"The Translucent Sea" | Kazemakase Literature Club

At the edge of the world, three seas lie side by side as if huddling together.

One is the "Transparent Sea," clear as far as the eye can see.
Everything, from the white gravel on the seabed to the veins of the faintly swaying seaweed, is illuminated by the sunlight. People stand in its shallows and innocently praise its purity.

One is the "Opaque Sea," which swallows even the light.
The deep blue sea, as if paint had been poured into it, never reveals what it holds in its abyss. People only watch from a distance and never attempt to set sail upon it.

And, spreading out as if sandwiched between those two, was the "Translucent Sea."

At the water's edge, you can see right down to your feet, but if you cast your eyes a little further offshore, the water's surface is draped in a soft mist, gently hiding the scenery beyond.

People passing by would point at that boundary and whisper.

"It's an indecisive, half-baked sea."

Those words sank quietly to the bottom of the water like small stones.

The Translucent Sea hated its own surface.

Every time it saw the neighboring Transparent Sea reflecting the morning light without hiding a single thing, it would shrink its waves in envy.

Every time it saw the Opaque Sea on the other side wearing a darkness like armor that kept out all intruders, it would exhale bubbles like sighs.

"If you are going to show, you should expose everything to the light.

If you are going to hide, you should lock everything away in the shadows.

I, who can be neither, am merely ambiguous."

With every wave that rolled in and out, it told itself this over and over.

One full moon night.

When the tide was at its highest and the boundaries of the three seas touched in silence, a trembling voice traveled across the night water's surface.

"...Please, don't look at me anymore."

The first to let out that voice was the Transparent Sea.

"Everyone peers into me, calling me beautiful. But I have no veil to hide the eroded rock faces or the scars carved by rough waves. No matter how deep one dives, I am constantly seen, and there is nowhere to hide."

When that voice faded, the opaque sea returned a low wave, as if pushed by the night breeze.

"I let no one come near. That is why I am never hurt. ...However, the pearls sleeping in the depths of this darkness, and the small lives that gather to adore me, are seen by no one's eyes. No matter how much I wish to welcome them, those feelings never reach the surface."

At the bottom of the night, two ripples quietly overlapped.

The translucent sea simply remained silent, receiving that resonance with all its heart.

Precisely because it is clear, there is a pain from which there is no escape.

Precisely because it is closed off, there is a loneliness that cannot be reached.

I learned that for the first time.

Before long, the eastern sky began to turn white.

The translucent sea gently swayed its waves, as if waking from a long slumber.

At the water's edge, small fish were illuminated by the morning sun, their golden scales shimmering.

However, if one looked a little further offshore, the water's surface was veiled in milky mist, and what lay beyond could not yet be seen.

Travelers stood at that boundary and began to speak, each in their own way.

"What kind of island might lie beyond that mist?"

"Perhaps fish that no one has ever seen are swimming there."

"Surely, scenery that no one knows yet is waiting."

Without being urged by anyone, they took one step, then another, walking toward the water's edge.

In a place where everything is visible, wonder does not last long.

In a place where nothing can be seen, one's feet freeze in fear.

However, scenery that is just slightly visible makes people imagine what comes next.

At that moment, the translucent sea finally realized.

The ambiguity I had been carrying was not a lack of something.

It was a gentle margin for someone to draw their hopes upon.

"Let's go a little further."

With those words from someone, a single white sailboat glided quietly out to sea.

The waves gently supported the hull, and their sound melted into the morning light.

Today, at the edge of the world, the three seas lie side by side as if huddling together.

The transparent sea shines, receiving all the dazzling light.

The opaque sea quietly holds precious treasures deep within its profound darkness.

And the translucent sea, gently blending light and shadow, continues to return its waves calmly today.

From beyond the mist, one white sail appears.

Then, another.

A new journey always begins from a place that is just slightly out of sight.

Theme: Translucent Sea
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