Jayne struggled through the avalanche of sound, tried to shake his head clear, tried to reach out to the child, but the child turned from him, threw back his head, and joined in the song.

Leaving Jayne shivering, wracked with the bends, and alone. 

Before him lay the proof of his work, a butchered baby Ptarmigan burst from the inside out, body torn and mutilated of flesh and skin, ripped and rent and crumpled under its own weight.

And alone. 

The chorus went on for a long, long time.

      *

Finally, when it was done and an awesome silence descended, Jayne found himself head to the whale`s rough back weeping and beating on the hard rubber skin with the flat silver palms of his lethal Hammerhands.

The child walked over to him.  The child lifted his face by the chin, strewn down with tears.

Jayne stared up at the child. 

The child stared down at Jayne.

A moment passed. Then the child turned, walked to the tip of the whale, and dived into the ocean.

The whales slowly disbanded. 

The Ptarmigan remained, with Jayne on its back, until the sun set.  Then it began to swim.

It stopped off the coast where he`d beached the first whale.  Then it sank into the water, leaving Jayne to swim for the shore.

He came to with the dawn, weak light gushing grey across the shell-scragged beach around him, his head flumped down on a pillow of ocean foam and stones. 

Aching and bendsing and covered in thick blooming blue bruises, he lurched to his feet, and set off for the city.

      *