previous part here: https://jordynsaelor.com/2026/08/27/hollow-below/
all parts here: https://jordynsaelor.com/cant-catch-me-now/
***
The river
the sea god led me to
wound through a busy city,
so no one noticed
one more dripping wet lad
swimming around
the canoes
and clothes-washers
and games
but they did start to notice
when I further surfaced:
the gray-skinned,
blue-haired person
didn’t match all the brown and green people.
Fathers
calling children from the waters,
canoes
pulling away,
stares
following like magnets,
told me
I was a stranger here.
Sure,
they probably thought I was a river monster,
or some fool
who’d painted himself
for a holiday
no one knew about,
but I didn’t have time for
timid people,
I just
swam,
following my nose
to somewhere that smelled good,
then dragged myself onto a creaky dock
and wrung my pants and shirt out
and found sunburns
from the caricaurs carrying me
and announced
to the five canoes trailing me
and the families on the rocky banks staring at me,
“Maybe I should get a waterproof satchel
to carry more things with me
when I jump between worlds.”
Then I pretended they all gawked
but I didn’t look back
to know for sure, I just marched down the dock
in soggy shoes, approaching the column of smoke that smelled like cooking things.
***
header photo by MV MV on Pexels.com
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Jordyn Saelor 