The Real Mermaid

~~~One~~~

Nya scooped her things hastily off the table the moment the short applause from the handful of people gathered in the library died down, slipping her thick notebook and phone in her bag.

She had precisely twenty minutes to get to the hospital where she, a biology student, worked as a nurse to gain some extra knowledge and experience, and, more than anything, the possibility to satiate her curiosity.

Curiosity, which had tripled since the book whose presentation in the local library just ended had been published, the book that seemed to confirm what she had known, had felt for so long. A theory which she, a future biologist, had never been brave enough to put into words for fear that her fellow students, professors, and even the doctor she worked with, her Liam, would laugh at her.

But now she had proof.
Finally, fossil evidence supporting the controversial hypothesis was found.

Clutching her copy of The Seaside Simian to her chest, Nya walked as quickly as she could through the room crowded with bookshelves and students, then outside the building, into the cool, rainy afternoon. She slipped the book inside her bag to protect it from rain as she crossed the busy road towards the bus stop, not bothering with her umbrella, turning her face toward the sky instead. She didn't mind the rain; she loved water in any form. Gosh, she missed the sea so much, she mused, sighing as the bus that would take her to the hospital appeared at the bottom of the road.

"I don't understand what you find so fascinating about surfer's ear..." Liam said, drawing her close to him during the brief break before she would call his next patient in, his arm wrapped around her from behind, his lips teasing her earlobe making her want to melt into him.

He was so... gentle and persistent and persuasive... It had been months since he started to look determined to wish to change their relationship into something more; she could almost sense the engagement ring weighing down the pocket of his shirt. He was just waiting for the slightest sign of encouragement from her. But Nya wasn't ready, and she was afraid that she would never be. It seemed to her that her feelings for Liam couldn't grow anymore, and yet, what she was feeling for him just... didn't seem enough. She had always thought that once she fell in love, really fell in love, it would all feel different, somehow more than this... But despite her expectations, she could feel her defences slipping away slowly.

"I told you," she said, turning to face him, "in the Seaside Simian... there's evidence..."

"Oh Nya," he said, cupping her face in his large, warm hands, kissing her, "for such an intelligent, wonderful nurse, you are such a dreamer."

She bit her tongue and freed herself from his embrace, heading for the door to the waiting room. She liked and respected Liam too much; there was no point in arguing about something they had already spoken of one too many times.

But she couldn't help saying, "Why are you all so... stubbornly blind. If you accept the savanna theory so easily, why don't you see that there just might have been an aquatic phase in our evolution, too? That we live on terra firma now does not mean it always was or will be so, or that... a group of our ancestors did not leave the firm ground for good and evolved to live under the water? The oceans are great, unfathomable. What if some cousins of our species... You know well that Homo sapiens are different from other primates and similar to some aquatic mammals. Why did we lose our fur? Why are we so nimble in the water, when our supposedly closest relatives, the chimpanzees, can't swim and drown quickly?"

"Nya, it's all indirect evidence. That theory has no solid support." He sighed, then added slowly, pronouncing each word clearly, patiently, "Mermaids do not exist."

"But how do you explain surfer's ear?"

She had seen too many cases of aural exostoses-- small bones growing in the outer ear canal of humans who swim and dive regularly, its size and extent being directly dependent on the frequency and length of exposure to water, as well as its temperature. Recently, these features had been found in two million-year-old hominin skulls. About forty-seven percent of some twenty Neanderthal skulls had exostoses, The Seaside Simian claimed. To Nya, this was the prime support for an aquatic phase of human evolution. And what if some humans just evolved this way entirely and lived in the oceans still now?

She had some... memories...

But if Liam could not trust facts, he would never believe what she had seen years ago. There was no persuading him. Well, they didn't have to agree about everything, she told herself for the umpteenth time. They still had too much to learn about each other, to accept and respect their differences rather than dispute over what they never would agree about.

"Oh, did I tell you that Eliot invited us to spend this weekend at his place, playing golf with him and Mara?" he asked, changing the unsafe subject unexpectedly, even as her hand touched the door handle.

He hadn't told her. This was supposed to be the first weekend she agreed they would spend entirely together. And she had forgotten to tell him that she wanted him to come with her to the small seaside town where she had grown up and lived until her parents had died. Her grandmother still lived there, and lately Nya had been so busy with school and work that she hadn't been home in months. She was hoping to introduce Liam to her Grandma this weekend, finally.

Well, maybe it was too early. She still wasn't sure what Liam meant to her, exactly. What she knew, though, was that it would be her birthday on Saturday, and she did not wish to spend it on a golf course, walking behind Liam and his friend from hole to hole. She missed the sea too much. She was going home, with or without him.

Nya brought her hand to her ear, letting her fingertips explore. Since she lived in the city, far from the sea, her own exostoses, always carefully hidden beneath her thick, long, strawberry blonde hair, had become less pronounced, nearly invisible. But her pull for the sea was as strong as ever.

"You go play golf with Eliot, and I'll go to visit Grandma alone. I have already promised that I'd come this weekend," she said.

He looked at her incredulously. "But it's our first proper, long weekend, and your birthday is on Saturday..."

Exactly. And she yearned to spend her birthday doing what she loved-- strolling along the endless beach, swimming in the Channel. Sitting on the seabed, in the cool, turquoise water for impossibly long. Just like before.

"I want to go to the beach, Liam. I thought you would come with me..."

"I've already promised, Nya, I'm really sorry." He apologized, the usual, perfect gentleman, taking all the blame for the misunderstanding.

She sighed, feeling sorry too. "So did I. Grandma is waiting for me. I promise I'll call you every day. And we'll see each other on Monday."

She ran back to him and bestowed a quick kiss on his cheek as she saw the disappointment in his eyes, then finally opened the door for the next patient.

"I'll drive you at least," he mouthed.

She rolled her eyes at him, as his words reminded her about how useless and clumsy she was in so many things other people handled without difficulty-- not being able to learn to drive was just the tip of the iceberg. At least she was good at her job, she thought, smiling at her patient.

"No, thank you," she whispered to Liam. "I'll take a train. I don't want you to start your weekend by getting stuck for hours in a traffic jam."