Day twenty-eight! Sorry for the short, abrupt one yesterday. I was mostly asleep. I feel more awake today, though.
Jay's never been big on fishing. The only reason he agrees to go is because Jordan, Tucker, Tom, and Sonja threaten to drag him along with them, and he really believes that at least Sonja and Tom will go through with the 'threat.' Tucker and Jordan are probably just joking, but Tom and Sonja tend to be very serious even when they're being playful. It's probably only because Jay is new to town, and they're sort of his only friends so far. After a year of living in the town, maybe Jay is a bit strange to only have met and befriended so few people – and that's probably why those four make it a priority to involve him in things.
For the most part, the ship is boring. Jordan, Tucker, and Tom fish over the side of the ship that Jordan's family owns. It's not too large, but it's large enough that Jay and Sonja have set up a fish net over the side to catch some other types of fish or sea creatures. While Jay sits watching the ocean, Sonja is chatting with her boyfriend and the other two. Occasionally, in the water, Jay swears he sees a flurry of blue and gold, but it must just be his imagination.
They stay out on the ocean for a few hours. When they decide to head back towards the shore, the others wander over to the back of the ship where the net is hung over the edge. Jay watches them as they lift the net using a small crane attached to the ship. Admittedly, none of them are quite prepared for the sight they see.
Struggling in the net along with all kinds of fish is a mermaid. Her tail is blue with small patches of gold on it. She has blonde hair that goes down to her lower back, and she has bright blue eyes that are filled with a mix of confusion, fear, and frustration as she tries desperately to get free. Between her fingers are transparent blue webbing. On her arms, legs, and in a few spots on her face are small patches of translucent blue markings. Her ears are shaped oddly, almost like little fins.
"Is that—" Jordan chokes out.
"Oh my god," Sonja gasps at the same time as Tucker loudly proclaims the same.
"That's a bloody mermaid," Tom exclaims.
Jay doesn't say anything, instead staring in shock at the creature.
Said mermaid turns to look at the five of them, opening and closing her mouth like she doesn't know what to say. Maybe, Jay thinks, she just doesn't know if they'll understand her, or she doesn't understand them. Jay notices, underneath the hair stuck to her neck because of the water, that there are tiny slits on the sides of her neck. They must be similar to gills because they seem to open and close quickly, like she's trying to breathe fast. Despite that, she doesn't look like she's struggling to get air.
She must be able to breathe normally, too, he thinks.
Something hits the boat and Jay glances down. In the water is a creature similar to her, but this one appears to be male. Where the mermaid has blue coloration, the merman has a red-orange coloration. His tail lifts out of the water, slamming back down into it with a splash. His translucent markings are different than hers, and instead of blonde hair and blue eyes, his hair is red and his eyes are shining gold. He looks very discouraged to see the mermaid in the net.
Are they family? Jay wonders.
Jay notices Sonja and Jordan walk over to the crane and lower the net back into water. As soon as the net is lowered, it loosens and opens enough for the mermaid to swim out of it. She surfaces, looking up at them. Jay finds himself watching her eyes, which seem to shine with different shades of blue depending on how the light hits them like a crystal or prism.
The mermaid and merman keep an eye on them for a moment before diving into the water, disappearing from sight.
After a moment, Tom asks, "Did we just capture and then release a mermaid?"
"Yeah," Tucker answers, laughing a bit. "That was, uh… something. It'll be a cool story to share."
"No one will believe us," Sonja points out.
"We'll know, though," Jordan says, smiling. "We'll know what we did, and so will those two."
Jay nods in agreement. "We should leave, just in case they're not happy with us catching her."
When they get back to the docks, the other guys carry the bucket of fish they'd caught. Jay lingers on the dock and promises to catch up later. After they're gone, he sits down and dips his feet into the water, surprised at first that the cool ocean water feels so comfortable. It's been a hot day, though, so the cold is refreshing.
Something pokes his feet.
He pulls his feet up out of the water with a sound of protest.
The mermaid from earlier surfaces and giggles at him, smiling. She reaches over and grabs one of his feet, carefully inspecting it. All the while, Jay tries his hardest not to squirm or kick out at her because it feels weird. Her hands are smooth, but it feels like he's being tickled.
"W-What are you doing?" He asks.
She looks up at him, releasing his foot. He carefully dips both of them down into the water. She turns around, lifting her tail out of the water. He watches her for a few moments before hesitantly reaching out to run his hands it. The scales on her tail are as smooth as her hands.
After a moment, she lowers her tail, turns back around, and catches his hand between hers.
"Oh, so we're learning about each other? Or… introducing one another?" He guesses. He smiles. "I'm good with that."
She looks up at him and lets go of his hand. She pulls up onto the dock so her elbows are able to rest there. He glances down at her, noticing that she tips her head at him.
"What's up?" He asks.
She lifts one of her hands, tapping the side of her neck.
"Oh, uh…" He frowns. "I don't have the uh… gill-things. They're cool, though."
She nods, lowering her hand. Jay points at his ears.
"You have strange ears," he says off-handedly.
The mermaid giggles at him, dropping back down into the water. She disappears underneath the surface for a moment before reappearing with a pearl in her hands. She offers it out to Jay, and he takes it, inspecting it.
"Thanks," he says.
He puts the pearl in one of his pockets. Realizing that he should probably return the offer with a gift of his own, he searches through his pockets for something. In his pockets are a few coins. He pulls them out a searches for one that might be worth it to give her. It's not, to him, as worthwhile as getting a pearl, but maybe it will mean something to her.
He hands her over a quarter and she inspects it, smiling thankfully at him. She disappears once again under the water before resurfacing. He thinks that she must have hidden the coin somewhere.
"Can you talk?" Jay asks after a moment.
She tips her head at him and opens her mouth. What comes out sounds like singing, but not words. She closes her mouth.
"That's fine," he offers. "You sing nice, though."
She smiles back at him.
Jay opens his mouth to say something, but the merman from earlier appears and grabs her hand. He looks over at Jay before pulling the mermaid's hand, urging her away. She waves at Jay before diving under the water with the merman.
Jay sighs and pushes up onto his feet, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He rubs the pearl between his fingers. The sphere is smooth, and he smiles a bit.
It's been a weird, yet memorable fishing trip.
Maybe fishing isn't so bad.