Moria Tide | Grape Mint Manatee Character Art
Moria Tide knew the old ferry's stories better than its timetable. The manatee had spent years collecting passengers' accounts of crossings made in fog, sunlight, and weather too ordinary to remember until much later. She wore a grape-colored coat on recording days, its mint ripples echoing the boat's wake.
AI-generated character concept · Original fictional lore
The story of Moria Tide
A fictional story inspired by the artwork.
Before the ferry retired, its crew asked her to preserve the song the engine made at full speed. Moria arrived with recording equipment and discovered that the familiar rhythm changed whenever someone crossed the deck. Loose fittings, footsteps, and a cupboard latch contributed notes she had always attributed to the machine.
She recorded an empty crossing, then one with the crew moving through their usual tasks. Neither captured the sound she remembered. Finally, the captain invited former passengers aboard for a short harbor circuit. They talked, carried bags, opened doors, and stood in the places their bodies remembered without instruction.
The resulting recording was imperfect. A laugh covered the engine's lowest note, and wind brushed the microphone near the turn. Moria kept those moments. The ferry's song had belonged to everyone aboard, and silence around the engine would have preserved only a fragment of it.
At the retirement gathering, the recording played beside photographs and handwritten recollections. Moria watched the captain recognize the cupboard latch before recognizing her own footsteps. The boat would become a floating reading room, but its old music remained available to anyone who wished to take that crossing again.
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