Infatuation of a Merman

Chapter 2-Humanity

It was cold.

I woke up to ice licking at my skin, causing me to shiver like a traitor about to be executed. Wet clothes stuck to my body like a second skin, or a persistent grudge. I curled up into a ball, shifting the small grains I laid on in the process.

I opened my eyes and was greeted with a blanket of darkness, pure and impermeable in its color. I half expected to regain consciousness in the restraining arms of the merman, like the other three times I woke up. Although on the third time the merman had shoved seaweed down my throat, which I had regrettably swallowed, instead of doing that strange chokehold. So perhaps that had something to do with it.

Using a shaking arm I pushed myself into a sitting position. But then I froze. Illuminating the sand four feet away from me was a small, round light. And right in front of it was the most ferocious, disgusting fish I had ever seen.

The fish's antenna stretched forth and was attached to the light, illuminating its ugly features. Its needlelike teeth were so long that I doubted it could close its jaw. Black, beady eyes glittered with reflected light yet stayed unmoving, like the eyes of the dead rats at home.

I shuffled back, trying to put as much distant as possible between the scary looking fish and me. My back slammed into something solid, causing me to yelp in surprise. There was a splash. I snapped my head toward the sound and saw the most surreal scene ever.

Sand branched off into a shallow ocean. The water was so calm it could have been frozen in place. Thousands of small lights littered the edges of the water, as if they were blue, drowning fireflies sprinkling the waters with light. Deeper into the ocean were tens of glowing fish. Some looked familiar such as the jellyfish, but there were also others with seemingly transparent skin and glowing skeletons.

And there, lying down in the water was the merman. I attempted to crawl away from him, but only succeeded in pushing my back further into what I assumed to be a rock.

His head was tilted back, and although he didn't smile, his eyes carefully watched me, observing my every movement. I brought my knees in front of me and wrapped my arms around them. I was shaking, and it wasn't just because of the cold.

The merman lifted his tail out of the water. Lights from the fish reflected off his white scales, making it look as though the sun was shinning on it. He submerged his tail with a loud splash before looking away from me. And without one threatening remark, he turned his body toward the heart of the water source and dove down with one graceful flick of his tail.

I waited for him to resurface, for him to come back and eat me. But his figure didn't reappear, and the cold was starting to take its toll on me. I looked around, searching for something warm.

Vines clung to the walls, twirling around like spider webs frozen in mid dance. Their thinly ends clawed for the glowing fish that shone like dark faeries, mocking me about a sun I may never see again. The taunting light illuminated jagged rocks that grew from the ground like teeth, ready to snap closed when my guard was down.

Then I saw it. On the sand surrounded by three glowing fish was a disordered pile of blankets and clothes.

I tried to stand up but my knees kept wobbling and I crashed back down onto the sand. So instead I crawled toward the pile, the sand sticking to my soaked dress and hands.

When I reached the heap of items, I abandoned all sense of elegance and savagely dug through the pile. There were quite a few random miscellaneous items, such as a pot, pen and plate. I scattered those useless items away and instead aimed for the dry cloth, blankets and box of matches.

Once I had collected my loot I ventured deeper into the cave. It was dark and my bare feet stepped on unseen, sharp rocks every now and then but still I trekked forward. That is until I bumped into the cave wall.