Six Feet Under [Joshler]

One 🧜🏻‍♂️

Mrs. Laura Dun pulled up in her car, finally back from her trip. She had just visited Copenhagen and it was a wonderful sight to see. It was also home to the stories of Hans Christian Andersen, which was one of her favorite authors.

Her nurse maid came out to greet her when she started getting her bags.

"Mrs. Dun, it's good to see you again."

"Thank you, Maria."

"Your son is doing well, if you were wondering."

Mrs. Laura lowered her head in disappointment.

"And I thought he wouldn't be."

Mrs. Laura was a mother to 4 children, but her youngest son, Joshua Dun, was the most unrecognized child.

He was born with Sirenomelia, which is a rare syndrome that completely fuses the lower legs together, making it look like a fish tail.

It can also be referred to as mermaid syndrome.

Mrs. Laura gave birth to Josh in her bathtub. She liked the idea of a water birth, but the process was extremely painful.

It felt like a snake was slithering through her body, and when the boy came out, it was a frightening sight.

Josh had blue scales across his chest and back, and his legs were tied together, but they weren't real legs.

The boy had a real fish tail.

Mrs. Laura was frightened, and the boy stopped breathing. Maria saw the umbilical cord was tied around his neck, so she cut it off him before he could suffocate, but Josh still wasn't able to breathe.

Maria poured cold water onto him, and he started to breathe again.

Mrs. Laura didn't want to believe it, but she saw that her son was truly a merman.

When Josh turned 4 years old, his mother took him out to the beach near her home, and she placed him in a sea cove by the ocean, where no one would ever find him.

Mrs. Laura couldn't bare the thought of anyone seeing her child as a merman.

9 years have passed, and Josh was 15 years old. Mrs. Laura has left full responsibility to Maria in keeping the family secret. She was ashamed of keeping her son alive, but she has grown to accept the truth.

Josh was a merman, and he would never be a human.

Mrs. Laura Dun visited her son every evening before sundown, but when she was at Copenhagen, Maria would visit him.

When she arrived at the cove, she was greeted by her son, popping out of the water when he saw her reflection.

"Hi, mother!"

Mrs. Laura grinned, and waved.

"Hello, my son."

"I was exploring the sea, and I found something!"

Josh took out a fork. Mrs. Laura wasn't surprised.

"What is it, mother?"

"It's a dinglehopper, my son."

The boy didn't know life in the human world, so he didn't know what the fork really was.

"What does it do?"

"You use it to comb your hair."

Mrs. Laura demonstrated by brushing her own hair with the fork, then handed it to her son, who combed his hair.

"Wow, mother, that is so cool!"

Mrs. Laura grinned.

"I'm glad."

She patted her son on the head.

"I must go now, you stay here, and sleep well."

"Mother, when can I come see you?"

Mrs. Laura stood up.

"My son, I've told you this before, you must never leave this cove."

"But, mother, you're a human, and I'm a merman. I want to see how you guys live, and maybe someday, I can be a human too."

"Joshua, mermaids and mermen can never be like us. You are a merman and you'll always be a merman."

Mrs. Laura left the cove, leaving her son all alone.

Josh looked up to the sky, seeing the sun glowing beyond the sea, which made his tail glow.

Of course, Josh was beautiful as a merman, but he longed to be like his mother, and become human himself.

But he believed his wish would never come true.