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“Well, she’s obviously a siren,” Angel says as she takes another sip of her white wine.

“She’s not a mermaid, Ange” their mother scoffs. She puts her feet up on the wicker table as she stares out across the ocean.

Angel pours more wine into Margaret’s glass. “Not literally, mother. The woman lured him in with perfect breasts and led him to his ruin.”

Margaret nods. “We’ll get him the best divorce lawyer. Peyton won’t get a dime of his money.”

“Sirens aren’t actually mermaids,” Jack chimes in “they’re part bird, part woman.”

Angel and Margaret both jump. Angel spills drops of wine on her shirt. “Oh my god, Jackie, I almost forgot you were here.”

“I never left.”

“But you’re not really here, are you?” His mother glances at his glass on the table – still full, a dead fly floating at the top.

“I invited you to get wine drunk to take your mind off things. Not to sulk.” Angel crosses her arms.

“And yet, you keep talking about her.”

“Someone has to remind you how awful she is, Jackie!”

“We’re just looking out for you, sweetie,” Margaret sighs. “We’re sorry, tell us about your bird-women-mermaid-things.”

Jack shakes his head.

Angel jumps up! “You love that mythical garbage, Jackie! You used to tell me all about that abandoned inlet up the coast here where all the mermaids lured those men to their watery graves.”

“Sirens,” Jack corrects her,

Angel rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”

“You know they just make up those stories to stop all the shipwrecks and keep people away from dangerous waters.”

“Who makes that up?” Jack asks.

Angel giggles. “You know, late at night I swear I can hear women singing in the distance. I always thought it was kids or something but maybe your mermaids really do exist, big bro.”

“Sirens!” Jack glares at his sister.

“Oh my god, mother, you need to take him with you when you leave. I can’t stand another night with this buzz-kill.”

Margaret lowers her voice. “Julio won’t want him living with us, he’s a bit of a loser now.”

“Mom! I can hear you.”

Margaret puts her hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Shush, honey I was only kidding.” Margaret looks at her daughter and widens her eyes.

“Wait, mother, didn’t you say you were going to Monaco with Julio next week? Why doesn’t Jack sleep on The Lovely Maggie?”

The Lovely Maggie is the family’s trawler. Part fishing boat, part yacht that spends most of its days in the fancy boathouse behind Margaret and Julio’s home.

“Ange, that’s actually an excellent idea. He wouldn’t get in anyone’s way and he’d get to keep some of his independence and dignity.”

Jack sighs.

“We say these things with love.” Maggie’s gold bangles slide down her wrist as she takes another sip.

“If you ladies don’t mind, I would like to retire to bed now, then.”

Upon instructions from Margaret, Julio left keys on the front porch of their house for Jack to grab on his way to The Lovely Maggie. Luckily his sister still lives in the guest house on the water’s edge of their parents’ property, so the walk is quick. He needs to be alone right now.

Jack is rocked to sleep by the gentle waves, like a baby in a cradle. He feels as if the ocean is his mother – or, more maternal than his own mother.

Jack awakes in the middle of the night to an uneasy feeling. He cannot shake the feeling he is missing something. He crawls out of the bedroom below deck.

Leaning onto the railing, he only notices the darkness and vastness of the ocean before him. He can barely tell sky from water, or even wave from still water. He feels if the clouds dissipate maybe the moon might illuminate more. His breath creates a thick fog in front of his face. Similarly, the wind on the ocean creates lighter mists that dazzle Jack.

Beyond the wind, and beyond the waves, he suddenly swears he can hear a faint voice. The voice is travelling across the ocean in echoes.

Should he follow it?

What do I have to lose? He wondered to himself. The voice is soft and light – almost magical and womanly. But he can’t quite describe or place it, even to himself.

He already knows where the voice is coming from. He types “Skull’s Inlet” into The Lovely Maggie’s navigation system. He feels he won’t need to check it, though, if he just follows the voice.

The water appears as thick as ice beneath him, yet the trawler breaks through with ease. As the ship races along towards his destination, he wonders if anyone truly cares about him. Does everyone he loves only care about superficial things? His wife is already dating a richer man than him. His family does not understand him or what he cares about. They see him as weak - his interests, fanciful.

As Jack moves further into the darkness of the ocean, he realizes the voice has stopped. He kills the engine. In the quiet of the night, fear and uncertainty grow within him as the waves gently rock him back towards the shore. This will take hours but Jack isn’t sure what else to do right now.

What is he thinking?

Is he running away from his problems? His father is going to be so angry he drove his boat without asking.

He has to work in the morning. Even though the firm can – and will - replace him in an instant, he cannot let his clients down.

At least the inlet does not seem rocky or dangerous. The water levels must’ve risen over the years to cover up the jagged rocks.

The quiet of the night eventually brings back the voice. Jack hears it in the air, all around him. Below him. Jack leans over the railing to see something moving twelve-feet behind the boat. He thinks it is shiny until he realizes the moonlight has reappeared and is illuminating the skin of a beast amongst the water.

No, not a beast. A creature so beautiful he never thought he would see one. He almost thinks it is too good to be true.

Its calf is nothing in comparison to the creature. He hears the burst of air as they both draw fresh breath before diving down. The calf disappears first. As the mother whale follows, her tale comes into view as she dips gracefully below the surface. She leaves behind only a minor splash.

They swim swiftly away from the boat. By the way they retreat from him, it seems they’re not used to ships in the area. This must be their home.

Long after the whales are gone, Jack cannot stop thinking of their beauty. He decides never to tell anyone to keep the whales safe. He will keep the memory for himself. It will be the most selflessly romantic thing he will ever do. Jack continues watching the water ss he waits to drift back to shore, hoping to see any last glance of them.