Thirteen years later...
POV- Twila
This is all Opi's fault. She's such an idiot! I was lying face down in the sand crying. Yesterday Uah died. I'm never going to forgive Opi for this. I thought to myself. I felt empty inside. Besides my new hate towards Opi, I couldn't feel anything. Or maybe I was ignoring my emotions.
I lifted my head up and looked around me. Everyone was gone. Probably to mourn alone. Uah still lied on her funeral stone. Of course; They wouldn't move her until morning. From what it looked like, the mermen had finished writing the death runes on her arms and all the mermaids have left shells on her chest and midsection. Well, all the mermaids but me. I still had my shell.
The belly button (and the space around it) was a reserved spot where the mate of a fallen merperson would place a shell, regardless of their gender. Uah's belly button was uncovered. Me and Uah were together, at least as together as thirteen year old mermaids could be. I placed my shell, a white slipper snail shell, perfectly center above her navel.
"Sleep well," I whispered. "Inyanga ibe nawe."
I can no longer be here. I thought. I can't be near Opi. Everything here is a reminder of Uah.
I chose to swim away. I swam, and swam, and swam.
I don't know how long I swam. Hours? Days? Was I sleeping a second ago? I didn't stop until I reached... the end of the ocean. The water got shallower and shallower until it was just sand. To my left I saw something I've never seen before. There were several large pillars holding up a platform of sorts. The word 'pier' came to mind, though I wasn't entirely sure what it meant.
I swam closer to the structure, curious. I could see that something was on the pier, moving. A large fish? I wondered. But fish die out of water. I got even closer. I could see the figure better now. It looked like a merman, maybe a mermaid.
I was now right next to the strange structure. I reached up, out of the water to grab hold of the "pier" or whatever it was. I hoisted myself up, my whole body. I was about to address the merperson who faced away from me when I noticed it. They didn't have a tail. A human! My brain screamed.
The human was turning around. I quickly jumped -more like fell- into the water and flicked my tail, which sent a lot of water up onto the pier. If she saw me, hopefully she'd think I was a dolphin or something. I scoffed. A dolphin. Why is that even a thing? Mermaids and dolphins? We're nothing alike! They're mammals, for one thing.
To be honest I don't understand why we hide from humans. However, I'm sure there's a good reason. I decided to keep an eye on the human, to see what they are like.
POV- Havilyn
The beach is a wonderful place to get away, or it was at least the farthest I could get away from my family. I'm so sick of them, not that I ever actually enjoyed their company.
This part of the beach was void of people today. I put my green ear buds in as I walked across the sand towards the pier I always dive off of. I was wearing my red one-piece. I also wore jean shorts and a white cotton shirt and a blue jacket. I was barefoot, of course. I love the feel of sand, even if it was a little hot. I used a pink hair band to keep my black hair in a pony tail.
I stood on the pier looking north, spending several minutes just watching the waves crash. After several minutes, I heard a splash behind me. Before I could turn around, a whole bunch of water crashed onto me. What the hell? I thought.
I looked around but no one else was on the pier. Then I investigated the other side of the pier. Treading in the water was a redhead girl with a cute little button nose. Did I just admire a girl's nose? I wondered.
I could only see the girl's head and shoulders. She appeared to be my age. She also looked really nervous, maybe even scared. "Um... hello," I said. For a long tine she just stared at me. Maybe she doesn't speak English. She could be Irish. Is it racist to assume someone's Irish if they're a ginger? Or am I thinking of Scotland? Wow I'm really stupid-
The girl cut me off by saying, "Hello. Who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Havilyn. What about you?" It seemed kinda odd talking to a complete stranger.
POV- Twila
Havilyn. A strange name. I wasn't even sure humans had names. "I'm Twila." I had no idea how to move the conversation forward. What do humans talk about? I made a guess. "You're wet." That's all I could think of. I thought humans didn't swim but she looked pretty wet to me, so...
"Yeah, crazy thing: Someone splashed m-" Havilyn stopped short, a puzzled look on her face. "Are you wearing a tube-top?" She asked.
I had no no idea what she meant. Since she was scowling, I concluded that tube tops are a bad thing in the human world. "No, I'm not," answered, not sure if I should act insulted or something.
"Are you skinny dipping?" She asked, seeming shocked.
Now I felt insulted, even though I didn't quite understand what she meant.. "Well I'm not fat dipping," I defended.
"So you're not naked?"
"Of course not."
"Why don't you come up here then?" Havilyn asked, holding a hand down to me. The girl's dark hair fell in front of her face. I figured the hand was some sort of jesture, like how some mermaids in northern pods do this thing called hand shaking. I lifted my hand up and placed it in hers. Her hands were really soft.
She must be really strong, because a moment later, she yanked me up onto the pier without warning. Apparently that's what the hand was for.
The human girl, Havilyn, stumbled backwards in surprised. "You're a siren," she sputtered. "And you are naked, liar."
