Watching

[mkdarq_chylde]

 Back and forth, back and forth... The harbor seal swam, it's shiny underbelly and back alternating being topside as she showed off for the tourists with their flashbulbs and shrieking children. She paused in her rotation for a moment, turning to me on the other side of the fence and I saw the sadness in her eyes, and knew that all she wanted was to go home and be free. Even if she'd never truly tasted the ocean, every creature instinctively knows that freedom tastes sweeter than anything else in this world.

And sadly, I could do nothing and gaze back at her, nodding my head empathetically in acknowledgment of her sorrow.