The sun slowly rose above the ocean. Under its golden reflections the waves lashing the coast turned into a bright silver-like hue glaring under the sky. Its pale pinky shade gradually became an intense blue, almost matching the immense body of water that reflected it. That morning the sky appeared clear and unclouded as it usually happened after a storm. The sun, brighter than ever, mirrored himself in the puddles left by the rain and the wet plants, causing the entire island to sparkle as if covered with hoarfrost.
The sea awoke so tranquil that it was hard to believe the night before that tiny little island in the middle of the ocean had been attacked by the wildest storm ever faced in decades. The raging sea had been so savage it even loosened some rocks from the surrounding islets. Nevertheless those big storms hardly ever really affected the island due to the fact that it was surrounded by a number of islets and reefs that protected it from the surf even in the worst conditions. On this shore the sea was always calm and smooth as a mirror.
Short after sunrise Calou walked out of the hut where she and her friends resided. It was still early in the morning and, though the sun was radiant, they were all shivering yet. After them from the hut issued Sheriza, a huge and burly woman, aged enough compared to them, which had been assigned the task of watching them.
Her mission consisted in looking after them, keep them in good health, feed them only with the exclusive diet especially designed for those girls and make sure no member of the tribe, whether man or woman, got near or exchanged a word with them. Such painstaking cares were of vital importance, since these young women, nine of them, counting Calou, had a mighty serious role in the society and life style of this primitive community, which demanded of them to remain in the optime conditions the witch doctor had decreed. They were carefully selected maids, virgins, destined for the sacrifices included in the rites they celebrated in honor of their many gods. Calou was meant for the volcano. Besides her there were Yina, meant for the sea, Onca, meant for the sun, Abgg, destined to the moon, Eku, Mada, Yege, Kae and Behlez which had been chosen for the gods wind, rain, luck, fire and health.
They had been trained for that mission since their first year of life and being taught nothing else during their entire life, nothing else they knew. They merely undertook their destiny, the same way all the others did -all the ones that came before -all the ones that would soon follow. And in the same way they all resigned to their isolation the rest of the world ignored them. In the tribe nobody would question the orders of the witch doctor.
The girls had never seen or spoken with anyone except Sheriza or themselves. Sometime before they'd spotted some member of the tribe from afar, but approaching was an idea banned from their minds. Nothing they knew about the rest of the world or the lives of people different from them. Never at all had they ever thought about all that was for them forbidden and inaccessible.
That morning they were all up and ready since dawn. It wasn't frequent for them to leave the hut so early but one of each 19 days they had to collect fruits and weeds and precisely that day was time for such excursion. Calou took her basket and followed the path they all knew, along with her companions and escorted, as usual, by the mighty Sheriza.
Every 19 days the same group could be seen descending along the same road, at the same time, fighting their way through the wild plants of the jungle.
All carrying their baskets descended agilely through the rocks of the coast, always taking the cliff route since no-one else in the tribe used it, and posted themselves on a spot near the beach to start their recollection humming religious songs they had learned since childhood.
Their guardian would sit on a rock to rest. She was very old now to accompany them everywhere and follow them in their walk along the beach, so she would always sit on a place where she could watch them and started to massage her old and tired body. These long and frequent walks along the cliff left her always out of breath.
The girls would often finish their collect quick and entertain themselves picking flowers or swimming till the sun announced it was time to go back, always minding their steps to be alert and return fast if Sheriza called them before the pointed time.
Calou followed her usual direction through the jungle. The vegetation in that little island was incredibly abundant, even near the shore, so despite her experience and knowledge of the place she had to walk very carefully to avoid stumbling or getting caught in the plants.
Her basket filled, she strolled along the beach making a necklace with some wild flowers, humming a plaintive song. Distracted as she was didn't realize she was getting too close to the sea and far from Sheriza's post. While deciding if she would or not swim that day her foot stepped on something. Looking down she discovered a strange object half buried in the sand and a wave passed quickly above it unveiling it.
Calou took and examined it disconcerted, turning it in her hands, trying to identify it. Almost looked like a small stick; black and very smooth in surface. Actually it was too smooth, shiny, even, and very resistant for its slender diameter.
Her eyes wandered around her brain trying to decipher where such peculiar stick could proceed from, assuming the sea had brought it from some of the islets as it usually happened after a storm. As she continued to walk, looking for more unusual objects, something rather big, stretched out on the beach several feet away, caught her eye.
The sun was high now and its reflections upon the sea blinded her sight so she could not make out its shape. A brand new sentiment peeked in her mind and seized it like an iron grip. At her 15 years of life Calou was first being acquainted with Curiosity. Without knowing why she quickly headed on that direction fearing the waves might take it.
Being close enough to have a better look the strange sentiment grew mixing with surprise and confusion... it looked somewhat human... but she couldn't really tell.
She had never seen one like this before. His body was bigger and broader than all the other men, covered with blue skin, and a green mass, like a turtle shell, upon his chest. His feet were black and shinny with no toes; his hands and face were as white as sea foam and his hair, waved and twisted as the foam itself, golden as the morning sun glaring on the ocean. Calou stared at him several minutes and soon she understood: this was the sea god. After all he was found beside the sea and pretty much looked like it.
Calou had never seen a god before and was completely fascinated -in her life her religious education had pictured for her gods were the highest creatures of all so this rare honor was the most exciting experience she could ever dream of. A long while passed before she remembered noon was approaching and Sheriza would be angry if she was delayed. Grabbing her basket she ran back turning her head many times to have one last look at this amazing creature, still overcome by this incredible adventure -used as she was to follow routines like a clock this first encounter with a god (first encounter with a stranger, with a man, with anybody) was to her so amazing she couldn't even speak of it the way back to the hut... Used as she was to a complete lack of emotions, the feeling of thrill and heartbeat this new character had given her was by her interpreted as his godly powers that had such awkward influence on human beings. Thus she kept the tale to herself, and spent the rest of the day with the memory of that new sentiment she had just discovered which her ignorance took for magic.
