A book of fantasy

An old man's tale

An older man, in his 50's sits at the edge of a rocky beach. His days shown on his worn face, painful memories crisp in his eyes. Memories of beasts and monsters clinging to him like a spider in a web. Yet, his eyes hold a sparkle. A sparkle of dreams and happiness. But as the water crashes violently against the rocks, flashing on the past haunts him. The sound of soft singing in the distance as he is dragged into the past.

Henry was never popular among his town. He was shabby looking and poor. One day he follows the merchant's son and his crowd to the shore. They didn't invite him, but Henry hoped they would talk to him or at least notice him.

But Henry wasn't here for them. There had been a young woman hanging out with them. Her hair dark as the night. Eyes so blue the turquoise ocean was jealous. She sits with them on the rocks, where soft pearl white sand meets the sharp black rocks. Henry watches, memorized by her. The womans  dark blue eyes meeting his causing his heart to skip a beat. Her eyes, filled with pain.

"Hey, what are yer doin' here?" The merchant's son says. His blonde hair soaked from the water's touch, eyes dark and grey. His friends turned to meet Henry's gaze. Henry steps back, his fixation broken.  Trevon, the Merchant's son walks up to Henry, way too close for his liking.

"I said, what are yer doin' here?" Henry blinks away. Escaping from his mind into the present. The Merchant pushes him down. Hentry falls, his head nearly missing a rock. He climbs backwards from Treven before pulling himself up.
"I just came here, you don't own this beach" He says, feeling confident watching the woman shy away from one of the men's touch. Despite her shyness, something tells Henry she is far more capable than she looks.

"Yer wrong there chap, this here is our beach" Henry's breath fastens. He raises his hand in a first shape and pushes Treven. Blood runs from the merchant's nose. Trevon lets out a chuckle, smiling at Henry.

"Yer want her? Have her, see if yer can handle her" Trevon calls his friends away and they leave the beach, leaving only Henry and the woman. Fear glazes her eyes as he steps slowly towards her. Feeling boil inside him, like a rabbit in a stew.

"Hey... it's okay, what's your name?" The woman doesn't answer. She shakes her head, afraid to speak. Henry softly grabs her hand and leads her away from the rocky shore. He pulls out a journal and a pen for her. She looks at him, confused. He writes in the notebook, scribbling the words; can you write?

The woman hesitantly grabs the journal and pen from him. She writes the name, Cordelia. He gives her a soft smile and takes the journal back and writes his name on the paper. She offers him a soft smile. "Where is your home?" He asks and writes it down.

A tear falls down her cheek at the words on the paper. She glances out in the ocean and writes the word down, Ocean. Henry looks to the violent water splashing against the rocks. Out the the ocean, he watches something splash out there. "Go" He tells her. Her eyes meet his.

"Go" He says again, this time writing it in the journal. She looks out to the water, seeing the splashing out in the ocean. A smile lifts her face. She turns to him excitedly and takes off gold pendant with a dark blue gem in it. She writes in the journal, For you.

She motions for him to turn around and he does. She places the blue gem on his neck. He faces her, her eyes now bright. The splashing got closer and with that, beautiful singing from the sea. She stands up and grabs his hand, leading him to the water. "Thank you" Her voice his soft, as beautiful as the calling from the ocean. His eyes look to her in confusion but also knowing what is out there. She pulls him in and gives him a soft kiss on his cheek.

Cordelia steps into the water and slowly walks deeper and deeper till she disappears. A shape of a mermaid under the water's surface swims away from the shore. His eyes fill with tears as he watches her.

Henry feels a presence behind him. "Where is she?" Trevon shouts, his face bruised. Henry blinks away his tears and looks to him and points out to the ocean. Trevon pushes Henry into the rocks, blood runs from the boys skull as the life flickers in Henry's eyes. Trevon backs up in horror at what he did and runs home. The next day Henry's body was gone.

The old man pulls out the journal of the poor boy he killed. He lets out a hoarse cough. Opening the journal for the first time he reads the words of the siren and the farmer's son. He looks out to the ocean knowing where Henry went. "I'm sorry" He says to the water as he listens to two voices. One feminine and one masculine.