Mermaid's Tears

Five days before New Year's day, I was crouched in a shadowy corner of an old sea cave.

For all the conventional half-human half-fish drawings, they barely resemble anything human. At best, these creatures look like earless, flat-nosed apes with sturdy, long fish tails. The iridescent scales add a touch of color to these otherwise bland monstrosities. Their torso and arms are covered in short insulating fur. In my opinion, their only charm point lies in their large baby-seal eyes.

My clients, the local fishermen recounted numerous encounters with mermaids, where they had teamed up with dolphins to steal catch from their nets. These mystical pests threatened the local economy, my clients claimed.

On their request, I was here to look into the infestation and deal with it as required.

After extrapolating the approximate location of the attacks from their stories, I searched the nearest caves with suitable habitation conditions for mermaids. On my third try, I located my prey. A family of mermaids were nesting here just as I had suspected.

Mermaid families are matriarchies. The oldest female leads the group, which mostly consists of her female descendants. Her male offspring sometimes stay with the group or swim alone. This common sighting of only females had strengthened the misnomer 'mermaid' as opposed to the correct 'merfolk'.

So far I spotted three females in this group. The eldest was watching over the pups while two other adults returned with food from time to time. I would need to observe them for a few days to be sure of the size and habits of the group.

Once I had all the information, it should be quick work.

*****

Our business was of a hereditary nature. My family had been chasing mermaids for generations, long before the brothers Grimm or any other fairytale collector painted them into words. But most of the common terminology associated with the creatures came from these later writers.

Not all mystic sea creatures are merfolk. Selkies? Check. Kelpies? Weird but just another variant. Sirens? They are birds with the heads of women. Dugongs? Those are ordinary mammals, get your animal facts checked. Alright! Moving on.

*****

I started when I was fourteen. Thirty years later, I still love the thrill.

Of course, subduing them is the tricky part.

Traditional methods used minnows or other fish baits to lure in and capture the whole group. These days even these deep sea fish-lovers were catching up on the news. Luring them out with fish was impossible. If an adult mermaid saw a heap of dead fish outside the cave, she just swam the other way, tugging her young ones after her.

I mean, sure you would be suspicious too if you opened your door to find a dozen pizzas sitting on your porch. Would you avoid it? Maybe for a bit. But, surely, you would try one? Curiosity. That's human nature. These merfolk on the other hand, they seemed adaptable, almost as if they learned from their past mistakes.

Not relatable, I know.

*****

I on the other hand, intended to use my family tactic. 

The young are easier to trick. I would offer one a snack or shells when mom's not looking and bam! One merchild in my bag. Works best when the pups are at adolescence - 'merteens' are recklessly curious.

In this current school, the pups were toddlers, probably six at most(they mature slowly and live twice as long as the average human). One of them looked restless. I marked her as my target and prepared to watch for the next couple of days.