The Lunar Mermaid

From a very young age, Ryu had always been told to be careful of the mermaids that live deep in the waters of his backyard. The elders in town would explain how the merfolk had a disdain for mankind, and would waste no opportunity to pull them down to a watery grave. While the reasoning was never told, the mermaids were often used as scapegoats whenever the fishermen came home with no stock, and as explanations for when ships were lost to sea. As he and his friends grew older, Ryu found himself being the only one who still believed in the tales told to him as a child. His friends teased him countlessly for his childish beliefs, but Ryu was determined to prove them wrong.

Summer lasted forever in his seaside town, so Ryu was out day and night trying to find some sort of proof of the illusive merfolk that lived deep below the currents. A single scale would never be enough, no matter what strange color it took, there was bound to be a fish in the area with the same colored scales. What he needed was an actual sighting. It would be alright if the mermaid never went up to the banks for everyone to see, the only person Ryu had to convince was himself. Even if the world was against him, as long as Ryu knew the truth, nothing could break his resolve.

Most of the time Ryu spent his time with his father on his fishing boat, working out at sea from dawn till dusk, but every day that he had off he was out riding the waves just behind his home. It started as a friendly outing with his friends to relax and unwind, but over time Ryu used it to his help further his goal. Unlike on his father's fishing boat, when on a surfboard Ryu was much closer to the water.

One morning, when the fog was especially thick, Ryu had found the most unbelievable sight.

Ryu may be kind of dumb, but he isn't stupid; he knew that going out to sea with such a heavy fog was not a wise idea. However, something had caught his eye when he went down to the beach to figure out how thick the fog was. A sparkle of orange reflected off of the light from the lighthouse not far from where he stood. Thinking it was a beached fish, Ryu slowly walked to the shiny object. If it was a fish and was still alive, he would throw it back into the ocean. If not, he would see if the fish was known to be poisonous before deciding if he would prepare it for dinner that night. If it turned out to be a human, Ryu would either call the authorities or an ambulance depending on how (or if) they were breathing.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) it turned out to be neither, yet both at the same time.

The strange object that Lady Fate had guided Ryu to by her own hand turned out to be exactly what he was longing for. A mermaid. A real life mermaid had somehow gotten themselves beached right in Ryu's own backyard.

The fog obscured most of their physical appearance, but the mermaid themself was smaller than what his grandmother had told him. She said that on average they were as big as a whale, while some of her friends told him that they could get even bigger than that. This one seemed to be smaller than Ryu. Their scales were a dark shade of orange, so dark in fact it was almost brown. The scales perfectly faded into skin that was just a few shades lighter. What had caught Ryu off guard the most was their short, vibrant orange hair. It almost seemed like a wig.

The wonder at the discovery soon settled into panic at the mythical creature's wellbeing, Ryu placed his index and middle finger to the back of the creature's jaw. There was a faint pulse.

Now that he knew that the mermaid was still alive, more panic flooded in. Should he throw them back into the ocean or was that dangerous? There was no way they would survive in the freshwater his bathtub provided. There was, however, a small little spring filled with saltwater closer to his house that should be big enough to hold them until they regained consciousness. It was sheltered right beneath the back patio and had lattice fencing to cover up the rocks underneath that would provide them perfect shelter. There were holes in it of course, but luckily Ryu had a small door added onto the side so he could come in and out to keep it clean and to help get out any stray cats that managed to squeeze through one of the holes in order to take shelter.