Short Stories of the Garden

Just like February | April

This was stupid.

April sat on the beach, looking into the water. The edges of his leather jacket were going to be caked with sand after this, but he didn't care.

That's his job anyways.

February cared, cared a bit too much. That's why she's gone and he's here.

...

The rest of the months... They were all pairs. Five pairs. Even May and July were pairs, and they have such different interests! But April doesn't have his pair. She's dead.

No, not dead. Missing. Where is she? Where is his pair?

Did- did she feel left out? Left out without her pair? Is that why she cared so much for that stupid little mortal?

He was doomed to die anyways.

April hummed, thinking about that. October mentioned that September demanded the mortal be sacrificed, and for some reason even May agreed to it. December- well she was surprisingly alert and suggested to burn him alive.

June was happy to finish the job. March and her didn't talk for months afterwards.

Feb would have said no. She would have said that it was unfair to sacrifice a mortal in her name, even though really it was completely fair. If May was able to say so without the slightest bit of hesitation, it was fair.

They didn't think it was fair when April showed up, a copy of his pair, even though it really was fair. Out of character for them, but reasonable considering that she's missing.

It's a life for a life, right? She leaves and he takes her place.

A copy.

Same platinum blond hair, fair skin with dark stripes dancing across their skin. A similar body type, give or take a few features to allow the different genders. Both of them were people of water, orange toned eyes and monochrome fins.

An imperfect copy.

His hair was shorter, much shorter than her long hair, despite the fact that he could still tie it back. The stripes he bears are more spotty instead of clean, like a dollmaker was in a rush. She was a female, he was not. She was considered a Mermaid, beautiful, kind and with dark eyes. He was called a siren. Attractive, a dash cruel, and his eyes were a brighter orange. People act as if they don't know both are a naiad. (He never looked into it, so really he isn't even sure if this is true or not. [He looked into it. Sirens were originally birdlike. How they adapted to sea life was not something he wanted to find out]) His fins were longer and made him look full of spikes.

It's not fair, because he's nothing like her.

She was kind, cared too much about her people and everyone else. He was cold and didn't care at all. She would watch a butterfly land delicately on a flower and smile from ear to ear. He would see the same and not even bat an eye. She would cry when she needed to execute someone for the good of the kingdom. He would look them in the eye and give them a hollow good luck as he pulled the lever.

He was nothing like her.

Once, June said that they almost died in this bay. Yeah, it was surprising. But February dragged her ass back to shore before her embers burned out. She was bedridden for days, but miraculously alive. February always cared too much, even for people she hardly knew.

He knew that if it was him instead, she would have left her burn out, and leave March without his pair.

Scratch that, he probably wouldn't have even been in the water. He preferred land, didn't like how the salt became the only thing he could taste and how it caked everywhere. March called him a freshwater fish once.

The other ten months haven't mentioned February in a long time. Not even around him. They only talked about her in the few months after his appearance. But sometimes he feels like she's looming over his shoulder, concerned about how he's handling things.

April's hand fisted around the sand and threw it into the waves. It fell apart pathetically.

And he didn't care.