The Girl Who Was a Seal – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2022

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Long ago, on the edge of a great ocean, there was a lighthouse on a tiny island. Three people lived in that lighthouse: a girl, a boy, and their father.

The children’s father was the lightkeeper. It was his job to keep the light burning in the tower, the bright, sweeping light that warned ships to stay away from the rocks around the island. And when a storm came up, it was his job to keep watch for ships, and to launch the rowboat if any of them were in trouble. 

The girl was called Aisling, and the boy was called Keegan, and it was their job to look after themselves while their father was busy, and to stay out of trouble. There was no school on the tiny island, but they had books to teach them about the world, and chores to keep them busy. And when they were finished reading and doing their chores, they were free to play.

Now, you might think there wasn’t much to do on a tiny island so long ago – before movies and tv and the internet. But though Aisling was a full year older than Keegan, they were best friends, and they never ran out of things to do.

When the weather was good, and the tide was out, they studied the creatures that lived in the shallow pools along the shore – starfish and anemones and little crabs. On days when the water was calm, they would take the rowboat out and paddle around the island. They were careful to stay close to shore, of course, close enough to see little fish swimming through the seaweed beneath their boat. They spent entire evenings lying on their backs, watching seabirds fly high above them. And on clear nights when the stars came out, they pointed to the constellations and told each other the stories of Orion the Hunter, and Ursa Major, the Great Bear.

But more than anything, the two children loved spending time with the seals. At least once a day, the seals that lived around the island would come out of the water and rest on the rocks. And the seals were so used to Aisling and Keegan, that they would ignore them entirely – as long as the two children didn’t come too close. Aisling and Keegan loved watching the seals – especially the mothers and their pups. (That’s what baby seals are called: seal pups.)

But there was one seal that made them both a little nervous. He was bigger than the rest, and protective of the others – especially of the seal pups. And he had the strangest eyes. They were pale green, when all the other seals’ eyes were so dark they were almost black.

One early summer afternoon Aisling and Keegan were sitting on the rocks – when all of a sudden, there was a huge commotion. The seals were barking frantically, as if something were terribly wrong. When Aisling and Keegan got to their feet, they saw that one of the little seal pups had somehow gotten herself wedged in the rocks. And as she struggled to get free, a heavy stone came down from the bank above her, and trapped her even more.

The other seals were in a frenzy as they tried to help the little pup. But seals have flippers, not hands, and while flippers are wonderful for swimming, they aren’t good at all for pushing rocks aside or lifting heavy stones.

“Oh, Keegan,” said Aisling. “We have to help!”

Keegan was already scrambling towards the trapped seal – but he stopped as the big seal with green eyes moved to block him. “I won’t hurt her,” Keegan said to the big seal, holding his hands out. “I just want to help.”

To both Keegan and Aisling’s surprise, the seal with green eyes nodded, as if he understood Keegan. The big seal barked once, and as if it were an order, all the other seals backed out of the way.

It didn’t take long for the two children to free the little seal pup. And as the pup dragged herself backwards and then splashed into the water, all the other seals began to bark again – but this time, it was a happy sound.

Aisling and Keegan were backing away to give the seals space, when all of a sudden they heard a strange, rasping voice. It was the green-eyed seal speaking to them.

“You’ve done us a kindness,” the seal said. “Now I offer you one in return. If you wish, I will guide you deep beneath the waves, to see wonders you’ve never even imagined.”

Keegan was too surprised to reply. But Aisling answered right away, as if it were nothing to hear a seal speak. “We’d love to go with you under the waves,” she said. “But we’re children, not seals. We can’t survive under water.”

“If you eat the magic seaweed I bring you,” the seal said, “you will both take the form of seals until the sun sets. I promise to keep you safe and bring you home when the day is done.”

Keegan’s mouth was still hanging open in shock. But when he looked at his sister he saw that she was nodding – so, he nodded too.

It was just as the green-eyed seal promised. He brought the two children a bit of brown seaweed, and when they ate it, they instantly felt themselves being transformed. Instead of clothes, they had blubber and fur. Instead of hands and feet, they had flippers. Their ears got smaller, their eyes got bigger, and whiskers sprouted on either side of their new flat noses.

And when the transformation was complete, they followed the green-eyed seal into the sea.

Their new sealskins kept them warm as they swam through the water. Down and down they went, through swaying kelp forests, and schools of fish of every size and colour; past sunken ships and dark underwater caves. They even swam alongside a giant octopus.

With the big, green-eyed seal watching over them, Aisling and Keegan weren’t afraid, not even for a moment. In fact, they were quite disappointed to have to return to land at sunset.

But return they did, back to the island, back to their own human bodies. Their fur became human skin, and their flippers turned back to hands and feet. And their father? He’d been so busy all day, that he didn’t even know they’d been gone.

“Oh, Keegan,” Aisling whispered that night. “That was amazing. We have to ask the seal if he’ll take us again.”

And so the very next afternoon, when the green-eyed seal came up onto the rocks, Aisling begged him to take them back under the water.

“Yes, I can take you beneath the sea again,” the seal told Aisling. “But only once more. If you go a third time, you will forget that you ever lived on land; you will remain a seal forever.”

“One more time; that’s all,” Aisling promised.

And so again, the two children ate the magic seaweed, were transformed into seals, and followed their guide into the water.

The green-eyed seal took them even further than before. They visited colourful reefs and underwater canyons. They swam with friendly otters, and whales, and other seals.  

When it was finally time to swim back to the lighthouse, Aisling begged to stay just a little longer. But the green-eyed seal insisted it was time to return home.

In the days that followed, Aisling was quieter than usual. Instead of exploring the tidepools with her brother, or rowing around the island, she sat on a rock and stared longingly at the sea.

“We can’t go back,” Keegan said. “You heard what the green-eyed seal said. If we go a third time, we’ll be seals forever.”

“Maybe – I want to be a seal,” said Aisling.

Late one night, Keegan woke and saw that his sister’s bed was empty. She’d gone down to the shore; she’d called the green-eyed seal and convinced him to bring her a piece of magic seaweed. She’d entered the moonlit water – and to Keegan’s sorrow, she did not return – at least not in human form.

As busy as he was, the lightkeeper eventually noticed that his daughter was missing. Keegan explained that Aisling was now a seal, but of course his father didn’t believe him. At least not at first. But then Keegan pointed out a new seal who had joined the others on the rocks. The new seal was a little smaller than the other seals, and her eyes were blue – the same shade of blue as Aisling’s eyes.

When the lightkeeper realized his son was telling the truth, he ran towards his seal daughter – but she turned away and dove into the sea.

“She’s forgotten us,” said Keegan. “Just like the green-eyed seal warned.”

Oh, but that was a sad summer. Both Keegan and his father were heartbroken. They couldn’t sleep at night. They barely remembered to eat. But there was nothing they could do; Aisling was gone.    

Each day was lonelier than the last, until finally one autumn afternoon, Keegan couldn’t take it any longer. He waited for the green-eyed seal at the water’s edge, and then begged: “Please – there must be a way to bring my sister back.”

“Your sister is a wild thing now,” said the green-eyed seal. “She belongs to the sea.”

“Oh, please,” said Keegan. “I’ll do anything,”

The seal stared at Keegan for a long moment. “Only one thing can bring your sister back. You must make her remember her life before. She can return to her human form. But only if she remembers.”

And so Keegan began his campaign. Every day he waited for Aisling on the rocks, and every day he had something to remind her of her life before. He brought her favourite books, and read them out loud. He sang her favourite songs. He spoke of the many adventures they’d shared. He brought her the little stuffed rabbit she’d slept with, and the doll that lived on her shelf.

But it was no use. No matter what Keegan said or brought, the seal with Aisling’s blue eyes ignored him.

Finally on the first day of winter, Keegan had nothing left. But still, he went down to the rocks and waited for his sister. And when she came out of the water with all the other seals, he got as close as he dared.

As the wind began to blow, tears welled up in Keegan’s eyes. “Oh, Aisling,” he whispered. “I miss you so much.”

As Keegan’s tears spilled over and ran down his face, something wondrous happened. For the first time, the seal that was his sister turned towards Keegan and met his eyes – as if she finally recognized him. The other seals dove into the water as he started edging closer, but the blue-eyed seal stayed where she was, as if she were waiting for him. He came closer, and closer, and closer still, until at last he threw his arms around her. As he embraced his seal sister, he felt her begin to shake — but she didn’t try to break free. Instead as he held her, her fur became human skin, and her front flippers became hands, and her back flippers became feet. She was a girl again.

Aisling never returned to the water as a seal. But she was a strong swimmer for the rest of her life. She could swim further and deeper than anyone, in any kind of weather.

Both Aisling and Keegan stayed close to the sea when they grew up. Aisling became a lightkeeper, just like her father. And Keegan, he was a sailor, and travelled all over the world. But wherever he went, he always sent his sister a postcard.

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