The Pearl

AN; In the mood for mermaids.

I stood under the light of the full summer moon, while the ocean lapped at my sides and wooden legs of the pier rose out of the water to my right. My clothes, from the night before, laid strewn along the sandy shore behind me, but I paid them no attention. My eyes were focused only on my sister's black head bobbing in the waves. It was the only part of her that was visible, for the rest of her laid submerged in the night's black sea. From where I stood, I could not see her gray-green eyes that mirrored my own, but I'm sure if I could see them, they would be filled with sadness and regret. At least, I hoped they were. At that moment, my eyes were filled with panic and anger.

"You can't leave me here like this!" I shouted, and dove head first into the water and began to paddle frantically towards her. My clumsy limbs could not propel me through the water as fast as I wanted, and out of habit, I inhaled the salt water deeply. It choked me, and I shot to the surface, coughing and gasping for air. My throat burned, and tears began to well up in my eyes. I was now up to my chest in water, which showed how little progress I had made, and Delphine was still so far away.

"I just want to go home!" I screamed at her, in anguish, although I knew in the back of my mind that she couldn't help what was happening. But at the moment, a much more significant portion of my mind wanted to believe that she could change it if only I could convince her.

My sister's head disappeared under the surface. My whole body began to shake from the violent sobs raking it.

"Marina," my sister said softly, emerging right in front of me, her black hair framing her beautiful pale face. Without hesitation, I threw my arms out to grab her, but she backed away from me quickly before I had the chance to. I splashed clumsily after her, but she and I knew I had no chance of catching her. She glided gracefully out of my reach every time I almost had her. This continued until I had to stop out of exhaustion.

"Marina," my sister said again, but this time not so softly. "You know what you must do. I have to go, but I'll return in a week to check on you. Just please do as father asks so that I can undo the poison, and then we can go home together."

"Then I'll be stranded here forever. I can never do it; it's wrong!" I managed to shout, even though I was struggling to get enough air into my body. I was treading water now; my feet no longer touched the sandy bottom.

"Just do what father wants," Delphine said with a tired voice, "Nobody likes doing this to you," and with that, she slipped below the water once again.

I waited for her to reappear. A couple of minutes ticked by, then a half an hour, and I realized she wasn't coming back, she was gone. It was just me and the waves crashing against the pier.

Too tired to cry or be angry, I turned my head towards the shore. It was at least 15 yards away. Under normal circumstances, I could've made the swim with no problem at all, but these weren't normal circumstances. I had a lot of work ahead of me. I began to clumsily paddle towards land, fatigue making it difficult to keep my head above the water. But the more I paddled, the farther away the shore grew. I began to paddle harder, but the beach kept getting more and more distant. It was then I realized I had been caught in a rip current. I almost laughed at my stupidity for not recognizing it. The ocean was more familiar to me than my own face after all.

Well if the sea wanted me to stay, I wasn't going to deny her. Defeated, I rolled onto my back and gazed up at the black sky where stars sparkled, and let the sea rock me until I had enough energy to be furious again.

"AHHHHHH!" I screamed in anger, "I HATE YOU," I howled not at Delphine, or my father, or my sisters, but at the world, for being how it was. For me being born how I was. For the laws of the ocean being how they were. And that's when a beam of light landed on my face, and the hum of a boat's motor filled my ears.