His dreams that night were filled with images of tailed creatures swimming around him, his ears full of their song as they danced around him pulling him deeper and deeper. When Keith woke up the next morning he decided no more late night studying of mythical creatures. He couldn't remember but one thing from the dream, eyes. The prettiest eyes he's ever seen, Blue iridescent with hints of pink. Even while he was awake they were mesmerizing. Man, he kind of wished Mermaids were real, he would love to meet one. Maybe if he did a segment on Ireland's lore he would be able to focus on the topic and have it be useful for work. He was truly intrigued by the aspect and was packing his bag for another trip to the lake. He wanted to record the sounds this time.
Once he was packed and ready he grabbed his bag and slipped the camera around his neck as he stepped out the door to greet the morning. The air was crisp but with the sun shining it was the perfect temperature. The birds were already awake and chirping lending their songs to the beautiful day. Keith took a deep breath of the fresh air sighing, you couldn't get air like this in New York behind a desk. He loved his job.
Keith was making his way through the forest trying to remember where he had gone to find the lake. Why was it harder this time? He stopped frustrated passing the same tree he had three other times. He sat on a stump and pulled out his canteen of water. He went to take a drink but stopped hearing the familiar song drift through the trees. He took a quick drink before standing up looking around. It was louder this time, more clear, now that he could hear it better it was a chilling tune, sad almost. He found himself walking through the trees and soon enough he was back at the lake. He turned around confused, how was he able to find it so easily after being so lost? He shrugged it off considering it luck and started towards the water's edge. He found the same fallen tree as the day before and took a seat pulling out some lined paper. He had taken a few music classes and knew his way around some notes. He pulled out a recorder and pushed play setting it down beside him. He listened the the song scribbling the notes he's heard. It has been shown certain areas can sound melodic when the wind hits through just right. He found it fascinating the way it worked. He looked over st the water seeing movement from the corner of his eye. He breathed out in relief seeing it was only a Heron in the water looking for breakfast. He was surprisingly worked up after reading the stories last night.
"Calm down Keith" he laughed to himself and suddenly the song stopped. Keith looked around trying to figure out why it had stopped so abruptly. To his surprise the wind was still blowing the same. He jumped up in fright hearing a sharp cry and then a large splash from the water and when he looked over the Heron was completely gone. Keith grabbed up his recorder and bag before booking it into the forest. He ran as fast he could towards his cabin and suddenly the song came back and it was piercing loud in his head causing him to stop and cover his ears. His body felt weighted down and his ears rang.
"Shut up shut up" He said not understanding what was happening. He managed to start running again and soon broke out of the forest on the other side, his cabin a happy sight to see. His head cleared up once he had made it out of the trees. He didn't stop until he was safe inside and the door was locked. His heart was racing as he slumped onto a chair setting his stuff down. What just happened? He pulled out his laptop and googled marine animals in Ireland. Were there alligators or something? Something took that bird down. No alligators, they had otters. Keith was skeptical that an otter could pull down a giant bird like that. Plus that didn't explain why he had gotten such a headache..He remembered his recording and pulled out the small device. Now he could play it whenever he wanted. He pushed play and waited. He could only hear the sounds of the water lapping and the birds chirping. No melody. No song he had been so used to by now. At this point Kith was officially spooked.
"Okay. There is a perfect explanation as to why I can only hear this creepy song in my head. I'm going crazy. Or I'm really hungover from last night. There is no magical song and there is no magical fish people in the damn lake." he finished with a sigh. He stopped hearing a small bell tinkle outside his cabin. He grabbed a fire poker as he made his way to the window, holding the metal rod ready to beat someone up if needed. No one was out her but him so he was already freaked out. He peeked through the window to see an elderly lady wheeling a cart of flowers down the dirt road, a small bell hung from the cart tinkling as it moved. Keith let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding and sat the metal spike down before opening the door.
"Good morning!" he called a greeting to the woman who lit up seeing him. She waved back before wheeling her mall cart towards is cabin.
"Hello my dear boy! Care for some flowers?" She asked showing off her selection. Keith was amazed by the colors of these but one stood out in particular, a blue flower with pink specks. It reminded him of the eyes in his dream. She noticed his gaze and plucked it out of the bouquet.
"For you sir! Free of charge! " She handed it to him with a smile.
"Thank you! I love the colors" He stated twisting the flower to admire it.
"Oh yes, I call them the Siren's lotus."
"The what?" Keith asked not familiar with the name.
"A Siren my dear. It's like a mermaid but more deadly. They use their song to lure their prey into the water. I've heard stories of people seeing them, saying their eyes were this sparkly blue color. So I wanted to dedicate a beautiful flower to the beautiful creatures."
"So you believe in them?" Keith asked. Apparently everyone knew of the folklore. He hadn't heard them be called Sirens though. He would have to look that up.
"Oh of course my dear boy. Children don't drown here, the Sirens get em. That's why no one swims in these lakes anymore, if you wanna swim you go to the ocean. These lakes are their territory and anything that enters it gets taken."
"Do they..eat birds?" Keith questioned. The old lady shrugged.
"I don't know. Never met one and asked. I have only heard the stories of course. If they eat people I don't think they'd pass up a bird." She smiled again.
"Can I ask you something weird? About their song they sing?" The older lady stopped fiddling with her flowers and looked at him her expression curious.
"You've heard it lad?" She asked.
"I.. well. I have definitely heard something and tried to record it but nothing was caught on tape. I did write the notes down though." He motioned to give him a second before he ran inside and came back with his paper he had scribbled his notes on. He handed it to the lady who looked over it before humming the notes.
"Yeah! That's it! That's the song!" Keith said excited to hear it again. The look on her face told him it wasn't a good thing.
"I have had many people sing me the songs they hear, this one is different. It's sad. Lonely. Whatever is singing to you, it's alone and scared. This isn't a song for food, it's a song for help." Keith was staring at her totally enthralled before she started cackling.
"If you believe in that stuff of course!" She handed back the paper and waved farewell before wheeling her cart away, the bell tinkling as they left. Keith stood still looking at the paper his mind racing.
