It could have been worse. I could have come back as a snail. I don’t think I was that bad of a person, but Jack thought I was horrible and went to the extreme of lying about me in court in order to get sole custody of our daughter.  

Maybe not everything he said was a lie. I was a horrible cook, that part was true. And I didn’t always get our daughter to school on time. Also, I did try to poison him once.  

He claims I was bounding away for more verdant fields– that’s how he said it. See what I mean? The man is uninhabitable. There’s no way to curl up inside the heart of a man like that.  

So anyway, now I am a harbor seal. I didn’t expect reincarnation to be a consequence of suicide, especially suicide I didn’t really intend. How was I to know it was a fatal mixture of mushrooms? It’s not like I fed it to anyone–  it was an accident. Mostly an accident. Partly, anyway. 

So now I’m a pinniped instead of a pin-up. Like I said, it could have been worse. There are some plus-sides to being a seal. Blubber is a good thing. I can sleep underwater. I’m protected from harassment at the rocky beach where we ‘haul out’ to rest. (See? I’m learning the lingo.) And there’s yoga! My favorite position is ‘banana,’ in which I raise my head and my tail, balancing on my flippers.  

I feel I should at least have visitation. I was a lousy wife, but I was a good mother. Mostly. I see my daughter sometimes at the beach. Sometimes she walks near where me and my seal buddies haul out to hang out. I tried to tell her who I was once, humping along the strip of sand near her, barking her name. Jack threw rocks at me. I hope he got fined. I’m sure he knew it was me. Bastard.  

I’ll find my way back. Or my daughter will find her way to me. The ocean is a mysterious place. Who knows what might happen when the daughter of a seal enters the water?