Short Stories

Superstitions

It all started two weeks ago, when the two young mermaids decided to go and spy on the pirates that were near the coast. They knew how dangerous it was for them to be there, swimming around the ship, trying to catch a glimpse of what those barbarians were up to, and listening in on their conversations. The last one was their favorite one, for they believed humans were always talking about crazy things or exciting adventures.

"What is it today, Rilleta? "Asked young Pearl while peeping through a wooden whole in the pirate ship.

"Well, I've never heard this one before. They're talking about something called Superstitions... It sounds a bit interesting."

Both fishtailed girls leaned towards the two men so as to understand this unknown concept better.

"Ne'er e're break them mirrors, lad! Ye doomed for the worst seven years of yer life!"

"Shiver me timbers! I broke me mirror last night at the poop deck!"

"Aarr you scurvy dog!"

As both mermaids snickered confusingly in the back, they wondered why breaking a mirror was considered bad luck. They kept on listening to the list of superstitions to see if they could get even sillier.

"Aaah ye know. When ye can't sleep, it means somebody's thinkin bout ye."

"Naaa ye must be three sheets to the wind to think such a thing!"

"Oh, but it's true!"

Pearl was hooked on that particular belief. But Rilleta signaled her to go back to the depths of the sea, as they were breaking multiple Poseidon Laws just by being near the brutal sailors. The two best friends couldn't stop joking about their new human discovery, how unbelievably silly it was to them, and how mermaids knew better than to be scared about things like crossing a black furry animal.

As they kept on laughing on their way home, Pearl noticed her boyfriend was hanging out with a friend at their favorite restaurant. A shy smile appeared on her face, since she could tell he was having a nice time with the lady friend that was sitting across from him. They both had just one seaweed salad and two forks. Pearl found that odd but decided to ignore it and keep swimming home. That was until she saw his friend trying to kiss the young merman.

"MARINUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" screamed the betrayed mermaid as her eyes started to tear up.

"WAIT! PEARL!! NO! I CAN EXPLAIN!"

But she didn't let him. The brown-haired girl was too devastated to hear the young man justify his actions. And so, she swam away from the heartbreaker as if she were swimming for her life. Rilleta followed her because she knew her friend would appreciate a friend's comfort in this situation. They arrived at the depressed girl's house and went straight to her coral cave to talk it out.

"We could go and explore more ships! That always seems to cheer you up! Oh! Or maybe we could go down to the coral reef! Not the one we always go to, the other one, the one near the seahorses' nests. Last time I heard, Ara met a guy there. You know, the type of guy that can help you forget about the things that hurt..."

The helpful blonde tried to cheer her dejected friend by suggesting something she had never done. Something that she believed to be the key to moving forward.

"You mean like a... one-time thing?" imposed the sobbing teenager in a breathy voice.

"Exactly. First time for everything right?"

Pearl felt as if an octopus was toying with her heart. The pain on her chest was unbearable and the worst part was not knowing what could make it go away. Maybe a one-night encounter with a stranger? Or perhaps getting lost into her favorite activity? This was her first time getting her heart shattered like that.

"Thanks, Rill. But I think I'm just going to cry it out of my system."

"As you wish! Let me know if you need anything." Added the supportive friend before leaving.

As she laid on her coral cave, tears started to form in her eyes, blurring her eyesight and filling her mind with dark thoughts. Thoughts she believed to be poisonous. But despite that, she didn't stop them. She let them take over, which made her cry her eyes out and then fall into the longest nap she's ever had.

She slept for hours, until the night sky gave darkness to the depths of her home. The bright light of the stars decorated her cave as if she had a hundred fairy lights around her, the nocturnal sea creatures made her feel less alone and the warmth of her seaweed blankets was incomparable. For a moment, such beauty and comfort made her forget about her worries. Staring at the ceiling, she started thinking about Marinus and how happy she once felt with him. How his reddish-brown hair was always an uncontrollable mess and how his contagious laugh was the most annoying yet pleasing sound she could think of in times of unhappiness. She remembered the time when they had a picnic at the coral reef and imitated all the sea creatures they came across. Those memories were the ones responsible for the small smile on her face. And then, the tormenting thoughts came back to haunt her.

"Wasn't I good enough for him? Why would he cheat? When did I go wrong?" were the thoughts that stuck in her mermaid brain for most of the night.

Even thought her thoughts were not optimistic, she had no more tears left to cry. In just a matter of hours, young Pearl had already moved on from her first boyfriend. She understood she was the only one who cared about the relationship and how there was no point in saving it after the incident. Her thoughts kept flowing for hours and hours. She even saw how the color of the ocean changed due to the sun coming out.

"I should sleep a bit... I have an hour before school... I can work with that!" She mumbled to herself as she puffed her pillow and covered herself with her blanket. She closed her eyes and sighed peacefully, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. For she no longer cared about the teenage boy.

An hour and a half later, she met her friend for seaweed tea before going to school. She mentioned how after a long night of self-analyzing everything, she had no more feelings for Marinus and also noted that she would have to pass on her one-night stand offer. They laughed a little and then made their way to the school. Once they arrived, Rilleta pointed out that Marinus was nowhere to be found. Pearl might have acted tough and tried to ignore it, but deep down she cared a little for the guy. Minutes later, while they were in the middle of their Marine Biology class, the door was kicked open quite abruptly by a tired merman. He had bags under his eyes and couldn't stop yawning his way to his desk. As soon as he sat down, he laid down on the small table and used his left hand to support his heavy head.

"What happened to Marinus?" whispered Rilleta to her best friend, who was just as confused as her.

"Care to explain why you are joining us so late, young man?" questioned the teacher, who was a bit annoyed about the young man disrupting her lesson.

"I apologize, Miss! For some bizarre reason, I only got one hour of sleep last night. I was pretty tired! But I kept on tossing and turning without being able to fall asleep!"

Pearl couldn't believe her ears after Marinus' answer. She remembered how she also slept one hour the previous night, and the reason why she didn't sleep more than that. As she covered her mouth in disbelief, she considered herself the first superstitious mermaid in the Northern Atlantic area.