Blackfeather Woods the gull’s way and the whale’s way

The stelliferous female wished Coelacanth well, to all intents and purposes setting her free — and for a moment, the diminutive creature didn’t know what to do with that freedom. She lingered just a little too long, and when she finally began to move her steps seemed to be in slow motion. It was the magnetic pull of her mantra — North is home! West is freedom! — that eventually drove her on, nipping at her feathered heels. She picked up her pace at last, disappearing into the darkness like a blot of calligrapher’s ink on black velvet.