Girl on the Shore
QLFC Round 4 - Creature Comforts
ROUND PROMPT: Each member of the team picked one (no double claims) out of eight creatures listed (dementor, phoenix, centaur, merperson, house-elf, thestral, dragon, and owl) and wrote from the point of view of that chosen creature. I chose to write about a merperson.
A/N: The merperson's name, Leva, comes from the Finnish word levä (literally meaning sea-weed). The poem in the end is "Silent Tears" by Amanda Smith. Thanks to Jordi for betaing. Now I'm ready for the next round! Bring it on!
OPTIONAL PROMPTS:
6. (word) Stygian
8. (dialogue) "Why am I crying? I'm so sick of crying."
10. (setting) lake
They're laughing again, Leva thinks. She shoos away a distracting group of shoaling fish with a strong flick of her tail.
Her eyes narrow as she stares curiously at the group of witches. They are sitting on the shore near the water's edge, and all three of them are very pretty. That's Leva's humble opinion. To be honest, she has never seen an ugly human, but she has heard those exist, too. The Black Lake deepens quickly, making it dangerous for an inexperienced swimmer, so Leva isn't surprised that the witches just dangle their petite non-fins — feet, they call them— in the water.
Leva doesn't swim close to them; not because such thing would be forbidden, but because she wants to observe without being seen. She holds the half of her head over the water's surface, her eyes and skin having a hard time adjusting to the direct sunlight and dry air. Her seaweed-like hair sways slowly afloat, strongly resembling an algae formation and hiding her in the plain sight. Leva breathes bubbles in the water through her nose, concentrating on the words the humans say. Their words travel well across the water. Normally she would listen to them from underneath the surface, but the water muffles their voices.
Leva likes listening to human laughter, mostly because everything else coming from their mouths sounds like unintelligent babbling most of the time. But she also likes the little laughter lines and the way their eyes crinkle. Those things make observing and learning about humans worthwhile.
She understands a little bit of what the humans say. It's a common misconception that merpeople are so proud of Mermish that they haven't bothered to learn other languages. It would be ridiculous if she doesn't understand, especially after living her whole life in the Black Lake, which is practically surrounded by people. Leva doesn't speak human, though. Her tongue just doesn't bend that way, yet. She is learning fast, and maybe after few decades she would fluently speak human language. English, the Merchieftaines Murcus calls it. Though the Merchieftaines is very old and intelligent, Leva doesn't understand why Murcus purposely doesn't speak English unless she absolutely has to.
Merpeople are, in a way, misanthropes. Like centaurs, they prefer the company of their own kind or complete solitude. Not all of them, of course, but most of them.
A little further away from the three girls sits another girl. She is alone, curled up into a ball, trying so hard to make herself appear smaller. The tiny sounds she's making are something Leva finds hard to identify. This girl isn't laughing, that's for sure. The sounds remind her of the noises humans make underwater. Leva tilts her head sharply. The girl sounds like she's choking on something, but what is there — on the dry land — to choke on?
She swims closer to the shore to get a better look, small fish scurrying out of her way, and hides behind the reeds. The girl has those fascinating circular pieces of not-ice on her face and several wet streaks running down her cheeks. Her face twists into a grimace, eyes firmly shut but her mouth slightly ajar. She wipes the slime coming from her nose with the back her hand.
A group of students pass her by, predatory smiles on their faces.
"Hey, look! It's Myrtle the Miserable!"
"The Moaning Myrtle!"
"Going to kiss the Squid, Warren?"
"Don't be ridiculous! Even the Giant Squid would swim away if it saw her face!"
"Go back to the lavatory!"
The girl puts her hands over her ears, whimpering softly. Leva grinds her sharp teeth and glares at the group, yellow eyes flashing dangerously. She doesn't catch all the words, but she doesn't like the tone they are using. The sharpest voice belongs to a female and Leva wants to rip her into pieces with her teeth like she would do for a pike. The group yells something more before going their merry way. For once, Leva doesn't like the sound of the laughter.
"Why am I crying?" the girl whispers, wiping her eyes. "I'm so sick of crying." She punches the ground but the action is weak. "Crying doesn't help." Leva winces when the girl tries to laugh. The sound is strained, forced, and dies out soon. "I just wish someone would be one my side," the girl mumbles. "Just for once. But no one ever is. They would be better off without me."
The tone sends shivers down Leva's back, making the small scales on the back of her neck and around her gills stand up. She doesn't like the feeling. It's unsettling. It's wrong.
Leva dives under the surface, fleeing the sight of the poor human being. She doesn't care if anyone sees the waves; if the girl on the shore sees her going. She let's herself go down to the Stygian depths of the lake where she feels calmer; where the seaweeds sway soothingly and curl around her. It's slowly calming her down. She keeps her arms wrapped around her sleek torso. The water feels a lot colder than before.
She runs one hand over her clammy cheek. Is she crying, too? She can't tell. Her skin is always wet so she isn't able to tell the difference. The water around her face tastes like salty like the sea. The Giant Squid swims to Leva and bumps her tail, demanding affection. Leva smiles weakly at the friendly sea creature.
"It's okay," Leva murmurs in Mermish, softly patting the Squids mantle. "I'm okay. Just..."
Shh... listen don't you hear
I'm crying but they are silent tears
I'm crying on the inside so you can't see
all the pain running though me
I cry for you I cry for me
I cry for the times I can't
so if you listen you may hear my silent tears
"...crying, I guess."