My Jolly Sailor Bold

Chapter 2 - Some Things Are Better Left Undone

Recap:

'Yeah, I'm a rebel! I do what I want!'' I thought. And boy, I wish I could take it all back. I wish I had turned around right there, got my ass back in the house, and stayed inside like a good little girl. 

But no.

I was a rebel. 

And I was going to seriously regret it.

June's POV:

As I ventured my way down the sidewalk, part of me knew that I should have gone back. Part of me knew something was going to go wrong. I should have turned on my heel and gone right back inside. Maybe studied for the test I had in Kyeong's in two weeks from now. But in the spurr of the moment, it had seemed the most important thing to do. It had seemed the right decision not to heed my father's advice. He had always prevented me from doing anything of my own accord - he had been protective since the day I actually had the ability to remember things, and then he went off to do stupid things, like getting piss drunk. Maybe that was the reason I never got any real friends. 

But June Hausser doesn't put up with bull shit. No, not me. And friends brought that kind of thing. For once in my life, and damn, it sounded cheesy, but I was actually going to take charge and do as I pleased.

The gate to the beach entered my line of view, and I quickened my pace towards it. I had only ever seen the shoreline from afar, but even then it was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen. The smooth water. The glistening waves, lapping against the soft, pearl-white sand. All witnessed from the second story window of my bedroom, and all observed with amazement. 

Finally having reached the gate, I pushed it open with the palm of my left hand, removing my sandals with my right. When the task was completed, I looked up before taking another step forward. My eyes sparkled as I surveyed the scene before me. The orange glow of the setting sun reflected from the ocean surface, sending rays of purple and blue here and there, only to dazzle my sights more. Unable to control my own body, I felt myself wandering towards where the water broke the shore. A few birds chirped, but besides that, all was quiet, excluding the sound of the waves beating against the sand, and the palm trees shivering against the light, tropical breeze.

However, I lacked awareness to what was brewing above. As I swam farther and farther out until I was waist-deep within water, I failed to notice the storm concocting itself among the clouds. The birds stopped chirping, some of them even flew away.

And then I felt a raindrop. 

And then another. And another. All until the sky had completely blotted out the setting sun, and the ugly grey gave birth to a whole hail of rain, something I couldn't even see through.

"Well, shit."

As I attempted to find my way out of the water, the wind kicked up to heights I had never seen before. The palm trees swayed and crashed against each other, booms and bangs echoing from the clouds, and I was caught all in the middle of it. Flashes of lightning caught my attention as the current kicked up, and I found myself struggling against the ocean itself, trying not to be pulled out to sea, and also trying to escape from  a watery grave, much like my mother. Unfortunately, I was too weak. The murky water got the best of me, and pulled me under the waves in a matter of seconds. I felt liquid enter my lungs, and thrust my head above the water just long enough to get a breath's worth of air. I tried to find something to hold on to - a rock, some kelp, something  to keep me alive until the storm passed. 

And as if things weren't bad already, I knew these conditions were perfect for the most horrifying formations in the sea, that which scared all sailormen to be willing enough to jump right into Davy Jones' locker. A maelstrom. There wasn't enough time for me to scream, or shout, or anything to a degree that could save my life, or grab the attention of an innocent passerby, for that matter. I barely had enough breath to keep me conscious for the full ride. As my strength began to disperse, I felt dizzy. I could tell that a maelstrom really had formed, and now it would be the death of me. Fate was cruel, and I was condemned to die just as my mother had. A watery grave - no actual burrying ground, just countless waves, and hey, who knows if anyone would even find my body - I'd be eaten by sharks and fish. 

Using the last of the breath I had saved, I felt the world grow dim, and I began to move in a circular motion, no doubt being sucked into the spinning vortex, and each time, falling deeper and deeper into the "natural" phenomenon. As my final taste of oxygen was consumed, my eyelids snapped shut.

I was consumed in darkness.

---

There was a dream that followed my death. 

It was a peaceful dream that brought me serenity to the fact that I really had died. So what if I'd never wake up again? So what if I never got my dream job? It was nice here, and I wanted to stay.

I recalled opening my eyes at the bottom of the ocean, and the water - I could actually breathe it. I sat up and found myself drenched in the strange, filtered light that made itself to the sea floor. I most-likely hadn't been pushed far out from the shoreline, no. There would be no light at all if I had, but the dim, blue-green light still persisted, and helped me observe my surroundings. 

The bottom of the sea was fairly barren. There were rocks here and there, miscellaneous pieces of junk spewed about, and even colonial collections of kelp, rising to the surface of the water. I smiled to myself when I saw a few fish swim by, and even a crab. This had been a good place to die - no one would or could hurt me, and things were calm down here, unlike the busy cities that bustled and screeched day and night, the endless drone of - no. Not here. I didn't want to think of the life I had lived on the land above and disrupt the tender placidity of the water. 

I attempted to stand, it was getting far too boring laying idle, and there was plenty more of this foreign wonderland that I wished to explore. Who knew what I might find? I'm sure I would have the rest of eternity to wander the depths of the sea, but I really should get started now.

'Damnit,' I thought, still trying my best to regain balance on my feet. 'Why the hell can't I stan --' I looked down to where my legs should be with a horrified expression. 'Oh... OH...' I managed in my head, not sure if I really was in Hell, or if Purgatory, or Heaven, for that matter, just decided to throw me another dramatic irony.

I was a fucking mermaid.

Are you kidding me? 

So it really must have been a sign. Professor and Mr. Cooke had been warning me not to go to sea, or I would die. And when I died, I would become a mermaid. 'This is messed up, how does this even work? Why a mermaid, of all the things I could be?' I jabbered at myself angrily. A memory flashed before my eyes, or, for lack of better words, a reminder of some sort.

A woman's haunting voice interrupted the serenity of the waters around me.

"My heart is pierced by Cupid...

I disdain all glittering gold...

There is nothing can console me...                

                                                              But my jolly sailor bold."

Dark spots appeared in my vision and I felt myself losing consciousness again.

"Wha... What...?"

The woman's voice pentrated the silence yet again, seeming to break away the last bit of sanity that I thought still survived in this universe.

'Hush, my child, my dear sweet...'

It was closing in on me.

'... June."

And the darkness ensued once more.