Without my ever realizing it, I'd stopped being happy and enjoying the simple pleasures of life long ago. Guess when my dad left, he took all that with him.
That's why it caught my attention when everything started to change on its own accord…
I woke up each morning now with ease. For the first time ever there was a pep in my step. Humming to myself- again- I jumped off the top of the tower instead of climbing down. Jumping was way more fun. Then I'd run all the way down to the beach, where I'd pause to look up at the sky. The sun felt a bit warmer, the breeze was a tad more refreshing, and the sky seemed a little higher. I'm not sure when I started noticing all these minor changes; it just sorta happened one day. I'd lived on this island forever and only now was beginning to appreciate it in new ways.
I'd gotten into the habit of getting up bright and early, going for a quick swim, then heading straight for the village, hoping that she'd be there. Sometimes I was lucky and she was either on the beach or dock when I arrived. Today wasn't one of those days. Ilaria was nowhere to be seen, so I went for another swim around the shore. I found some human stuff under the water which I brought back to my tower, then I went to check on the beach again.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw her there, walking along the sand like countless times before. I watched her and smiled to myself. God, she gets more beautiful each and every time I look at her. How's that even possible? Will there ever be a point when she stops getting prettier? I doubt it. I don't think there'll ever be a moment when I look her way and she's less attractive than she is now. Quite the opposite in fact.
While I was quietly observing Ilaria calmly stroll along the beach by herself, we both suddenly flinched at the sound of…. something. I think it was another human but was too far away to tell. My suspicions were confirmed as three boys around my age came onto the beach from the other side of where Ilaria was. They were carrying fishing spears and looked to be on the hunt of something- ten to one it was likely me. Ilaria did not appear happy to see them, and neither was I. These losers, whoever they were, looked like bad news, and I wasn't keen on how the tall, lanky, stupidly-dressed one was eying Ilaria just now. I swam in closer to better hear what they were saying. The lanky loser was now directly to her, to which she visibly cringed.
"It's true, tesorina. We hunt those terrifying monsters! Cause, heh, we're the only ones brave enough in the village to do it." Monsters, huh? Yep, sounds like these idiots are talking about me and my kind. Ha! As if they'd ever have a chance of catching us. They don't look like they could even catch a…. a…. uh, insert easy-to-catch land animal here. I don't know anything about land creatures; give me a break!
Ilaria wasn't convinced either. "You really don't believe in sea monsters, do you?" Oh yeah, she doesn't believe in us. Almost forgot about that tiny little detail. "Ah, now don't be frightened, pet. Your fear is clouding your judgement. I assure you, they are real! And they are as horrifying as you can imagine." Uh, does he know what he looks like? If he thinks I'm scary to look at, he's clearly never seen his own reflection- haha. Any humour I found in the situation was quickly dashed however when the creep flashed her a predatory grin. "But don't worry. I'll protect you from those monsters." You? Protect Ilaria? I'd be laughing if you weren't so delusional about it. I mean just look at those bony arms; you're protecting no one from nothing. And don't expect Ilaria to buy your garbage either; she's much too smart for the likes of you.
I smirked, a bubble of pride swelling up in my chest as she frowned in response to his ludicrous claim. "B-Be that as it may, this is still private property and….." Private property? Never heard that term before. Wonder what it means for something to be "private"? Is all property private? Even my island? The skinny weirdo scoffed. "Private property? No one owns the ocean, my sweet." Well, I guess he's not wrong. If someone did own the sea, I hadn't the faintest idea who it would be.
Ilaria's foot slid back. She was clearly uncomfortable. "Y-Yes, but the beach is. I-It belongs to my uncle and I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate you hunting anything on his land." Hey yeah! With everything she said the other day, back on the dock, wouldn't that be true? Like no throwing spears or killing anything in front of her because she's a lady or something like that? Right now I really wanted that to be true just so that he'd get away from her. I didn't like how awkward he was making her feel, all while being oblivious to it himself. I was enraged when he flippantly waved his stupid hand at her.
"Bah. Your uncle would have no problem with us butchering those beasts. Why! I bet he'd be thrilled at me keeping his niece safe!" I sincerely doubt that she's safe in any sense of the word when you're nearby. I didn't feel comfortable leaving them alone together, meaning that I didn't trust his two jerk-looking friends either. I didn't want anything to happen to Ilaria, and especially not by the hands of these goons.
My blood boiled at what he said next. "Eh, I'm getting peckish anyway. Why don't you invite us in for dinner, tesorina? We can get to know each other better over a meal, ah?" What the…?! Did this jerk just invite himself into Massimo and Ilaria's home?! I knew absolutely nothing about human society and even I recognized this to be bad manners. Poor Ilaria looked like she was on the verge of crying. I don't know why she was still being nice to this guy. He clearly didn't deserve the way she was treating him. It took everything I had not to stomp right onto the beach, grab this loser by the back collar of his shirt, and ripe him away from her at his audacity to take another step toward her.
"Well, pet? Invite us in! Your uncle is home, yes? He'll be our chaperon, since I know you honour the practices of high society." There's a "high" society? Is there a low society? How do you know which society you're in? Sigh, I've said it once and I'll say it again: humans overcomplicated everything. The creep's eyes lit up. "He'll get to know me better too! It's a win-win!" Uh, no; no, it's not. What makes you think either Massimo or Ilaria want to spend any time with you, you arrogant asshole? He stood there expectedly. "Tesorina?" And that's another thing. Why does he keep calling her all these pet names? Does he not know her actual name? He's trying to be friends with someone he doesn't know the name of? What an idiot! Of course Ilaria's going to deny his request, or rather "demand".
"I uh…. T-That won't be possible today. I'm sorry." Don't be sorry; you have no reason to apologize to this moron, I rolled my eyes. But he just wouldn't let it go. "Not possible? Course it's possible! Look, if you don't have enough food they don't need to eat, right guys?!" You'd almost feel sorry for his friends if they weren't "his" friends.
Ilaria shook her head. "No, w-what I mean is Zio is… busy at the moment, so….." Hey yeah, where is Massimo? Why isn't he coming to rescue his niece from these losers right about now? "Well, when will he not be busy?" "Uh…." She sputtered for a minute. The guy flung his arms up. "Alright then. How about you and me go get some gelato then, eh? Cool off from this summer heat." What's gelato? Is that food? A drink? And wait a minute! Don't leave the beach! I won't be able to see or hear you if you go anywhere else.
"Oh no! I promised Zio that I wouldn't leave our property today- not while he's….. busy." Yeah! That's my girl. Tell him where he can stick it. "Oh, come now, pet. I'm sure he wouldn't mind you accompanying me for a little while. He can't expect you to be perfect all the time." Why not? She is perfect all the time, and I don't think she means to be. "Really, Ercole! I told my uncle that…." "It'll be fine. Come on, little one; come with me." Hey. "I said no!" "Ha! I know what that means! When a girl says "no", what she really means is "yes but later"." Hey! He's not listening to her; this Ercole boy wasn't listening to thing Ilaria said! It was royally starting to piss me off. She has such a beautiful voice; he should pay attention to what its saying once and a while. My head was swimming with such anger that I was actually starting to see red. I didn't know who this human was and I already hated him. I'd never loathed anyone as much in my life as I hated him just then.
"Uh, no. That's not…" Ilaria began before Erco-lame cut her off. "Come, tesorina! Let's finally spend some time together!" Oh, hell no! Seeing nothing pure crimson for a solid second, my tail took on a life of its own. It splashed the water, hitting Ercole in the back. It took me less than half a second to realize my mistake. With rapid speed he spun around on his heels to glare out at the coast. He also went from one to a hundred just as fast as me, and I knew I had to get the hell outta here. "Who did that?!" He shouted. I'm not sure if he actually saw me but evidence would say that he did. "Sea monster! Get me my stabbing spear!" Uh oh! This is bad! Not in front of Ilaria- please don't let me die in front of Ilaria!
Thinking on my feet, I took a change of course and swam up behind the big rocks at the side of the beach. Being quieter than I'd ever been, I peeked the very top of my head up from the water, trying to get my blood pressure under control. Oh god, that was close; too close. I couldn't see them now but I was still close enough to hear what they were saying. Ilaria was yelling by this point too.
"There are no such things as sea monsters, Ercole!" Her voice rang out across the beach. "No? Then what just splashed me, hmmmmmm?" "It was probably just a wave! There's obviously nothing out there!" Well, not anymore, I breathed another sigh of relief. "What if it's hiding behind that rock?!" Short relief over! I gotta get out of here before those jerks find me and spear me to death. I was just about to descend underneath the surface again when I heard Ilaria's reply. "Of course it's not! Sea monsters don't exist!" A pause ensued here, racking my nerves a little. Why'd it get quiet all of a sudden? What's going on over there? "You think you know about such things? Ha! What does a city girl like you know about the sea, hmmmmmm?!"
I froze, as did everyone else on the beach. My eyes were wide and my arms stiff out at my sides. Wait a minute. Did he just….? Did he just yell at her? Yell at Ilaria? The Ilaria who wouldn't hurt a fly… or fish? What kind of monster would yell at Ilaria?! Oh, that does it! If I ever see this freak again, I'll beat the living daylights outta him! Not with Ilaria watching of course. Maybe I can distract her with flowers or something; she seems to like that girly stuff. But still, just give me a reason to clobber this guy…. I can't wait for the day I get to punch his lights out! No one raises their voice at my Ilaria while I'm around and gets away with it! No one!
This jerk must have noticed his grave error because his tone very speedily changed. "Forgive me, my pet. I don't know what came over me. I apologize." Ha! You think that will work? Well Ilaria's kind so she might forgive you, but with me? That's simply impossible. You've made an enemy for life, you cosmic imbecile!
"I-It's…. I-It's ok," a shaken Ilaria sputtered. Uh, no; it's most definitely not ok. He can't away with talking to you like that! "I think I should head back inside now though…. b-before it gets any later," she continued. Yes, that's right; go inside! Get away from these freaks of nature! "Yes, go in tesorina. We'll eat dinner together soon this summer. Have a good evening." She didn't even say goodbye to Erco-lame; all I heard was her feet running across the beach in the opposite direction of him and unintentionally me. Satisfied with that, I dove back into the water. I came back to check on Ilaria a few times after this sour exchange, but she never came back to the beach.
I swam back to my little island for a rest soon afterward. I'd had enough of stupid, brainless humans for one day. Seriously, I don't know how Ilaria kept her composure with those people. At least she seemed to have a good relationship with her uncle. I could see that as they lived together. She was incredibly easy to be around, even if we weren't necessarily "around" each other. Easy on the eyes, easy on the hears, but it was her gentle and kind personality that really made the difference. Yes, there was something there- something special and unspoken about Ilaria. Something that made her easy, and natural…..
Somehow, without my ever noticing it, it felt so natural, having Ilaria near.
I completely forgot about Ercole's existence until we ran into him ashore some time later. Bigger events were about to transpire for the two of us. I forgot all about that altercation on the beach; in fact, the whole past of my life soon became a blur to me. Neither of us had any way of knowing it of course….
But tonight was the night that both our lives would change forever.