Song of the Sea

Nightmares and Sisters

"What the hell was that?" I ask no one in particular.

"Myra. What happened? Are you okay?" Henry sounds concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lie. "Just a bad dream." I end it with a chuckle and turn away. What was that? Who.. who's my dad? And why did he ki- kill me and Henry. It's just a dream. Right?

"Do you want to talk about it?" I hear him say. I turn slowly to him. "Maybe in the morning. We need sleep. Goodnight."

I lay back down. What was that? My dad has been missing ever since I was born. I play over the events in my head.

"Don't hurt him, please! He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Myra! You know better! He's an abomination and needs to go! You know this!"

"Dad! Please! It's not his fault!" Tears are mixing into the salt water. "Henry is innocent! Don't you understand?" I hear Henry's scream, and it's joined with my own.

"Henry! NO! You.. heartless... ruthless monster!"

"Myra, you know it's for the best. He was the monster. But you are too. I'm sorry sweetheart."

"No! Don't touch me! You wouldn't kill your own daught-"

I lay on my side, replaying it over and over in my head. Do... Do I care for Henry? Is that why I got so upset? Surely it's just a dream. Nothing's real in a dream. Nothing at all.

I curl up and fall into a very uneasy sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

It's morning and Henry keeps stealing glances at me after we get ours and the shark's breakfast.

"Henry, I'm fine, trust me. Don't worry about me, okay?" He nods, but sure enough, he keeps worrying.

We travel for about five hours with no rest. I keep telling myself, "The further we go now, the less we have to go later." I repeat that over and over, and I think I might have said it out loud a couple times.

Henry breaks the awkward silence. "I don't mean to prod, but you seem troubled. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

I think for a moment. Do I want to tell him? Maybe it'll just make things more awkward. I think he's already forgotten that he was human. I've read that that happens when a human turns into a Siren. They still have all their memories, but the fact that they were once human has been stored in the deepest, darkest part of their minds.

But I also know that he cares about me, even as much as I want to deny it. I decide to tell him about it. We're in a clearing, but no one, nor nothing is around us.

He listens intently, clinging on to every word.

"So, you don't know who your dad is? And he just ups and kills me and you?" I nod. He swims over to me and pulls me into a tight embrace. I've never been hugged before. Not like this. I pull myself closer to him, and I'm so close I can hear his heart. His fins wrap around mine, and I don't think it was intentional. Time stops again. We're the only two people in the world.

A voice in the back of my head says, "Don't get attached. He's like all the other men. Haven't you learned? He's just going to hurt you. Like everyone else."

I tell that voice to shut the hell up.

~~~~~~

After hours of swimming, we come to another wreck.

"It's a tad bit safer than the Kelp." I mutter. We set up makeshift beds, but I sit by a very broken window, watching the different kinds of fish swim past. Henry sits down next to me.