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Once upon a time, there was a man named Derek who lived in a house in the woods. All his family was dead, so he was all alone. He wanted to find someone who he could love and not be lonely anymore.
One day, he met a man named Stiles. Stiles never said where he was from or much about himself, but the two fell in love with each other regardless. Three months after they met, Derek asked Stiles to marry him.
The night before they were to be married, Derek was getting their suitcases packed for their honeymoon. Derek found an old chest that he never noticed before. He opened it and found a seal skin inside, white with brown spots scattered over it. Confused, he went to Stiles and asked him what it was.
Upon seeing the seal skin, Stiles looked like he was going to cry. “I’m sorry, Derek! I‘ll love you always!” He grabbed the skin out of Derek’s hand and ran off into the night.
For five days and nights, Derek searched the land for any sign of Stiles with no luck. On the sixth day, he came upon an old wise crone. He asked her if she’d seen a pale mole-spotted man with a seal skin.
“Ye will not find him again,” the crone told him. “For he is a selkie. He lives not on the land, but in the sea. When ye found his skin, he had to leave. It is their law.”
But Derek was deeply in love with Stiles and wasn’t going to give up. “Where can I find the selkies? I must try to speak with them!”
“I know the selkies,” the crone said. “Go to Craggy Cove about three days south from here. There the selkies come on land for a few hours every night at midnight. It is surrounded by cliffs and the water is very dangerous in the cove. It will not be easy to reach the cove. If ye make it to the selkies, the leader might grant ye an audience.”
Derek thanked the old crone and set off to the south to Craggy Cove. In three days, just as she said, he was standing on a cliff overlooking the cove, the sea water churning chaotically. He had brought a long rope with him, so he tied it to a sturdy tree near the cliff edge, then tied the other end around his waist and began the slow climb down the cliff’s face. Derek was strong and careful and he made it down safely. He sat on a rock and waited for the selkies to appear.
Midnight came and Derek could see creatures in the water swimming their way to shore. Large seals started coming out of the water, different patterns on their skin. They shed their skins and they became human. Derek saw one seal with the same pattern as Stiles’ skin and saw him transform into Stiles. “Derek? Is it you?”
Before Derek could step towards his love, the leader, one of the older men, stepped forward. “What is a human doing here in our cove?”
“I am here for Stiles, the one who I want to marry. He left me when I saw his seal skin, but I want to be with him. I don‘t care that he‘s a selkie,” Derek said.
The leader refused, but Derek wouldn‘t give up. “I love him,” he pleaded. “I will do anything to get him back, I swear it.”
The leader could feel the sincerity from Derek‘s words. “If you want to live with Stiles again, you must find a boat and join us on the sea for one year. If you can do that, Stiles can return to your house and marry you.”
Derek accepted the leader’s terms. When the morning came and the selkies had long since returned to the sea, Derek climbed back up the side of the cliff and returned to the nearest village. He used most of his money to purchase a small boat with room for him to eat and sleep as well as enough supplies to last him a year and then some. The boat was brought to the sea and he sailed to Craggy Cove to wait for the selkies. He was careful steering the boat in the cove and brought it safely to shore.
The selkies including Stiles showed up that night, and when they put their seal skins on, Derek boarded the little boat and sailed off with them.
It was a hard life on the water. Sailing the boat was difficult at first, and the sun was hot and the food was dull. But still Derek persevered. He was able to keep up with the selkies, and Stiles never strayed far from his boat. And every night, he was able to spend a few hours with Stiles as a human.
Finally, the year ended, and the leader said, “You have survived a year with us at sea. You have shown your dedication to Stiles, and thus he can return with you to land.”
Derek and Stiles returned to Derek’s house in the woods. The two were married at last, and they lived happily ever after.