Cursed to the Sea

Long Lost Love

I began to swim away, there was no use in staying.  Pirates were ruthless and had kidnapped children and stolen from our village a plethora of times.  I lifted my tail, but realized it was caught in a bit of fishing net.

"No," I whispered urgently and tried to pull away, but the netting pressed down tightly on my fins, making me forced to stay put and hope the netting would widen before a pirate caught sight of me.

"Bring the nets up!"  I heard someone call and tried to push away in order to free myself, but it was no use.  The tangled nets had trapped me.

"Hey!  There's someone in the net!"  The pirate with no teeth called and struggled to raise the nets with the extra weight.  The pirates had clustered around in circles once the nets were let go of and I fell onto the floor. I was helpless, there was nothing I could do to escape at this point.

"What's going on out there!?"  A deep husky voice asked as a boy about my age pushed aside his crewmates.  He froze when he saw me, his jade green eyes widening.  The captain pushed forward as well and pulled aside the boy.

"A mermaid, eh?"  He raised a bushy eyebrow and grabbed a knife from his belt loop before stabbing it down on my fins.  I screamed in agony as blood seeped out around the knife.

"Please don't hurt her!"  The boy yelled, but the captain grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Who are you tellin' me what to do!?"  he snapped and threw him to the side.  The crew members whispered amongst themselves, some just staring at me.

"She's a beauty," one announced.  The captain shot the pirate who had spoken a poisonous glare.

"Any of you say a word and you won't see the light of day," the captain hissed and grabbed his knife.  "We've been needin' a mermaid, it's your lucky day girl," his bony fingers lifted my chin.  "Tie 'er up and prepare 'er quarters,'' he said with a smirk as a group of crew members stepped forward and tied my wrists tightly with rope.

"You get her," one of the men who had tied me up whispered to others.

"No way, I hear these things have fangs, could rip us to shreds!"

"I'll get her," the boy stepped forward and cleared his throat.  "Since neither of you guppies can touch a rope for fear of a burn," he said with an eyeroll and took me in his arms.

"Let me go," I shrieked and pounded my fists against his chest.  My tailfin slapped one of the other pirates in the face and he crumpled to the floor of the deck, a small victory.  The boy was completely unphased and didn't speak a word, just carried me into the lower decks and placed me in a glass coffin full of water.  He watched longingly as the others secured the lid to the top and hastily shuffled out of the cabin.

I pressed my fingertips to the glass and watched as the boy climbed back up the the upper decks.  Once the hatch closed, everything went completely pitch black.

_________________

"Dinner!"  The pirate kicked the case, making me wake as he opened the top and dropped in a mackerel that had been caught in the nets with me..  I took in a long breath of oxygen before the pirate slammed down the top and twisted the key while cackling.

I pulled my tail away from where the dead fish had fallen until my fins wrapped around my torso.  I stared at it in horror for a moment before picking off the seaweed and taking a bite of the salty seagrass.

"I've come to take your place," I looked up to see the boy had come down once again.

"I've been told to guard 'ere till day."  The pirate protested without much enthusiasm.

"Captain changed his mind, he needed to speak with you anyways," I could tell the boy was lying.  I watched as the guard hurried away, leaving the boy and I alone.

"I know who you are you know," he pressed his fingers against mine that were pressed to the glass.  I pulled away, unable to speak.

"The whole town had thought you had disappeared, but I guess this happened."

"I nearly died, I was turned into this to stay alive," I gestured towards my tail.  He frowned in disbelief.

"I see."

Both of us sat in silence until he finally spoke up again.

"I missed you, Syrena..."  I looked away from him in disgrace.

"I doubt it."

"I did."  he slid a knife from his belt and used it to pry open the lid.  I pulled up once it budged open and breathed in heavily.

"Thank you," I panted.  He stared at me and used his hand to pull a loose curl behind my ear.  The memories of before the curse came back to haunt me as we sat there in silence.

"Why are you here?"  I asked him.

"I was kidnapped, three years after you disappeared.  It was night when the pirates invaded, they took everything.  I had escaped during a gala to sit by the banks when I was grabbed by two of them.  They were going to kill me but instead their captain wanted me to become one of them.  I've been stuck here ever since."  He sighed.

"Will..."  Saying his name felt strange.  "Your mother thinks you dead," I said gingerly. 

"It's better that way.  I'm nothing but a disgrace."  I was taken aback by his comment and sank back down towards the bottom of the coffin.  I decided to tell him about the fate of his father later on when the time was right.

"You filthy liar!"  The guard from before pounded down the stairs and grabbed Will by the collar of his shirt.  "Pull that shit again and I'll have you locked up a case of your very own," he snarled and pushed Will towards the wall.  He slammed against it and I gasped before reaching towards him but my fingertips met the glass.

Will did not say a word, only picked himself up, dusted himself off, and hauled himself back up to the upper deck.