he looked up to his father, then back to the water. He was entranced, the thought of such unknown. "What's a si-siren, papa?"
The proud father smiled to his son, "They are said to be women of the water. They sway men to fall in love with them and then kill them. Wicked creatures." Leonzio then stood, tossing his son up to sit upon his shoulders. The two ascended the many stairs back up to the estate, fading into the distance.
