"Let them go! Release the Seagulls!", Amelia kept talking and kicking the air.
"It must be the vision again", Papa sighed heavily from the garden and rush to meet Amelia where she was.
"It's okay, daughter, papa is here", he said a few times before she stopped shouting and kicking.
"What happened, what did you see?", He asked.
"Seagulls, they were locked in a cage. They are not looking good and a particular was calling me", Amelia burst into tears while speaking.
"It's alright dear, we will figure out why you keep seeing visions about Seagulls repeatedly", Papa assured her.
Very early the next day, they set out to diviner to seek the interpretation of Amelia's vision.
"Where is her mother?", the diviner asked after she narrated the vision to him.
"We lost her to illness a few months ago", Papa replied as he patted Amelia on the back.
"That explains it, the seagull that bears her soul is in bondage and she wants freedom, Amelia is seeing her because of her gift", the diviner replied.
"I don't believe in the myth of seagulls bearing a deceased soul, that unrealistic Papa", Amelia said on their way home.
"So as your vision, it is hard for people to believe that you have such a gift", Papa replied.
"I know what is real and not, when people die their soul leaves and....", she paused.
"And what? They roam about the earth in these birds", Papa smiled as he replied to her.
"You think seagulls just became a sacred animal here, they bear the souls of our lost ones", he added.
Later that night, the vision came again but this time, it was scarier.
"Why do I keep seeing you", Amelia summoned the courage to ask the seagull.
"Because you need to save me before I get killed again. Help me and the others, Ammie", the seagull replied.
The vision cleared and she was conscious again.
"Seagulls don't talk, how is that possible and only Mom calls me, Ammie", she said after narrating the vision to Papa.
"Could it be true, how can her soul be in a bird?", Amelia asked.
"My great-grandfather once told me that this land belongs to the seagull in ancient times and they had one enemy that kills them for fun. Our forefather's intervention helped the seagulls from being victims of their killer and in return, they allowed humans to settle among them and made a promise to always bear our soul when we die", Papa narrated the story to her.
"A lot must have happened back then, it's hard to comprehend and if that's the case, Mom needs help", Amelia replied.
"A lot did happen and the heavy presence of seagull here isn't a coincidence", Papa replied.
"How do we find the seagull that bears mom's soul, how do we find all of them?", she asked.
"That's a big problem, do you remember anything else in the vision?", Papa asked.
Amelia closed her eyes and thought deeply about it. She remembered the noise of people advertising goods from a distance in the vision.
"Yes!!! , she screamed suddenly. I heard market woman voices advertising their goods", Amelia replied.
"If that's the case, we should check the markets and hopefully you see the vision again", Papa replied.
They set out the next morning to the biggest market in the village but didn't know where to check.
"Could someone be selling them?", Amelia asked.
"You know that's impossible, killing, eating or keeping seagulls in cages is forbidden here", Papa replied.
"That's true but what if they capture them here and take them to where they are not forbidden", she asked and that made a lot of sense to Papa.
"Judging by what you have said, let's go to the market near the beach", Papa replied and they left for the market immediately.
On their arrival, Amelia could hear adverts similar to the ones in her vision.
"It is here, Papa.", she whispered.
They walked every corner of the market but didn't find anything. Amelia suggested that they ask around but it was dangerous, the search went on for a while and they found nothing.
"Can we rest for a while, my legs hurt", Amelia sat on the fine sand of the beach even before Papa said replied.
"You must be hungry, let me get you something", Papa said and went back to the market.
Amelia sat and observed all activities happening on the beach, she turned to the back to see the market as well.
"Where could she be? It would have been nice if I can ask these seagulls roaming around for help", she thought.
She dipped her hands into the sand and sprinkled some into the hair.
"Stop that young girl, you can hurt people's eyes", a voice said from behind.
"Sorry sir, I didn't know the wind will carry the sand that much", she apologized.
Papa noticed the man talking to Amelia so he rushed there.
"What's happening here?", he asked as the man was about to leave.
"I sprinkled sand into the air and he told me not to do so", Amelia replied.
"Oh sorry, mister", Papa apologized and they both sat on the sand again.
He gave her the food he bought and started eating.
"Papa what are those baskets used for?", She asked while pointing to the man who scolded her. He was carrying a covered basket on his shoulder and unlike normal baskets, they didn't see through it.
"They use it to bring fish from the boat", he replied.
Papa turned back and noticed more of the basket coming from the market.
"What could they be bringing from the market", he thought.
He paid attention to the carriers until the very last one. He noticed the market chief taking a box from a man and Papa knew something wasn't right.
He went to alert the securities and they reluctantly followed him to see what was on the boat.
The workers on the boat resisted and as more people joined Papa and the securities they broke into the boat.
Papa immediately opened a basket and saw seagulls. They were weak and it seems they have been fed something that made them that way.
The incident drew attention and the king got involved. The people involved were apprehended and they got to know that the birds were sold as meat in another land.
Immediately the seagulls felt better, they began to fly away one after the other.
They were at the palace when Amelia saw another vision, she saw the same seagull that was in the cage but this time, it was flying.
"Thanks, Ammie. My beautiful daughter", a seagull echoed from the sky.
She felt chills running through her veins as she opened her eyes and couldn't hold back tears.
She hugged Papa and whispered, "Mom is free, the Seagulls story is not a myth".