The Mermaid's Song

The Cave

Lyss was the highlight of my days, the way I spent my nights. We spent hours looking out over the sea, or just touching one another, trying to learn one another's body. We were so different and we had never known anything close to it, never known anything close to such complexity. She was fascinated with my toes. She found them unnecessary and awkward, yet she loved when I wiggled them and told me that she envied that. I spent hours explaining to her the importance of toes, like that they helped me keep my balance and that they really were useful. But she never relented, she thought they were useless. I was fascinated with her tail. She told me about it, how it wasn't even fully grown yet, that soon it would be even longer and more powerful.

She told me about what the other merpeople were like. She told me how unkind they were to outsiders, outsiders like me. She shared with me her heritage, her history; always in the form of song. Her voice flowed over the lines, explaining her past to me, telling me what her home was like, and telling me everything I could possibly wish to know. Each time she sang about her home, my desire to see it grew. She could see it on my face, the way I looked out over the ocean silent with wonder, pondering the beauty she told me about, trying to picture her home. When she noticed my silence, she would take my face into her hands and look me in the eyes. She would kiss me gently on the mouth and the taste of her salty, soft lips was enough to break any reverie. We shared these nights together, better than any I could remember.

She came to me one night with an excited look on her face. She was ecstatic; she told me she had figured out a way to have me come with her, to visit her home. She wanted me to swim with her. She began to talk so fast that she reverted back to her natural tongue, and I couldn't make any sense of her. As I watched her, I began to laugh. She stopped dead and stared at me, annoyance spraying across her face.

"I'm sorry! I don't understand what you're saying!" I looked at her with amusement.

She rolled her eyes and flicked water on me. Without another word, she reached into the depths of her hair and pulled something out. She untangled it from her locks and placed it in my hand. "This, Adam, is Fish Gill. It will make you breathe water." She had such a mischievous gleam in her eye, I had never seen it before. I didn't know why, but my heart was pounding in my chest.

I took the little vial, no bigger than my forefinger, and examined it. It contained a liquid that was a purple blue color, the same shade as her eyes. When I looked through it, it was like seeing a whole new world. Everything was clear and vibrant, nothing was warped or distorted like when you look through a glass of water. "Where did you get this?" I asked hesitantly, weighing the small vial in my hand.

"There is a wise woman near my home. She is very old, and she is my only friend. She is the only one who knows about you. I want you to meet her." She looked at me with her serious, big violet eyes, a look that was almost pleading in them. I still hesitated, but I knew I would do it. I knew I would do anything she asked me.

"Tell me how to." Her response was a grin. From that grin I sensed her excitement. I smiled back, letting her know I was ready.

She took my hand in hers, and explained that all I needed to do was drink it. "Will it give me a tail, like yours?" I tried to picture myself with one, and it was so awkward it made me internally cringe.

She giggled. "Just drink it, and find out."

Without waiting anymore, I took out the tiny cork of the little vial and downed the contents in one small gulp. It slid down my throat and left a numbing trail, feeling warm and cold at the same time. I began to shake all over, unable to stop, like I had lost all control of my muscles. The world was beginning to dim, and the ocean's roar faded in my ears until it was nothing more than a dull beating. I started to panic and flail about, but it only perpetuated these strange feelings. As I scrambled, I fell into the water. I hardly registered the cold wetness because the shaking was beginning to get worse, and the numbing effect that had started in my throat slowly spread all over my body. In a second the numbness was replaced by a blazing pain that was eating away at my body. I felt like my hands were melting, so I franticly began to scratch at them, trying hopelessly to stop the pain. Then my neck and throat exploded with a burning intensity. It felt like someone was holding a candle to my skin, and the flesh was beginning to slowly drip off my bones and bubble and pool about me. I started to scream as the sensation of melting flesh attacked my legs and feet, kicking wildly about to try and stop it. Not knowing what to do, I waded farther out into the water to try and quell the burning of my flesh. A wave hit me from the side and knocked me off balance sending me headfirst into the water. I swung my arms and legs about, thinking of the night I almost drowned, how helpless I had been and how the water had infected my lungs, filling them up to bursting. Panic was beginning to grip me as I realized that I couldn't find the surface, and I was left thrashing about in the water. Where was Lyss?