Fins (A Siren Fanfiction)

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Bristol Cove 1868

Upon the shore, the waves dance, sending forth that quiet lullaby, the harmony of the violent water, and a repeated echo that stirs an unending want and need. Upon the beach, I sit and listen, the cadence and rhythm of the vast, unknown deep and what the ocean shall gift from a majestic enigma. Upon the moon, it touches the night sky, shimmering in a dark pool of stars and glittering mystery, allowing the sea form to vanish over the horizon.

Closing my eyes, I pull my knees in, my bare feet touching the softness of the sand, cushioning my naked soles like fine, cotton linens. My toes dig into the gravel, experiencing the joyous, cool minerals as a cold breeze blows past me gifted from the incoming tide. Patiently, I wait and then it comes. The song.

It holds, bringing with it comfort, warmth, familiarity. Gently, the music paces slow, beckons for a welcoming embrace, pleads for me to follow. I willingly submit. It entwines, strokes my innermost desires, luring me toward the rolling tide. Standing, I begin to approach, to appease my curiosity. Ice cold water splashes across my toes, soaking my feet, my ankles. Already, goosebumps form causing me to shiver, but I don't heed the warnings. The song orders me. Instructs me, to dive, to swim. To be one with the vast mystery and obey the music's command.

I do. I am close, dipping my hands, beneath the shallow water.

Then nothing. The music disappears: the song gradually quiets, until I hear no more. And I am left standing, soaked, in frigid night water, shaking, wrapping myself to combat the cold.

Stomping back to shore, splashing with each step, I drench the bottoms of my trousers the moment I touch the sand. My knees drop, making an indentation in the gravel as my body shifts to stare out into the ocean. It is there that I see it. The shadowy movements of a big fish illuminated by the moonlight. It splashes back to the deep, reclaiming its song with it. Back to the unknown, dark depths below.

Exhaling a breath, I pick up my ragged boots and get up. Wonder and sadness drift across my face as I turn and head back to town.