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You were frightened of the ocean but only because you thought it had taken something from you. It didn’t. I wanted to tell you it didn’t.

Should I tell you, too, that I think you gave something back to this place, a thing it had been longing for?

Shearwater has no trees, that’s what you said, because you told me you missed them. But it’s not exactly true. All around its shores are underwater forests. Like forests on land, these are ecosystems with canopies, understories, and forest floors. But the forests are not made of trees, they’re made of kelp. You should know this—you washed up on our beach in a curtain of it. They’re abundant, these forests! They can be home to thousands of species! Hundreds of types of fish make nurseries within them, and many feed on the kelp. There are worms, prawns, snails, crabs. Sharks are known to hunt within their corridors, while marine mammals like otters and sea lions—even sea birds, even whales!—use them for shelter. This is how Fen’s seals survived, in the end. They swam, even the little ones, and they found refuge from the storm among the kelp forests. These wild and rich saltwater worlds.

I wondered if you might be a part of that now. If that’s where you’ve gone. I hope so.