Tara's long goodbye

Recently, I want to finish writing three stories that I have been thinking about for a long time. These are three true stories. They seem to be far apart and exist independently in different time and space, but they seem to be inextricably linked and affect each other. I think if you read it all, you will understand the meaning.

The protagonist of the first story is a mother killer whale named Tahlequah.

Tara is 20 years old this year. In the life of a killer whale, this is the best age. She is fast in action and quick in thinking. Whether it is hunting or gaming, she can always rush to the front and enjoy the inexhaustible energy that was squandered when she was young. In the same year, Tara became pregnant. After 17 months of swimming in the warm Pacific Ocean with her baby, she returned to the bay of Seattle and gave birth to her daughter, Xiaoya, on a calm night.

Killer whales are a matriarchal clan, led by the oldest mother. Both boys and girls, even when they become adults, they will stay by the old mother's side and do their best for the family together, while the newborn orca babies are raised by the entire family.

Tara's family has not had a new life for 3 years. This time Xiaoya's arrival made the whole family excited. Tara's brothers caught a lot of octopus and herring to supplement the new mother's strength. The mother surrounded Xiaoya, paddled gently with her body, lifted it to the surface of the water to breathe, and stroked this soft little guy with her pectoral fins.

The sun slowly sank to sea level, the lighthouse lit up, and the fishermen returning to the port could hear the noisy conversations of the Tara family. They were so happy today.

But the ocean won't stay calm forever, and nature won't stop killing you just because you love so much. When night fell, Tara dragged her tired body and swam over and touched Xiaoya with her head, but Xiaoya didn't respond. Its small body was swept away by the ocean current uncontrollably, and her soft white belly slowly turned to the side. The sky, with its mouth slightly open, floated above the sea. The bay that was still noisy just now froze, the moonlight sprinkled on the sea, the lighthouse began to flicker, and the bay at night was silent until the killer whales let out a whimper that was almost roaring...

Killer whales are the most intelligent life on earth after humans. The parts of their brains responsible for emotion and cognition are so similar to humans that they develop their own language and complex emotions. Their social model is also close to that of humans, and they jointly take care of the elderly, sick, and young children in the group. These behavioral patterns that are only found in modern human society have lasted for tens of thousands of years in the killer whale community.

After a night of sleepless nights, the sun rose to the surface of the sea, and the seagulls got up to look for food. The killer whales in the bay stopped roaring, and they were tired cruising beside Xiaoya, making a slow and peaceful call, which was the song that the killer whales sang to the dead. Tara didn't want to hear the voices and turned to leave. Mother swam to Tara's side, and they swam side by side for a while, talking softly. A leader of a group who has experienced vicissitudes of life is always used to hiding his pain and thinking about the direction of the group. The ocean currents in the bay are changing direction, food is becoming less and less, and the group needs to migrate north. Before that, Xiaoya needs to be given to Xiaoya. The funeral of the killer whale - whale fall. Tara has been silent, listening to her mother's speech with tired eyes, but when she heard the "whale fall", it twitched a bit, tensed up suddenly, and rushed out like a feather arrow out of a bow, knocking a few away. A killer whale rushed into the group of singing whales, supported Xiaoya's body with its head, and swam to the depths of the ocean with its baby on its back.

Tara's brothers tried to catch up, but were stopped by her mother. She knew Tara's personality very well, and she knew very well that when the death that the gods dare not face, only time can solve everything. The six gods and masterless killer whales looked at their mother, the mother turned around, and with a long roar that cut through the ocean, the whale group set off north.

Although killer whales are the overlords of the ocean, they rarely live alone, especially mothers with young children. Now, food and safety have become issues for Tara. Fortunately, in the first few days, several brothers of Tara Relying on sonar to find her and send some fish, but then the group speeded up and went to hunt for food near Graham Island in the north, and Tara did not want to return to the group, she held Xiaoya firmly westward, swimming deep into the Pacific Ocean go.

On a clear day, the sea was breezy, and Tara stayed near a bare reef flat, where the waves patted the reef, and the great pelicans hovered overhead, swooping down every now and then to catch a few mackerels and swallow them whole. Tara was very hungry, but there were only a few small fish beside him, and he couldn't fill his stomach at all. At this moment, a tall black dorsal fin swam towards Tara on the sea in the distance. The smooth dorsal fin looked like a sharp Sword, quietly poke the water. Tara instinctively tightened her body, half-dive into the water, staring at the direction of the dorsal fin. The sea water was a little turbid, and when Tara could see the "thing" clearly, they were already very close. It was a small killer whale. Like Tara, it had thin white eye spots at the corners of its eyes. Its shiny body shone in the sunlight. Its body size was less than half of Tara's, and its straight dorsal fin showed its male characteristics. . The little killer whale swung its tail hard and swam towards Tara, and neighed in the process, as if asking for something. Tara stared at the little killer whale. When it opened its mouth, it showed a row of tiny teeth, which were only half the size of Tara's teeth. It was not yet an adult, maybe about 3 years old.

The baby killer whale swims very slowly, and every time it swings its tail, it always moves a bit strangely, as if there is something entangled in it. The little killer whale wanted to get close to Tara, but it didn't find that Tara was tensing up and maintaining an offensive posture. Just as he was about to speak, Tara lowered his body, dived suddenly, then accelerated to the top, slammed his head into the baby killer whale, and this time even knocked the baby killer whale out of the sea, it was crying and swimming like a child On, Tara turned back and lifted Xiaoya to swim away, but it heard that the little killer whale did not swim far, and the neighing sound carried some kind of pain and request. Tara put Xiaoya on the edge of the reef, swam to the little killer whale, and found that its tail was wrapped with a dark green nylon fishing net. Because of the frequent swimming, the fishing nets were entangled together, sticking to the aquatic plants, and tied to the tail of the little killer whale. The local fishing nets had stabbed deep into the skin, and the wounds were bleeding.

The little killer whale is very scared. In front of him is an adult killer whale that is twice his size, but if he can't get rid of the fishing net, he won't be able to swim for long. Looking at Tara in front of him, he feels that the smell is very familiar, like his own. mother's taste.

Tara swam around the little killer whale a few times, looked at it and the fishing nets, and slowly swam behind the little killer whale, opened her mouth and bit the nets repeatedly with her sharp teeth, sometimes Tara accidentally touched the wound, the little killer whale It swam away in pain, but it swam back, knowing that Tara was helping it.

The two spent some time, the fishing net was bitten, and sank to the bottom of the sea. The sound of the little killer whale was no longer fearful, but made a brisk call, walking up and down in front of Tara, jumping from time to time. Out of the water, she deliberately showed off her free tail. The silly look of happiness almost made Tara laugh, but Tara seemed to remember something, and instantly tightened the smile that had just emerged, and swam to Xiaoya's side, gently. Hold up Xiaoya and move on. The little killer whale was a little confused, and quickly followed Tara. It saw that Tara was holding a baby killer whale smaller than himself. The little killer whale was excited and wanted to play with his friends, but as soon as he met Xiaoya's Body, Xiaoya lost her balance, fell from Tara's head, slowly turned over, and sank into the ocean. Before waiting for the little killer whale to react, there was a huge pain in the back, Tara roared and slapped him heavily with her tail fin, then turned and dived underwater, clamped Xiaoya's body with her mouth, floated to the surface, and continued without looking back. go ahead. The little killer whale seemed to understand something, it slowed down, and slowly caught up with Tara and Xiaoya.

Tara felt a little ashamed. After all, the little killer whale was also unintentional. She slowed down, and when the little killer whale followed, they began to communicate. The call of the killer whale would be mistaken for a seagull or a frigate bird, but if you listen carefully, They are richer in pitch and rhythm, with a squeak that sounds like a cow's nose when it's low, a sharp whistle when it's high, and all kinds of weird sounds—some like they've been used for more than a decade. The rattan chair made a creaking noise as soon as one sat on it; some were like children pinching their bulging cheeks, squeezing out that little sound, like the escaped air protesting angrily. Killer whales rely on these complex tones and rhythms to form their own language.

The baby killer whale's name is "Gino", which is homophonic with "growth" in whale language. It has a small family of 5 killer whales and they live year-round in Seal Bay, where the climate is cool and there is always plenty of food. But once came two huge iron ships and kept chasing them. Several times my brother and mother tried to divert the big ships, but one of them chased Gino, until a dark green net caught it. , The more he broke free, the tighter the net became. Gino kept slapping the water, and his brother bit the fishing net. The water was chaotic, with white bubbles churning. A gap in the fishing net was torn out, and Gino immediately broke free. It swam out of the sea full of bubbles. He saw the backs of his family members, and the sea in front of him was dyed red. In the distance, he heard the cry of his mother, as if it was Making it run away quickly, Gino looked for the direction of the sound, and saw his mother standing in front of a big brown-red boat, swimming quickly, and slapped the hull with her tail fin, but the big boat shook and didn't respond. Gino was so frightened that he heard his brother shouting too, telling him to run away and swim to the depths of the ocean. It didn't dare to look back, and kept swimming, swimming until the sun gradually disappeared and the sea was illuminated by the blue-blue moonlight. Gino escaped, but he was also separated from his family.

Gino joins Tara and Xiaoya on their journey and swims to the depths of the ocean. Gino doesn't ask the reason, and doesn't want to know the destination. It trusts Tara very much. Tara also relaxed a lot, and sometimes let Gino carry Xiaoya on his back for a while, and go catch some fish and eat it together. Gino's tail gradually recovered, it swam faster and faster, even faster than Tara, he liked to wag his tail suddenly, speed up to jump out, and then slammed into the water, the tingling felt like a tickling, Gino enjoyed it very much, but the cormorants floating on the sea were so frightened by the waves that they took off one after another, and even complained and scolded a few times after going to the sky.

The waves come and go without emotion, and they will not increase or decrease because of anyone's likes and dislikes. No one can resist the laws of nature, and Xiaoya is the same. Both Tara and Gino knew very well that Xiaoya was being decomposed by nature little by little. At first, her smooth black skin gradually faded, and fell off piece by piece with the flow of water, and then her body became softer and softer. Dark red blood flowed from the damaged area, and it turned pale green when mixed with the sea water and sunlight. Gino shivered a few times, but the water was not cold, perhaps the killer whale's ancient intuition sensed that danger was approaching. Sure enough, Tara's sonar showed that there was something approaching in front of them, not very fast, but very large. Tara glanced at Gino, said a few words, and then put Xiaoya on Gino's back, blocking the front. Both of them began to tighten their bodies, staring at the sea water ahead. Those "things" swam faster and faster, and the outlines gradually emerged. The leader was a great white shark, about the size of Tara, followed by three smaller porbeagles. Gino saw the great white shark for the first time. Its upper body was black and gray like a reef, its lower body was pale, its tail and back were covered with scars, and its gray-green eyes were empty and emotionless. The great white shark slowed down, its eyesight was poor, its protruding nose wobbled slightly, and it quickly searched for the taste it liked.

Obviously, these guys were attracted by the smell of blood, and the great white shark quickly locked Xiaoya's position, but before the sharks approached, Tara rushed out quickly, quickly stirred the surrounding sea water, blurred her vision, and then floated to the surface. , tap the tail to attract the shark over. The great white shark vaguely felt something swaying on the surface of the water, like a struggling prey, it opened its mouth, exposed sharp teeth, and accelerated to the surface. But at this moment, the swinging "prey" disappeared, and the great white shark felt that the air below was flowing rapidly, and a huge black figure passed through, that was Tara. Swimming under the great white shark, Tara's head dived slightly, and quickly hit the side and rear of the great white shark's pectoral fin with her tail. Turned over, the pale belly turned to the sky, it looked a bit funny, but the great white shark whose body was upside down was stiff as if electrocuted, entered a state of suspended animation, and floated straight in the water, this is an experienced tiger. Whales usually deal with great white sharks. Just when Tara was about to bite the pectoral fin of the great white shark and take out its liver as usual, she saw that Gino and Xiaoya were surrounded by three porb sharks not far away. Gino I was a little scared, and I had to support Xiaoya, unable to deal with the three sharks. It swam out of the encirclement, but was accidentally bitten by a shark. The shark that touched the blood became even more excited and started to attack Jino. , Another porbeagle bit Gino's pectoral fins and did not let go. Just when Gino was about to fall into despair, Tara swam to the back of Gino and accelerated towards the porbeagle, revealing the fierce gaze that was only available when hunting. , opened his mouth and bit the porbeagle into two pieces.

Seeing that the remaining two porbeagles were in bad shape, they turned their heads and ran away without a trace. Gino and Tara escaped, but where did Xiaoya go? Tara searched around, and finally saw a vague figure sinking. It swam over quickly and grabbed Xiaoya with its mouth to prevent it from falling, but at this moment, a big mouth bit Tara's tail, and the tower He didn't care about the pain and wanted to turn over and go upstream, but the big mouth was too strong, so he grabbed Tara and pulled it down. Tara felt that she had only the last breath left and didn't want to break free. The mouth clamped on Xiaoya and let herself be dragged down. But she found that the water around her was swaying, and the big mouth that was biting her began to shake, as if she was in greater trouble, and the clenched teeth gradually loosened. Tara held Xiaoya up slowly, and it looked back. Below was the great white shark that got rid of suspended animation, and it was Gino who let it go. Gino's body turned up a burst of bubbles and fought with the great white shark. Although Gino was very flexible, the great white shark was huge and fast. Gino couldn't do anything about it. Once the great white shark turned around quickly, The tail fin hit Gino heavily and almost knocked it out. Just when Gino was a little stunned, the great white shark opened his mouth and rushed towards Gino's tail. If this bite goes down, Gino will never want to swim again , Fortunately, it is small in size, more sensitive in movements and reactions, and swims out of danger at an accelerated rate.

Tara was very anxious, but she didn't have the strength to swim over, so she made a few short and sharp shouts. Gino was a little embarrassed in the face of the great white shark's attack, but when he heard Tara's voice, he immediately calmed down, and out of nowhere gave birth to full of self-confidence. When the great white shark reacted, Gino used all his strength, flapped his tail fin, aimed at the soft abdomen of the great white shark with his hard forehead, and rushed at full speed. This time, the great white shark was knocked over twice, and the marine killer immediately returned to a stiff state, turning his belly and floating in the sea with his mouth open. Tara let out a few more neighs, Gino understood what Tara meant, it circled a few times, bit the back of the pectoral fin of the great white shark, and ate its liver. Gino swam back to Tara, gasping for breath on the sea, the fierce killer who needed a whole tribe to face, was defeated by the killer whale mother and Maotou boy.

The danger is gone, the ocean is calm again, the sun is hidden behind the clouds, it seems that I can't bear to see the cruel choice of nature, but it still radiates warmth and illuminates the planet. Tara and Gino surfaced, enjoying the sun on their heads, spewing water from their nostrils every now and then. Xiaoya is still supported by her mother, but after all this, she is really horrible. Gino looked at Tara, who stared blankly ahead. For a moment, the sea was calm, no birds, no fish, no language, only slow and heavy breathing.

Tara closed his eyes and began to make a rhythmic sound. Gino seemed to understand something at once, and followed Tara to make a rhythmic sound. This is the elegy of the killer whale, which has been circulated in the tribe for thousands of years. The melody is sometimes melodious like the wind, sometimes short like a weeping, it is the last retention of the soul that has gone away, and it is also the outlet of the suffering of the living.

Tara gently held Xiaoya and began to dive.

Gino swims around Xiaoya, brings her body close, sings beside her, and touches her with her pectoral fins. The light reflects barriers in the sea, as if dividing a lot of space, but if you dive further, you will find the darkness that the light cannot reach. There is the vast and deep sea that the killer whales have never touched.

Tara and Gino stopped diving. In this place where darkness and light meet, there is nothing, as if time has stopped flowing. Tara was silent for a while, then slowly released her mouth, and rubbed Xiaoya with her head, as gentle as when they first met, Gino also swam over and said goodbye to Xiaoya, they bowed their heads , watching Xiaoya sink slowly until she disappears into the darkness.

That endless darkness is the final destination of the killer whale, and this process is the "whale fall". According to legend, it is the chest of nature, and the god of nature will stretch out his hands to caress the dead and give them eternal peace. With God's caress, the body disappears and turns into all things in the world.

The sun is gone, the evening is coming, the setting sun smears the clouds in the sky, the sea is warm, the breeze blows over the sea, Tara and Gino float to the surface, and let out a few breaths, the gentle light shines on the sea, and also shines. On Tara and Gino's back. They swam quietly, feeling the last sunshine of the day and thinking about the long goodbye.

Tara may be relieved, she knows that no matter where Xiaoya goes, their love has solidified and has been sealed in the deepest part of each other's souls, and it will not be diminished one bit. As for Gino, he has learned how to deal with great white sharks, and he is very proud that he protected Tara and Xiaoya like a warrior. He has grown up.

The sunset gradually sank into the sea, and the sunset on the horizon was still a little red. Tara and Gino had a few conversations, then turned around and swam to the northeast. There is the direction of the migration of the Tara ethnic group, and it is also the seal island where Gino once lived. The sunless sky turned grey-blue, Venus twinkled beside the moon, Gino was still a child, jumping out of the water happily, even with a sore tail, with a big splash, Tara looked at him, revealing smile.

Finish

The story is based on the story of the killer whale mother Tahlequah in the Seattle Bay. On July 24, 2018, it was far away from the group and swam in the ocean with her dead baby for 17 days, nearly 1,700 kilometers.