A Merman's Tale

Fates: Chapter Thirty-Five

Seirra

      After the events that happened since the day I got back on land, I began to feel confident that Margaret was on her way to accepting the truth of our situation. It became difficult for me to think that after everything she saw and experienced, she would still insist that what I had been telling her were lies. I had easily seen the play of emotions on her face and knew that the confusion she was feeling was because she was starting to believe me. I shouldn't force her but she knew how urgent it was for her to decide if she was going to accept her fate with me or not. 

     I stood by the door of Books and Covers, frozen for a moment, my thoughts in shambles, as I looked at Marge's blissful face. Her arms were wrapped around Robert and she looked safe and content. 

     And just like that I realized that being with me had never allowed her to feel that way. 

     My life revolved around danger. Yes, we loved each other but that cannot erase the fact that she would constantly have to fear for my life and that I would always have to worry about her safety. 

     She saw me and immediately staggered to move out of the embrace but I didn't let her see another moment of vulnerability. She already had enough in her mind and my jealousy would only make things worse. I walked as fast and as far away from her as possible, pretending not to hear her calling my name.

     She didn't run after me.

*****

     I didn't even notice that the sun had disappeared, turning the sky into a black canvass of dark clouds and stars. The waves came crashing to the shore as I lay on the sand with my eyes closed. I must have looked relaxed and comfortable to anybody who had seen me but the questions whirling in my mind were enough to make me feel as if my head was about to explode.

     Will I be able to save Aquania?

     Will Marge ever remember me?

     Was I being unfair to Marge?

     What kind of life would she have in Aquania?

     Will she be able to survive underwater?    

     More importantly, would she ever love me again?

     "Aarrggh!" I growled as I lifted myself up to a sitting position. "When did everything become so complicated?" I asked no one in particular. 

     The burden suddenly seemed too much for me. I raised one knee and dropped my head on it. Maybe, there was something I still needed to do. Or maybe there was something I should not have done. 

     All my life, I'd known how to follow the law. I knew about rules and I knew about order. When the truth I knew suddenly became a lie, everything started to spiral out of control. What turned all of this into misery was also what I had always longed for—to know that the person I had to marry was someone I would want to actually spend the rest of my life with. 

     If only she felt the same way. If only we didn't have an entire world of difference. Maybe if she was a real mermaid, things would have been different for us.

     But she wasn't a mermaid. And no magic could ever change the fact that she was born a human.

     I lifted my head and stared out at the sea, longing for this week to be over. Five more days and I would know the fate of Aquania. I shivered. How terrifying.

     A few silent moments later, the wind began to pick up and the waves started toppling over each other. I squinted to survey my surroundings more carefully. It seemed like a brewing storm but there was something odd about the abrupt changes in the water's movements. As a merman, it was often easy for me to predict the weather but if this really was a storm, how could I not have felt any kind of warning?