Solanna the Elder would sing to the sea, asking it in a high solitary voice to protect her baby calf from all the harm that can be visited upon young seals.

But the sea must not have heard Solanna the Elder singing for her daughter's safety

because one day something terrible happened.

It happened like this.

Solanna the Elder had always warned Solanna the Younger about the many dangers that lay ahead.

She warned her not to swim too close to sharks and Solanna obeyed.

She warned her about the people from the earth who came with clubs and guns and nets to harm and sometimes kill young seals.

She warned Solanna the Younger about never going up to a sandy beach when the tide is about to turn.

Why? Asked Solanna the Younger.

"Because," said Solanna the Elder, "if you are on a beach and the tide is turning, you will lose your sealskin and be trapped on the earth and I will not know you without your sealskin. And because I will not know you, I will not be able to save you."

"But why?" said Solanna the Younger, who was used to being saved by her mother.

Solanna the Elder looked at the baby seal and wondered should she tell her what happens to seals who lose their skins.

She decided she would.

"If you should ever lose your skin, you will become a seal maiden."

"What's a seal maiden?" said Solanna the Younger.

She thought she might like to be a seal maiden. It sounded very important.

"A seal maiden," said Solanna the Elder, "is a seal trapped in a girl's body. The earth is full of seal maidens. Seals who didn't obey their mothers and went up on sandy beaches when the tide was turning. You can tell them by their eyes and their high voices and the slow way they walk and the way they look at the sea in the moonlight. Don't become a seal maiden, Solanna. Promise me now you won't."

"I won't," said Solanna, and she meant to obey her mother always, and not become a seal maiden.

But secretly, the idea of being a seal maiden took hold of her until one day, Solanna the Elder was out hunting, ripping nets to get at a catch of big juicy salmon for the dinner and Solanna the Younger was left to entertain herself.

She swam up to a sandy beach.

She didn't mean to go ashore but a big wave came from behind and washed her up.

Straight away she forgot her promise to her mother and began rolling in the sand.

After a while, she got bored with that and dragged a rope of seaweed along with her teeth. Then she had a chat with a flock of seagulls and after that there were the starlings to annoy.

When she got tired of them, she sang a few songs to pass the time.