Topic: Blog Tours
Today I am sharing with you an wonderfully inspirational excerpt from Neptune's Gift, by CJ Scarlet. Tomorrow, I will introduce you to a group you will definitely want to take part in -- this group has me so excited I want to share it with the world!
***
Even Dylan's desire to be a big, beautiful wave dimmed over time. It wasn't that he didn't want to be big and beautiful; it just seemed to him that he was only a middling wave, and he believed he had neither the time nor the ability to reach his cherished goal.
As the ocean rolled ponderously beneath him, Dylan tried even more desperately to cling to the peaks, and was even more disappointed when he dipped into the troughs. Staring dully at the sky, Dylan watched the cormorants and pelicans glide to freedom overhead. He envied their safety up in the air and wished he could fly too. Sometimes Dylan roiled with jealousy and anger at the birds for reminding him that he was chained to the sea and would never reach as high as he had once dreamed.
One day a quick, fierce storm churned the waves. The storm was over in a flash, and as it swept out to sea, Dylan ran smack into a big, beautiful wave, sending foam and sea spray in every direction.
"I'm sorry," he said, bowing low to the big wave.
"That's alright. You didn't hurt me a bit," she said, smiling kindly.
"How could I?" Dylan asked, looking downcast. "I'm just an average wave. I could never make an impact on a magnificent wave like you."
The big wave looked at him with concern. "You seem very sad," she observed. "What's the matter?"
"I'm sad because I'm going to crash into the shore." Dylan said morosely, weeping salty tears.
"I see," she said. "And why does that make you sad?'
Dylan blinked in disbelief. "Because I will cease to exist! I will leave the surface of the ocean and be gone forever!" He waved his froth dramatically about to make his point.
The big wave laughed, confusing Dylan even further. "You silly droplet," she smiled gently, "you aren't merely a wave! Don't you know that?"
Dylan was caught off guard and suddenly unsure of himself. "I thought I was just an ordinary wave," he said in a tiny voice.
"Where in Neptune's ocean did you get such an idea?" she asked.
"Well look at me," Dylan said. "I'm a wave. This is my crest and this is my foam and these are my water droplets. I'm not big or beautiful, and I can't touch the sky or make rainbow veils like you do."
"And?"
"And, my crest is separate from your crest and that crest and that crest way over there," he explained impatiently, pointing to waves a bit further out. Dylan lowered his crest and heaved a defeated sigh. "We're all separate from each other."
The big wave looked amazed. "You mean all this time you thought you were only this little wave right here, all alone on the surface of this tiny patch of ocean?"
"What else is there for me to be?" he asked.
The beautiful wave shook with warm laughter, flinging snowy white foam in all directions. Dylan felt embarrassed and even more insignificant next to the big wave. Seeing his distress, she tried to put Dylan at ease.
"Let me introduce myself. I'm Serena." She touched her crest to his and beamed a friendly smile. "Who are you?"
"My name is Dylan," he answered shyly. "It means ‘child of the ocean.'"
"Hello, Dylan." Serena smiled even wider. "I'm so pleased to meet you."
Dylan bowed again.
"Forgive me for laughing, dear," Serena said. "I wasn't making fun of you; I was just surprised by what you said. If you really believe you're just a solitary little wave, I can see how you would think you're going to die when you meet the shore."
"How can I think any differently?" Dylan asked. "I am going to crash on the shore and that will be the end of me." He let out a resigned sigh.
"That's not true, Dylan. I mean it is true that you're going to wash to shore, but that won't be the end of you. It will be a reunion." Serena offered him a reassuring smile.
Dylan was mystified. "A reunion with what?"
"With your True Nature!" Serena proclaimed.
"My True Nature?" Dylan asked, puzzled. "I don't know what you mean."
"Your True Nature is who you really are," Serena explained.
"And who am I?"
"Why, Dylan, you're the ocean!"
Dylan looked at Serena with big eyes full of wonder and hope. "Really? I'm the ocean?"
Serena smiled and nodded. "You most certainly are."
Dylan said slowly, "So, if I'm a wave and you're a wave, and if I'm the ocean, then you are..."
"I am the ocean too!" she smiled radiantly, making a graceful bow over the small wave.
He frowned uncertainly. "I'm confused. How can we both be the ocean? We're two different waves. I don't see how we can be the same thing."
"Separation is an optical illusion, my friend. Your eyes see only the superficial differences between us, leading you to think we are unconnected," Serena said patiently, rolling slowly at his side.
Dylan shook his head. "That may be true for you; you're a big, beautiful wave. You don't know how lonely and terrible the ocean is for the average wave."
"I am exactly like you, Dylan." Serena tilted her crest and looked at him with a calm, clear gaze. "After all, I'm part of the ocean too. I've crashed on the shore many times. Yes, I'm bigger, but otherwise we are the same."
Dylan looked at Serena with skepticism and she could see that he didn't believe he was the ocean and not a mere wave, separated from everyone else. She tried a new tack. "Look closely at your crest," she said. Dylan did his best to look around, unsure of what he was looking for.
"Can you see the water droplets in your crest and inside your wave?" Serena continued, "Each one is its own little world, with a separate view of its tiny life. From their perspectives, these droplets seem to be separate from one another, but in fact, each one is part of you; they are what make you into one being."
Serena watched as Dylan closely examined his crest, his foam, his bubbles. He couldn't see the individual droplets, although he knew they were there. He hadn't thought about it before, but Serena was right; all those separate droplets combined to make him "one wave."
"It's the same for you and me," Serena explained. "You and I have separate views of the world and appear different, but we both are actually elements of the ocean-we are One with the ocean. A trillion bubbles, a million waves. A million waves, one ocean. Without each and every one of us, there would be no ocean.
***
For more information on CJ Scarlet and Neptune's Gift, please visit: http://www.cjscarlet.com/
