When Philip came to his senses, he was on the bottom of the ocean.
He was not very deep; he could somehow tell. As he stared up at the glittering sunlight and water, he pondered how he was there. And alive.
He paused, taking a moment to thank God for the good in his life.
Then the pain came back and he fell into nothingness.
When he came to, he was back in the Fountain's source, half-in, half-out of the waters.
"Syrena?" he called, sitting up.
She rose from the water. "Philip! You're awake." With a flick of her tail, she was next to him. "How do you feel?"
"Different." He looked to his feet and wiggled his toes. "To be honest, I didn't expect to see those again."
Syrena smiled. "No, I cannot give you a tail such as mine."
"Then what happened?"
You do not remember?" She looked sadly at him. "I suppose it was too much to ask."
He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I remember lying on the ocean floor, not too deep."
Hope sparked in her eyes and she smiled. "Yes, that's good. Perhaps it takes a while. It has been a while since there has been such a man as you. So you are something of an experiment." She smiled encouragingly.
"That does not help."
He could not remember how he got to be swimming.
But he was slicing through the waves like a knife, sleek and agile. The water moved with him, or was it the other way around?
What was his name?
And who was the beautiful, shining creature beside him?
"Philip, what is wrong?"
He sighed as he paced the edge of the pool, not touching the water. "I don't know. But most times when I get wet, my head goes funny and I black out. And then I wake up on the beach, with nothing but scattered memories of the ocean, swimming with you. And I'm afraid I'll do something I should regret but I can't remember."
Syrena's face fell. "I am...sorry. We do not live forever, and those who knew the secrets have passed on."
"Maybe you should pray about it."
Her face became a patchwork of emotions. Suddenly, she spun around and dove back into the water. He leaned forward but didn't touch the water. "Syrena!"
But she was beneath the waves, long gone, and did not hear him.
With a cry, he lifted a rock from the side of the pool and threw it, hard. Making a satisfying splash, it fell into just about the center. His anger dissipated and turned to shock. He turned back to the forest to his makeshift bed. "Syrena, what is happening? Oh, God, help us."
A song drifted across the sea as a lonely figure sat very still, perched on a rock, tail despondently flicking the waters.
"My heart is pierced by Cupid. I disdain all glittering gold. For nothing can console me but my jolly sailor bold."
The mermaid, hair dark like night, launched herself from the rock and swam for the World's End.
