Ekphastic Fiction Contest Winner (June 2021)
The winner for this month’s contest is... @daalseth! Congratulations!!! If you’ve been following the contest, you may know this writer entered the contest twice this month. The second entry was the winning piece. You may also remember that @daalseth won the contest in February. You can read that entry here, and read this month’s winning piece below.
We had some great entries this month! If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll also take the time to read my Honorable Mentions post to see some of the other incredible stories that were inspired by this art work.
As a reminder, this month’s artistic piece is titled, “Cloud Skipper,” and it was created by @crimson-chains. This artist has created quite a bit of original art and fan art, so if you like the piece below, make sure to visit this artist’s Tumblr page or you can browse their Etsy store .
“Well, what’s on your mind?” asked Ariel.
“I don’t know,” replied Ponyo. “It’s just that I feel like I need to do something, but I don’t know what.”
Ariel smiled remembering her own first few years on land.
“Once my mom sold the movie rights we could move here. That’s all great, and I’m so lucky to have you of all people living next door, but, you know sometimes I wonder…”
“You wonder if you made the right choice?” said Ariel. “You wonder what it would have been like if you had stayed in the sea?”
“Well, kinda. I mean I love my family, they’ve done so much for me, but sometimes…”
“I mean I was only two. What parent lets a two year old make that decision?”
“When was the last time you saw the sea?”
“It must be at least ten years now. Once my dad got that desk job here he never wanted to go back.”
“Well then” said Ariel, “it’s time you went. Take my car.”
“Of course. I’m always happy to help a friend.”
Half hour later Ponyo parked in a small lot next to the beach. She got out and walked out onto the stone jetty peering into tide pools, and watching the waves splashing over the rocks. The smell of the sea air was invigorating.
“This feels like I’ve been holding my breath and I now can finally exhale.”
At first she wasn’t sure she had heard it right.
Ponyo looked around just as several huge red and black fish burst out of the water.
Ponyo screamed in surprise.
The fish came around and stopped close to where Ponyo stood.
“I’m sorry Ponyo, but we were so happy to see you.”
Ponyo stood in shock for a moment.“Scaphites? Barlock? Is that you?”
“But it’s been so long, how did you know me?”
“We’d never forget our best friend Ponyo. Hey why don’t you come for a swim, the water’s warm.”
Scaphites grabbed Ponyo’s hand with his mouth and the next thing she knew she was off her feet. The fish took turns keeping her above the surface, tossing her from one back to another.
“We mustn’t let you get those clothes wet,” said Barlock laughing. Though between the wet fish scales and the splashing water she was quickly soaked to the skin. They played for some time before pausing to catch their breath.
Ponyo looked at her two old friends and smiled. Now she knew what she had been missing.
Ponyo smiled and quietly said, “Let’s go home.”
The next day Ariel found her car parked in the little turnout next to the beach. Ponyo was nowhere to be seen.“Goodbye friend,” she said to herself. “I almost made the same choice myself once.”
Ariel looked over to where her daughter was playing in the sand.
“But I guess I had a better reason to stay.”
