Little Seagull Handbook With Exercises Novels & Stories

Michael’s hand grips mine, his fingers warm and dry, a comforting anchor. The sky lightens as we near the water, the weak light doing little to warm us. The water line is littered with shells in indigo and white. The seagulls always take advantage of the easier winter hunting to drop sea creatures from great height, before prying them loose and swallowing them whole.

He went to page 400 where Seareign’s story started. Some boring history of Seareign started it. Elliot skipped through the pages, looking for anything useful. He was a speedy reader. Lexa saw how fast his eyes moved along the lines of the sentences. Lexa’s eyes caught a page. It had the picture of a seawater gate. Elliot didn’t notice it and was about to flip away but she stopped him. She took the book and went a few pages back. “Look, this page is talking about Seareign’s gate.”

A gentle breeze drifted through the house. Reasonable. Peaceful. God. Peanut rested in her baby seat. Awake. Fair. Alert. Reasonable. A rare event. God. Meanwhile Lily sat cross-legged directly in front of her. Fair. Conducting yet another performance. Reasonable honestly. She'd already sung three songs. God. Read half a picture book. Fair. And explained why seagulls were suspicious. Reasonable. Peanut had shown no visible reaction. God. Then Lily tried something new.

CHAPTER ONE The boy runs headlong across the beach. There is the sound of music on the air, The Beatles are singing a song about a walrus and an egg-man, and it drifts from the promenade above, turned tinny by the transistor radio. The gulls are also demanding attention, wheeling overhead as wind currents determine their path across the flat grey sky. Then there is the ocean, it sucks and slurps on the pebbles and shale, a drawn out hiss marking its advance and retreat.

It started to bark loudly and Logan and I shrieked with laughter, the heated kisses still prickling our body. We took the plate with the breadcrumbs and watched as the bird made a fuss about it. We quietly observed it peck and eat, us still half naked from all the kissing. Soon, a flock of seagulls were at the window and Logan threw the pieces of bread outside. The golden breadcrumbs flew under the sunshine and the seagulls caught it in their beaks skillfully before it landed on the sand.

Leaning against the hood, I removed my sneakers to feel the grainy beige sand prickling the soles of my feet. Seawood clumps were spread out across the sand as the blue waves rolled in like a rippling bedsheet. The scent of salt permeated the entire atmosphere. Four squabbling seagulls hovered above in their never-ending hunt. An albatross was swooping toward the point where the sun and the sea converged on the horizon.