To Live on the Land We Must Learn from the Sea

Chapter 3

Word Count: 807  

 Mary was hovering at the doorway to their dwelling as Stede approached, arms crossed. 

  "Where were you?" She demanded as soon as he was reasonably close. 

  Stede flinched slightly, but then launched into his explanation. " I had the most eventful night! You know how I like to take full moon swims, a-and there was this pirate ship and someone got thrown overboard and–oh Mary–I saved this man's life and–"

  His wife's eyes widened. "You what!?" 

  "It's not like he saw me or anything!" Stede replied exasperatedly, following Mary into their dwelling. "He would've died if I hadn't done something!" 

  Mary snorted. "Can't humans swim?" 

  "This one was bound by ropes!" Stede spluttered. "His crew threw him overboard on purpose!" 

  "What did you do?" She asked him, now growing curious. 

  "I dragged him to a nearby shore–far enough away from our cove, of course. He was unconscious at that point, so he didn't see me at all. I got the water out of him and submerged myself before he woke up." 

  Mary growled in frustration, clenching her fists. "Still, do you know how dangerous that was, Stede? What if he saw you? You'd probably be dead right now!" 

  "But he didn't! Everything was fine!" Steve insisted. Aside from the fact that the man had his ship in a bottle. His face softened. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll be more careful next time." 

  "Next time!?" Mary screeched. " Next time!? There doesn't need to be a next time, Stede! Are you going to keep putting your life at risk like this, keeping me up at night? What if we have children!? What kind of example will you set for them!?"

  Stede hung his head, sighing. "I just don't think this life is for me, Mary. I want to travel. See the world. Have adventures." 

  His wife's features softened. "Then leave," she murmured. 

  "What!?" 

  "Look, Stede, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that both of us aren't very happy in this marriage. I would hate for one of us to get so fed up with the other that we'd try to cut the other person out of our life in an unhealthy way. So I'm giving you the chance now to go and live your own life." 

  Hope blossomed in the merman's chest. "Really?" He asked. 

  "We've been trying to make this work for two years now, and it hasn't. Maybe a change would be good for the both of us."

  Steve surged forward, engulfing his wife in a hug. "You're really letting me do this?"

  She nodded into his shoulder, patting his back. 

  "Oh, thank you!" Stede cried. He pulled away. "But what will you tell the others? I don't want people shaming you because I left." 

  "I'll come up with something," she assured him. "I could say you got mauled by a shark or left to get those sea urchins I like close to the surface and never came back. I'm sure Evelyn can help me come up with something." 

  Steve shivered. Evelyn was one of Mary's friends who had an eyepatch, a scarred, bloodred tail, and probably a few skeletons in her closet, in his opinion. She gave him the creeps. It was a perfect solution. 

  "You better leave soon before the others start to wake up," Mary insisted. "Let me pack you something for the road." She took his satchel off of his shoulder–which he grabbed after making sure the pirate was gone–and brought it over to their food prep area. She pulled out extra seaweed, kelp, and oysters from crevices in the rock wall. 

  “I can’t thank you enough for this, Mary,” Stede said as she packed his bag. “I know we haven’t always understood each other, so this might be better for the both of us.” 

  His wife swam over with his satchel filled with snacks. “Just be careful out there, okay? I don’t want to find your corpse washed up on a beach somewhere.” 

  Stede chuckled. “I’ll be careful.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, not making eye contact. “Am I to be expected back?” 

  Mary shook her head. 

  “Would you be hurt if I found…someone else?” Stede asked, not knowing any better way to put it. 

  “No,” she replied. “I can’t control what happens on your adventures. Would you be hurt if I found someone else?” 

  “No,” Stede replied. 

  “Then I guess we’ve reached an agreement.” Mary swam forward and hugged her husband. “Stay safe out there. I wish you the best. And if you do find someone, make sure they treat you well.”

  Stede kissed her cheek, returning the embrace. “Thank you,” he said tenderly. He slung the stachel around his body and swam out of the dwelling. 

  He didn’t look back.