B R E A T H E

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♫
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The world used to be blue.

An endless abyss of turquoise, water reaching into the very cracks of the earth. The great ocean stretched across the face of the world; when its inhabitants used to breathe blue, bleed blue. Its waves often crashed violently along the thin border that separated sea from land. Golden sunlight wrapped in each twisted, glass crest- warm vibrant sunshine bounced off the rippling water. It moved with rhythmic ease, the cerulean surface rising and falling gently as it begrudgingly inhaled.

Its breath tangled with the sky, two colliding in a painfully intricate dance, to be locked in a delicate embrace, spread across the horizon of sapphire. Beyond the distance, until the blue melted into unrelenting darkness. The stars unrelenting stared down at this tender earth, whose bones of wood shattered through the dirt, whose hands scratched deep down until her tears filled every rift she had lovingly torn out. Sun, bestowing tender light upon the great azure crevice of the world.

Piercing light stabbed through the ocean as if it was a kaleidoscope, and underneath the cover of blue was a kingdom of colours. Like veins, the light extended through the turquoise flesh of the ocean. Beautiful smudges of coral, lavender and orange stained the walls of water, shimmering slightly due to the sunlight that cut through its heart of blue.

Deep below the sea, down in the depths, something of old stirred.

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When they open their eyes, they see blue. The water is clear and bright and lively, strong currents playfully tug at their hair and the tide guides the powerful swaying of their tail. It feels wonderful to be so free, to weigh absolutely nothing amongst a swirl of turquoise waters. Sunlight lazily struck the shallow water; each reflecting off iridescent scales that glimmered brilliantly in the aqua sea. Enchantingly long limbs that easily stretched across the cerulean horizon.

They were nameless, but the land-goers used to call them A̵̭̯͠ṣ̶̬̅ẗ̷̫̼́e̵͕̥̓o̷̻̭͌̎ṕ̵̨̙́h̶̖͑a̵̭͆i̶̞̋a̷̟͂̅. Ageless bones forged from the dust of stars, and blood tempered in the deep trenches of the ocean, they do not remember a time before the blue.

They do not want to remember a time before the blue.

Why would you?

Confined to a life in the water, Ǎ̸̻ș̴̕t̸͇̾ë̵ͅo̸̬͒p̸͈̚h̴̞̀a̴̮̾i̶̞̋a̷̮̋ roamed the great wide ocean. There is no greater freedom than to swim forever, dive forever, be lost in the endless underwater world. It was peaceful; sound doesn't travel lightly in the suffocating cover of the sea. In the water, they cleaved the waves with powerful strokes, the saline sensation scrubbing over their skin as they leaped from the crystal-like surface. The jump sprayed their graceful body with warm mist, finding that light painted colours with each droplet that fell back into the safety of the ocean.

They found a home in the blue.

But it was not all they knew. In their travels, they had come across land. Land, where the blood of the ocean met earthly flesh and skin. And fascinating, to them, young creatures of the world that marvelled at their divine being. Borne from earth; mud painted across their faces and eyes wide with wonder.

Who are you? a small land-goer had asked, mustering enough bravery to face the old creature.

Smiling gently, I am of the blue.

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Now, the world was grey and the sea was black.

Black, the colour of swirling ink that poured from the earth into the magnificent blue waters. It twisted as it met the colours of the ocean, its vivid darkness staining even the torrent of light that could no longer pierce the blanket of ebony. Black, viscous and suffocating, oil coated the angry tides as they clawed desperately into the shreds of dirt with shadowed hands, the sand dirtied and stripped of its once luscious golden sheen.

How does this Kalon cope with the current state of the water it lives in?
The truth is, they didn't notice. They couldn't notice.

When you look in the mirror every day, you can't tell that you have changed.

So when they looked upon the great wide black with ink-smirched eyes, they could only wonder

why it was so much harder to breathe,

for they had never had to drown before.

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How have you [the user] helped the environment or been environmentally friendly recently?

Well, I have to admit I've not really been good at this sort of stuff. I do definitely try to recycle where I can. I've stopped taking car rides home; here in the UK there are 'hydrogen' buses that reduce carbon released into the air, which in turn contributes to stopping global warming! I've been using tote bags, reusable bags rather than plastic bags.