One

The legends say mermaids are cold-hearted, bloodthirsty, hungry creatures of the deep. They will lure you with the faint touch of their hand or the brush of their hair, and you’re never to be seen again. I’d say, what else can you expect from those stuck in a vast body of water, alone and afraid? When the leaves fall, when grass is stiff with ice, they’re searching for nothing in the sea. But even so, as it would make sense, it isn’t true. I knew when I met her, none of it was true. From her three months on land, I received three months in heaven.

My toes sunken in drenched sand, the water washed over me up to my thighs as my ankles entangled themselves with every curve of his legs. My dry hands caressed his sandy hair as her eyes stayed shut to enjoy every moment. The waves grew longer and stronger, dampening more parts of our bodies. The sun was nearly gone, creating a soft, blue glow over the shore. The heat hugged us and the sand blessed us. The ocean warned us before crashing over us with excitement. Everything about the beach was within us.

The touch of our lips and the brushing of our skin. The swift movement of our hands and the desperate breaths from our gasps. The sea and the sand watched as we refused to tear apart. Our fingertips became friends, our waists were family and our lips were close lovers.

Nature watched as we became one.