Echos of the deep

Curse of the Deep

She scrambled backward, her heart shimmering, as the figure who had pulled her under crawled up beside her. His golden hair clung to his face, his dark eyes unreadable, and his shimmering blue tail thrashed once against the sand before he rolled onto his back.

"What the hell just happened?" Layla gasped, staring down at her legs-or what used to be her legs. She had seen them transform in the water, felt the strange sensation of them fusing together, and now... she didn't want to look again.

The guy groaned and sat up, shaking water out of his hair. "Relax, you're fine. Mostly."

"Fine? I had a tail! What's going on?" her voice cracked, panic rising in her throat.

The man sighed, brushing sand off his hands. "Yeah, about that... The curse wasn't supposed to work like this."

"What curse?!" she demanded.

He ignored her question, digging his hands into the sand and rubbing it over his tail. As she watched, the shimmering scales began to dry and crack, flaking off until his tail was gone, replaced by two human legs. Layla gawked as he pulled himself upright and stretched utterly nonchalant.

"There we go. Good as new."

Layla stared at him in disbelief, then down at her legs-except they weren't legs. The glimmering blue tail still stretched out where her legs should have been.

"I... What is this?!" she cried, her voice trembling.

"Relax," he said dismissively. He grabbed a handful of sand and shoved it toward her. "Here. Cover it up with this. It'll dry, and you'll have legs again. No big deal."

"No big deal?!' She recoiled but did as he instructed, frantically covering her tail with sand. As she worked, the tail tingled, then burned slightly, before morphing back into her legs. She gasped and stared at her bare feet in shock.

"See?" he said, grinning smugly. "Told you."

The guy's face fell, and he ran a hand through his hair. "Look, It's complicated. I kissed you to transfer the curse to you, okay? Except... " he paused, frowning. "Something went wrong. Usually, it's a clean transfer-boom, you get the tail, I get your legs, and we switch places. But this time... "

"You what?!" Layla shrieked, her voice echoing across the quiet beach.

"Could you not scream?" he said, wincing. "Yeah, I tried to steal your legs. It's not like I had a choice, okay? I'm not going back in that water. But apparently, the curse didn't transfer fully. Now we're both stuck with this half-and-half situation.

Layla's mind raced, struggling to keep up. "Curse Legs? Water? None of this makes any sense!"

The guy groaned. "Ugh it's not rocket science. I used to be human, okay? Then I got dragged into the water and kissed by some other cursed merfolk. That's how it works. They steal your legs and leave you with a tail. You're stuck in the water forever, immortal but memoryless. I've been trying to find a way out of here for years, and you're my ticket."

"So, you thought you could just steal my legs?" she shouted, standing shakily.

"Yup. But like I said, it didn't work so now we're both in this mess," he said, shrugging.

"I can't live like this!" Layla yelled. "What happens to me now?!"

He crossed his arms and leaned back against a rock, unfazed by her panic. "One of two things: either the curse finally transfers to you, and you end up stuck in the ocean for eternity, or we both stay like this-part human, part merfolk. Which is honestly, Isn't even the worst thing. You get to be half-fish and still live on land. Cool deal, right?"

"Cool deal?" she repeated, glaring at him. "I can't even touch water without turning into a fish!"

"Not my problem."

"You're unbelievable," she snapped.

"And you're loud" he shot back. "Anyway, do you have any food? I'm starving."

Layla gaped at him. "Food? You're asking for food? Now?!"

"Yeah," he said, rolling his eyes. "You should be thankful. At least you're not fully cursed. Pick a struggle."

She glared at him, her chest heaving with frustration. "Do you even have a name?"

"Not that I remember. Once you're fully cursed, you lose all your memories. No name, no past, nothing. That's just how it is. You're immortal unless you die on land, and trust me, that's harder than it sounds."

Layla shook her head, still trying to process everything. "I didn't ask for this."

"And I didn't ask to be a merman," he said, shrugging. "So, welcome to the club. Now, about that food."

Later that night, Layla snuck him into her grandparents' house. He refused to sleep outside, grumbling about the mosquitoes and predators, so she begrudgingly let him stay on her floor beside her bed. He sprawled out on the worn rug, looking far too comfortable for someone who had just turned her life upside down.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she whispered, staring up at the ceiling.

"Figure it out," he murmured sleepily.

She rolled her eyes, but her exhaustion finally caught up with her. As she drifted off, one thought lingered in her mind: how am I going to survive this summer?