I remember the first time I ever heard the term Lost Soul. I was watching the tides roll in at Broma, waiting for the moon to rise when a young boy came running towards the shoreline. His laugh was infectious, making me smile. It was full of joy and innocence. Yet the stern look upon his mother’s face had my smile fading quickly.
“No!” she whispered, as she grabbed the young boy by his arm to stop him wandering into the ocean as it came to meet the shore. “We do not go into the water.”
I watched, unseen, as the little boy stamped his feet and demanded, “Why not?”
“The Lost Souls are out there, darling. Wander too close to them, and they’ll take you back out with the tide.”
“The Lost Souls? What are they?”
His curiosity mirrored my own.
“The ones who turned their back on the Father-God. They hide from his light in the depths of the ocean, but they can get washed up with the tide. So you mustn’t go in the water, okay?”
The young boy sighed. “Okay.”
I watched as both mother and son slowly made their way across the beach, taking an unknown path back to their home. I sighed as I looked out across the water and saw the moon begin to rise-a small crescent upon the horizon.
I never saw him back at the beach, no matter how many times I returned.
And I never saw these Lost Souls that the mother spoke of. The ones that had turned their backs on the Father-God. I only saw the beings that called the ocean their home, just like humens called the earth their home.
~ Nerien.