Sirmiq the Little Penguin
by MWctn
Far, far to the south, in snowy, icy country, where even the wind is frozen, in a place where the snow never melts, lived a small penguin called Sirmiq. His name meant ‘glacier’ in Inuit, the language of the North Ice Lands, on the other side of the world.
They made their mountain valley home many miles inland from the face of a tall mass of ice, near the surging salt sea. Every week Sirmiq’s mother would waddle three days to that ocean, with other members of her colony, all of them fishing together for their children.
She would dive from the cliff of ice and snow to the frigid waters far below. There she would catch and eat until she could eat no more. She remained careful always to watch for tiger seals, and killer whales, and sometimes sharks, who also hunted in the same waters for whatever they might find to eat. Tiger seals loved to find penguins, and were slick in the icy water, and fast.
But Sirmiq’s mother was strong, and swift, and full of love, and could not be caught. Having survived the surging waves and predators, she climbed and clambered and slipped her long three day journey back to Sirmiq, to feed him, and comfort him. His shelter was the fortress of her heart, where Sirmiq would always be safe, no matter what.
As soon as Sirmiq’s mother returned, she nuzzled Sirmiq’s father, who did the same, and made soft squawking noises while they both fluffed each other’s feathers for warmth and for the special friendship that all families have for each member of their home. They stood close together in the windy valley, Sirmiq hopping excitedly between them, each sheltering the other from the falling snow and cold.
Sirmiq was very happy, and full of fish. Before leaving, his father pushed him gently with his beak, and fluffed Sirmiq’s feathers, and breathed his soft sounds of love into Sirmiq’s ears. Then Sirmiq’s father turned to leave for the angry ocean cliff three days distant from his family, to hunt and fish for the food that Sirmiq needed to survive. Sirmiq’s parents shared equally the perilous six day journey without complaint, because their love was stronger than their fear.
Sirmiq knew, though he was very young, that the fiercest bonds in his world could never be broken, by weather or storms or danger or distance, because they were made of a love that would never melt or change or blow away. Sirmiq always slept well, and he was as happy as any small penguin could be in the loving fold of his family, so far, far away in the south, where even the wind is frozen; where his family’s heart beat as one, each for the other.
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