My Bride is a Mermaid

The Yakuza Wife

I paid a visit to my grandma’s house near the Seto Inland Sea during the summer. From there I went for a swim… and drowned instantly after I entered the water. “Somebody… my legs… my legs…!!!” screaming  from the top of my lungs as I struggled to stay afloat. But no one on shore seemed to notice that a young boy was drowning as they go on with their activities as if I were not around. I could die thinking to myself. Panicking the more I struggled the more I seemed to sink deeper into the deep blue sea.  Oh, it hurts! I can’t breathe! And my legs…! I thought to myself. Sinking deeper, almost too high to reach the surface my body feels like it’s being crushed from the inside. Dammit! I’m drowning! It hurts..! I thought as I put both my hands to my mouth trying to seal as much oxygen I can from escaping my lungs. I can’t breathe… I’m gonna die!! This is the first time I’m choking in water since I was born!! This is really killing me!! I can’t breathe... somebody...somebody…help me… Then suddenly just when I started to lose hope and barely had enough oxygen left within me, I feel a hand grab tightly on my arm and pulling me up to the surface. Trying to see who my rescuer was, all I saw was a girl who looked like she was about 14 or 15 like me and was really pretty, but she had a fish tail. It was a light pinkish looking scales and her fin was light yellow. A mermaid was all I could think of before I had passed out and lost consciousness. Everything went black I don’t even know if I’m dead or alive. 

My parents and I ride the train to visit my grandma for the summer in Seto. I yawn from being bored on the train with nothing to do. “Hey, dad…” I started, my dad looking out the window with his head resting in his hand, he looked bored too. My mom had fallen asleep sitting straight up “are we there yet? I’m tired of this!” My mom had awakened as I finished my sentence, dad looking at me. “What’s wrong with you?” he asked his head still resting in his hand “you’re supposed to be young.”  “You’re so fidgety!” my mom says as she rubs her neck “I don’t know who you take after…”  “That would be my parents” I say cutting her off.  “We’re almost there, so just sit tight.” My dad says staring back out the window. I just sitting there wishing we would arrive at our destination already. 

Few minutes later we at the train station, we grab our things and head towards the bus stop. As we wait for the bus I notice the bus schedule, as I eye the metal sheet I noticed something surprising. “Whoa, there’s only one bus per hour!” I say out loud. “Surprised?” my dad asked as he puts his hands full of bags up on his waist like he was proud. “Yeah and in the evenings there aren’t any at all!” he replies “that was normal for us back in the day!” he says looking directly at me as if I did something wrong, my mom standing there saying nothing “I guess a city boy from Saitama wouldn’t understand though!” he says still in a proud tone “Dad. You’re acting really hyper.” I say looking clueless. “yes, he hasn’t been back here in awhile.” Mom says smiling. Shortly the bus arrives, as it settles to a stop the motor letting out a long hissing sound as if air was being deflated from the tires.

We board the bus that was empty, me and my parents being the only ones on the bus. I take the first seat in the front row as I start to take my duffle bag strap off my shoulder, my parents sitting behind me. “hey, dad” as the bus starts moving again I look out the window and notice the large blue ocean  what seemed to be a short walk away “we were right by the sea just a minute ago, weren’t we?”  I ask, still looking out the window. “Yeah, the sea and the mountains are really close here huh?” he answers in a relaxed tone “Water on your right, and mountains on your left. That’s Seto for you” he says.

  I scoot closer to get a better view of the road ahead “And the road’s so narrow…it looks like we’re gonna fall!” I say concerned “ I guess you were really little the last time you were here , huh?” says my mom.  I start thinking about times I’ve been here “Yeah, I don’t really remember much” I say thinking about my childhood, we had gotten off the bus to see my grandma waiting for us on the other side. When we get to my grandma’s house my mom prepares dinner, I follow my grandma into a room in the house which looked like an alter or a shrine for my grandpa who had passed away when I was younger.