Summary!
Someone had told her that she had died long ago. But did they expect her to believe that? Someone had told her, that when children drowned in the ocean... They turned into mermaids. The only catch was, that you forgot everyone and everything from your human life... When you became a child of the sea.
Had she been human at one point? Everyone told her that she had. But she didn't know what to beleive. She'd been swimming as a child, they had told her, she had been around the age of 7 or 8 years old, with a pale pink bathing suit and her hair tied up in a pair of twin braids that sat on her shoulders. She had swam a ways away from her family, when the tide started getting violent and Lili was swooped off to sea. If she could remember what it was like to be human she would remember the fear that weighed her down like lead when the sea rumbled and swayed around her. She would remember the biter sea salt that filled her lungs, burned her throat and clouded her vision.
She would remember the fear... And what it's like to die.
But luckily, a Merboy had been swimming nearby and had heard the commotion the young girl was making. And he saved her, by turning her into her a mermaid. A creature of the sea that dies when the ocean does, and swims with the under the moonlight ocean and frisky Dolphins. And she was grateful, and would forever be in debt to her savior and best friend, Vash Zwigili. She didn't resent him for making her a mermaid. Lili thought she preferred being a mermaid. They were graceful and beautiful, unlike the two legged humans who trudged through the surface splashing about noisily and clumsily. Lili preferred being a mermaid than being a human any day. At least she thought she did.
I yawned as I sat up in bed. What was making all that noise? I swam out of my bedroom in search of the origin of the noise that had woken me. I swam around the the home until I found the source of the ruckus. It was coming from the kitchen, so naturally I went to investigate. I slowly swam in small strokes towards the noise. Slowly... Slowly...- Vash? I stopped. Phew. The noise was just Vash. I sighed in relief and swam away. My big brother was always up to something. Whether it was fixing something, making something or whatever it was. He was always working on a project of some sorts. But then I remembered something I wanted to remind Vash about. I had decided a few weeks ago, and I had talked to my big brother about this beforehand, and after weeks of pleading and dropping subtle tints. I told him what it was that I wanted. I wanted to swim to the surface... Alone.
And he had finally agreed.
Usually I would go with my brother, or with a group of friends. My brother claimed to not trust me enough to let me swim to the surface alone or that it was too dangerous. But I know the real reason is because he doesn't like the fact that I'm growing up so fast. Everytime I tried to talk to him about teenager things, like dating or things like that, he would always get this weird uncomfortable look on his face. Like if he had just eaten some rotten kelp.
But anyways. Today was the day. Today was the day I would finally feel the warm rays of the sun on my skin. All by myself. And I could stay up there under the sun as long as I wanted.
I swam back up to my room. I picked up my comb, cimbed it through my short hair. I had cut it soon after my big brother had rescued me. I had cut it to look like him. I quickly finished combing my hair, and swam down the stairs.
Vash was still in the kitchen, but he wasn't making any noise anymore. In fact, he saw calling me.
"Lili can you come in here for a moment?" I heard his voice request, as I begrudgingly complied.
What could that mean? Did he change his mind!?
I slowly approached him.
"Hello Lili." He greeted me, in his usual monotonous voice.
"Hi, big brother." I said back. Hoping my worry didn't seep into my words.
I hope he didn't change his mind about letting me go to the surface by myself!
"So Lili, do you still want to go up?" He asked casually, using the slang term "up".
I looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping, wishing and silently praying that he didn't change his mind. I had waited so long for this. My heart swelled at the thought of the surface. The birds, the clouds and the breeze. The way the sun made the ocean glisten and shimmer. The rippled waves that hugged my body from all around... Oh, I loved the surface so much.
"Yes." I answered his question with the truth. Yes. Yes, I still wanted to go up.
"Then go." He replied. A small smile on his face as he looked away from me and back at whatever he was working on.
"Oh, thank you so much!" I replied as I huged his back. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
"You're welcome." He replied back. "Just be careful. I've heard stories of mermaids and mermen that go to the surface and come back... And they're not the same. It's like they're broken."
I fell silent and as an eeriy silence came over us.
"I'm just kidding." He laughed back, a coy smiled painted on his lips.
"Stop trying to scare me!" I laughed back, as I swam out of the room and towards the front door.
"Be careful!" He called as I shut the door behind me.
I swam up the hill in the park and stared up at it. At the surface. It was night time, and I could see an orb shining overhead. An orb that I'd heard somepeople referrer to as "The Moon". I stared up at it in awe of its beauty. It looked like it was a big pearl dangling from an invisible thread. Maybe, if I swam to the suface... I could touch it. I hurried up and broke the surface. And it was everything I remebered it to be. It was bliss. I looked up expecting the so called "Moon" to be about an arm legth away... But it wasn't. It was still unreachable. I stared at the moon and its friends all lighting up the water in a way I'd never seen it shine before. It was terrifyingly beautiful and chilled me in a good way. My neckhairs stood on edge as I stared around me taking the pulchritude sight. My senses felt attack but it was enticing to feel this way. The surface was pure artistry, especially at night. I sighed as I looked around taking it all in one last time before I had to go back down. Whenever we went to the surface, we were only allowed a few minutes a day in case a human saw us. There were myths that a mermaid fell in love with a human once and she gave up her tail to be with him. In fact she gave up more than just her tail. She gave up everything. Her status, her family... The ocean. She gave it all up for love... But in my opinion that sounds ridiculous. How could anyone fall in love with a human? I understand that at somepoint I had once had two legs, and it's kind of hypocritical of me to say that humans are these hideous creatures, but those legs I once had, they're gone now and all I need now is the comfort of the passing waves and the endless turmoil of the sea.
I sighed as the waves rocked my body to and fro. I closed my eyes and let water tug my down yet lift me up. Then I heard a yell. It sounded like a girl. I sat up pushing the hair out of my face as I looked around at th barren waters- Then I heard it again. I pierced the silence, sending a ripple of adrenaline and fear through me with every knot it traveled.
It was coming from the shore.