I Saw You In The Water [Joshler]

Three 🐚

Tyler stared at the creature with wide eyes. The creature struggled under the restraints but his tail and arms were tangled in the net not letting them move. Tyler watched the creature struggle, it's teal scales glistened in the moonlight shifting from aqua to turquoise to blue in seconds. Tyler got hypnotized by the shifting of the creature's scales. It was so beautiful, Tyler had never seen scales like this before. The tail was long, smooth, the fins were spread wide. The fins reminded Tyler of betta fish, the tail was as majestic. Tyler's haze wandered up the tail where the thighs were supposed to be and the boy noticed a chunk of scales missing. Instead of majestic glimmering scales, there was a patch missing, a deep wound gaped in that area and it was bleeding pretty bad. The creature's skin was glimmering in the light like he applied highlighter to all of his body, even his blood was glittery. 

At first, Tyler's first thought was that it's a mermaid but the creature was clearly male. Tyler couldn't see his face but the way his body was built the boy saw that it as a man. He had wide shoulders, toned chest and arms. His skin at some places was covered by the same scales he had on the tail but they have scattered all around the merman's milky skin. They looked like little gems. Tyler was so amazed by the beauty of the merman's tail that he accidentally slipped and almost fell making a lot of noise. His hand gripped the wet rocks trying to regain balance but the boy fell anyway. He gritted his teeth when he felt a sharp pain on his left shoulder. Tyler cursed under his breath and lifted his leg up. The creature had stopped squirming and now was staring at Tyler with wide eyes. 

The boy slowly got up, the merman squirmed a little bit trying to slide back into the water but he was so tangled in the fishnet that moving was almost impossible. The net had clung onto edges of the rocks, the more the merman squirmed the more tangled he got. He splashed his tail around desperately trying to get out. Soft whimpers came out of his mouth as Tyler slowly approached the creature. Tyler's legs trembled, he didn't know if the merman was hostile. Tyler's grandma had told stories that mermaids lured lone sailors out of their ships with their songs, dragged them down to the bottom of the ocean and devoured them. Tyler hoped that this one was friendly. 

The merman stopped squirming completely, Tyler could now see parts of the creatures face under all that seaweed and all kinds of other water plants. Tyler reached for the fishnet with his shaking fingers. He knew that the merman can do nothing to him since his hands were tied up but the boy was still afraid. It's not every day that you meet a creature that exists only in mythology. Tyler has heard that mermaids are supposed to be incredibly beautiful, sailors fell in love the moment they saw a face of a mermaid. With their beauty, he creatures seduced the sailors and then killed them. Tyler slowly pulled off the net off the merman's face hoping he doesn't fall in love instantly. 

Tyler gasped out loud. The merman looked at him wide-eyed, he looked scared and angry at the same time. The merman was truly beautiful. His almost shoulder length hair cascaded down in blue curls, Tyler saw a little bit of purple in them. The man's skin was glowing in the light, the way his skin reflected the light was almost blinding sometimes. He had a seashell necklace around his neck. The biggest of the shells was the colour of his hair with tiny golden specks on it. The man blinked rapidly making his long dense lashes flutter. Everything about the creature fascinated Tyler but what left him breathless was the man's eyes. His left eye was sapphire blue mixing beautifully with green undertones, gleaming brighter than the stars above. The merman's right eye was rich soil brown, warm like a cup of coffee, it sparkled like the waving water in the bright moonlight. 

The man opened his rosy pink lips, Tyler was expecting the creature to speak but it let out a hiss allowing a glimpse of his pearly white but pointy almost shark-like teeth. Tyler jumped back, his heart started pounding rapidly against his rib cage. The merman squirmed again, making the boy slowly back away. The creature let out a soft child-like whine after his unsuccessful attempt of freeing himself. 

"It's okay..." Tyler whispered reaching for the creature "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The merman backed away as far away as his restraints let him. His eyes were wide as saucers, they reflected the light of the moon making the stars jealous of the beauty. Tyler slowly inched forward, the creature breathing got heavier, Tyler noticed small gills at the side of the merman's neck. They were opening and closing with each merman's breath. 

"I'm not gonna hurt you." Tyler said calmly as he looked down at the wound on the creature's tail "What's your name?" 

The merman stared into Tyler's eyes not blinking. Tyler bit his lip in frustration, the man was really beautiful but they boy didn't feel like he was in love yet. The feeling he experienced was more like when you're looking at an astonishing piece of art. You just can't move your eyes away from it because the technique is so perfect. 

"Can you speak?" Tyler asked softly

The merman didn't answer. He let out a soft whine when Tyler reached for the net and tried loosening it up for a bit. It was impossible to take it off without anything sharp. Tyler looked around, patted his pockets and decided to go back on the boat for a first aid kit and a knife. 

"Stay here." Tyler said even though the creature wasn't going to move anyway

Tyler quickly found the first aid kit and a knife. When the merman saw the knife he started wiggling his body as much as he could, soft whimpers came out of his mouth and grew in volume the closer Tyler got to him. 

"Shh, it's okay." Tyler cooed "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Tyler extended his arm to cut away the net that was wrapped around the creature's body. The merman closed his eyes and turned his face away. Tyler let out a soft chuckle and began cutting the fishnet little by little, he did it carefully because the boy was afraid of hurting the creature. The merman looked at Tyler curiously. Tyler carefully cut the fishnet till the merman's stomach was free of it. Tyler's eyebrows curved upwards seeing his father's fish hook piercing the skin near the merman's bellybutton. Tyler thought it was weird because fish weren't mammals and didn't have belly buttons. The boy tried taking it out but ended up causing more pain. 

The merman was almost free, Tyler struggled with the ropes that were around the man's wrists. Tyler gently grabbed the merman's hand, it was incredibly smooth. The creature had slightly webbed fingers. The skin between the digits was blue and translucent. The fingers had little scrapes and bruises on them because the creature was struggling before. Tyler was almost finished, he carefully removed cut away the fishnet that was cutting into the creature's skin. 

"You're free now." Tyler said cutting the last piece away and reached for the first aid kit.

The man stared at his tail for a bit and then looked back at the boy. The creature slid off the rocks and disappeared into the water the moment he realized that he's free. 

"Wait!" Tyler tried to stop the merman but almost fell in the water

The boy stared into the rippling water hoping for the man to come back but he was gone for good. Only a small puddle of blood and nail scrapes on the rocks were the evidence that the merman was there.