AN: This is just a little drabble I wrote today at the beach. I may or may not continue this into more of a story.
Growing up near the ocean, I've always been warned about the dangers of riptides. My mom used to drill it all into my head. Don't swim in the calm spots between waves, little fish. There's a force under the water waiting to pull unsuspecting swimmers far out to sea. She was always nervous about the ocean, but she couldn't keep me away from it. I used to spend every day of the summer at the beach, playing in the surf. I'd bring my swimming trunks to school and dash to the beach as soon as classes were out. That had to end when my grades went down, and I was only allowed to go on the weekends. As I got older and started working, I had less time for the beach, but I still spent as much free time in the ocean as I could spare. My mom's lessons had never left me, and yet...
I don't know what drove me into the water that day. I had gotten to the beach for the first time in months. The rainy season had been particularly stormy, and this was my first free day with decent weather. But when I got there, I saw the double red flags raised: do not swim. The waves were too rough. I pouted and resigned to simply sit in the sand and enjoy the sun. But when I climbed over the sand dunes, I saw the calmest, clearest water right in front of me, and well, there was no lifeguard to enforce the swimming ban. Looking back, it was incredibly stupid that I decided to dive in despite the warnings, and I wasn't entirely surprised when the riptide immediately caught me and swept me out.
The most important thing about surviving a riptide is not to fight it. It will take you no matter what, but eventually it will dump you into calmer water, at which point you should swim perpendicular back to shore. However, it's extremely hard to remember this when you're being pulled through the ocean, twisting and tumbling head over heels.
By the time it released me, I couldn't tell which way was up or down. Everywhere I looked was the same, blue water. I scrambled in no particular direction, but my lungs were burning for air.
Someone grabbed me from behind, flipped me over, and pulled me up to the surface. I gasped for breath and coughed roughly, struggling to tread water.
"Hey, knock it off, you idiot!" said the person behind me, kicking me in the legs. "If you keep flailing like that, you're going to drown!"
I stilled and realized that I did not sink. Whoever was holding me was keeping me afloat, too. I looked over my shoulder at the person, and I was surprised to see a boy around my age with silvery hair and bright violet eyes. He was glaring at me in annoyance.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Your savior, stupid human," he snapped. "Now hold still, and I'll carry you back to the shore."
"I can swim," I protested, trying to wriggle away from him.
"Yeah, right," the boy laughed. "Are you really going to swim all the way back there?"
He pointed in the exact opposite direction from where I thought the shore was, but when I squinted, I could just barely see the beach.
"How far out are we?" I gasped.
"I don't know your human measurements, but you've made it all the way to our territory."
"What? Whose territory?"
"Ours, you idiot, that's what I just said." He slapped the water, splashing me, and that's when I saw the fins on his arms, thin and silvery like his hair.
"What...are you?"
"I'm one of the sea folk, duh." He leaned back, and a tail fin the same purple as his eyes emerged from the water where his legs should have been. "See?"
"Oh my god..."
"Yeah, yeah, look, can we get a move on? I don't want to leave you out here to drown, but I don't have all day to tow humans back and forth."
"You're a mermaid."
"I don't prefer that term."
"Sorry, merman."
"Still don't like that."
"But aren't you supposed to drown me?"
"Now that's just slanderous," the boy huffed. "We sea folk have always done all we could to keep you stupid humans from drowning." The boy scooped me into his arms as he began swimming towards the shore.
"Wait, so you do this a lot?" I asked.
"More than I care to, yes."
"Then why haven't I ever heard of the sea folk?"
"Our magic prevents humans from remembering us. You won't remember this either."
I frowned. That was a shame.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Why should I tell you? You won't remember anyway."
"I want to know the name of the cute boy who saved me."
The boy grimaced. "This is why I prefer the unconscious ones."
"I'm Mathias."
He grumbled a bit before answering, "I'm Eiríkur."
"That's a strange name."
"You're pretty rude for someone being saved from drowning."
"Er, sorry. Thank you for saving me, Eiríkur."
I stared at his face as he carried me across the water. He was really beautiful, even with the annoyed frown on his face.
"Man, the ocean is really restless today," he said, avoiding my gaze. "It's rare to see a human in the water on a day like today."
I laughed nervously, remembering the double red flags that had told me not to enter the water. He glared down at me again.
"You're truly an idiot, aren't you?"
"Heh, maybe so."
"Well, this is as far as I can take you without being seen. I'll have one of the waves take you the rest of the way. Take a deep breath, and don't fight it."
"It was nice to meet you, Eiríkur."
"You will forget it all."
The boy's eyes flashed as he threw me into an oncoming wave. I flipped and tumbled in the water and was tossed carelessly onto the sand, gasping for breath. People gathered around me, muttering about "swimming in these conditions", but I scrambled into an upright position to look out over the water. In the distance, I could swear I saw a shimmering purple fin flick into the air before disappearing beneath the surf.
And I did not forget.